OUTSTANDING PLAYER: BOYS TRACK

WHY HE WON:

Har-Ber High School’s Zach McWhorter reached new heights this year, literally and figuratively. The 5-10, 150-pound senior has ranked No. 1 in Arkansas since 2015, and he ranks seventh in the nation in track and field. McWhorter has been selected as the 2017 All-Arkansas Preps Outstanding Player of the Year in Boys Track. In pole vaulting, he cleared 16-8 to earn his second title at the Meet of Champions in Russellville and broke his own 7A record of 16-9 by 1 inch during the 7A state meet at Har-Ber. In addition, he holds an outdoor conference record of 17 feet and an indoor school record of 17-2. “I think [this award] is well deserved because I’ve never met a kid who’s been more disciplined and who’s worked harder than he has,” said Zach’s father, Rick McWhorter, who is also a volunteer coach at Har-Ber. “I coach a lot of kids, and I’ve never coached anyone with his work ethic.” The 18-year-old athlete also holds the indoor school record for 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8 minutes, 43 seconds and the school record for 110-meter hurdles at 14.72 seconds. He has a personal record of 11.45 in the 100-meter dash and 54.45 in the 400-meter dash, and his long-jump record is 20-5 1/2. “Zach does things by the book. From warm-ups to stretches and drills, Zach stays focused and determined to perfect his craft,” said Wayne Hall, head boys track coach at Har-Ber. “If he doesn’t feel as if he has completed the task at hand, he strives to find a way to improve and reach his level of exceptional.” Since the seventh grade, Zach has enjoyed the excitement of track and field, especially pole vaulting. “It’s an adrenaline rush,” he said. “Whenever you’re jumping at a higher level, … and you’re really bending the pole and using all that elastic potential energy that it stores, there’s nothing like it.” This summer, he will begin a two-year mission trip to Indonesia through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Zach is currently signed with Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. In the future, he hopes to earn a degree in international business, incorporate his fluency in Indonesian into his career and travel the world. “When I return from Indonesia, I’m definitely going to do college track, and I’d like to work hard at it and compete at Division I NCAAs and be one of the best in the country for that,” he said. “We’ll start there with pole vaulting, and then if things go well, keep on training. I don’t want to set any limits on where that could go in the future.”