Lady Panthers take 2nd straight meet
VILONIA – Though host Vilonia Lady Eagles gave the Benton Lady Panthers a run for their money Thursday at the Jerry Roberts Relays, the Lady Panthers still picked up the meet win, their fourth of the season, while the Benton boys took second place with the Vilonia boys dominating their host meet.
The Eagles scored 178 points to run away with it, while the Panthers
120.5 was good for a solid second. Beebe (82), Fort Smith Northside (71) and Russellville (65) rounded out the top five.
For the girls, Benton edged Vilonia 181-175, while Russellville (77), Robinson (64) and Beebe (48) took the top five.
The Lady Panthers, which have won 4 of their 5 meets this season, had eight firstplace finishes Thursday.
Senior Dellesha Jones took the top spot in the 100-meter dash in a time of 13.09, with sophomore Callia
Givens taking sixth in 14.11 and sophomore Stephanie Love eighth in 14.25.
Jones also took first in the 200 dash in a time of 26.93, with senior Hannah Brewer third in 27.71.
In the 400m, senior Emma Selph edged past Vilonia’s Brandie Rottman, the high-point scorer, with Selph’s time of 1:01.22 just .24 seconds better than Rottman. Benton senior Anette Morales took seventh in 1:10.08.
Benton junior Melina West took the top spot in the 3,200m run, dominating the event in a time of 13:17.17, 13 seconds than the runnerup.
Brewer won the long jump with a distance of 16-1, while getting edged out by Rottman in the triple jump, settling for runner-up with a distance of 36-0, just 2.5 inches from the winner. Selph took third in the triple with a 35-4, while Morales was sixth in 33-0.50. Brewer also took third in the high jump with a height of 5-even.
Benton senior thrower Sakari Faulkner wrapped up the Lady Panthers individual wins, with a victory in the shot put, with her toss of 35-6 bettering all.
The Lady Panthers would also take the top spot in 2 of the 4 relays, placing first in the 4x200m relay in a time of 1:49.11, two and a half seconds better than Vilonia, and won the 4x100 in 51.68.
West placed second in the 1,600 in a time of 6:03.02, with junior Abigail Mcelhaney fourth in 6:11.35. In the pole vault, junior Emma Schlitz was runner-up with a vault of 7-10.
Benton was third in the 4x400 in a time of 4:50.51
The Lady Panthers took spots 4-6 in the discus, with senior Payton Fleeman fourth with a throw of 93-10, Faulkner fifth at 93-3 and junior Mckenzie Bowman sixth with a 91-5.
Selph took fourth in the 800m run in a time of 2:30.98, with Mcelhaney sixth in 2:40.32.
Sophomore Alianna Childress would take fourth in the 300m hurdles in a time of 57.81, while sophomore Gabrielle Martin placed fifth in the 100m hurdles in 19.65.
BOYS
Just like he did last week at the Lakeside Rams Relays, Benton senior Preston Barker swept the hurdles events, winning the 110 hurdles in 15.21 and taking the top spot in the 300 hurdles in 42.03.
Setting a personal record in the high jump last week, senior Jaylen Bell blew by it again Thursday in Vilonia. Bell’s jump of 6-5 won the event by 7 inches and upped his previous PR by 5 inches.
The Panthers also took the top spot in the 4x200m relay in a time of 1:32.18, edging Vilonia by less than a second, while they took second in the 4x100 with a 44.20, just over a second from the winner Northside. The Benton 4x800 team also took second in 8:45.60, six seconds behind Vilonia.
Benton senior Chris Bronson had to settle for second in the 200m dash, with his time of 23.34 just a half second off the first-place pace.
Benton put some points up in the shot put with Walker Davis taking second with a throw of 43-4.25 and Kyree Watkins right behind for third with a 43-4. Benton’s Hunter Goodwin was seventh with a 40-5.
It was Garrett Davis taking second in the discus with a throw of 128-11. Beau Wright (115-8) and Watkins (112-7) were sixth and seventh, respectively.
Omari Coats took fifth for the Panthers in the 100 dash with a time of 11.45. Benton junior Samuel Morales was fifth in the 1,600 run in a time of 4:51.35.
Barker and Bell took fifth and sixth in the triple jump with Barker going 40-even and Bell 39-6.
In the long jump, Trevor Standridge and senior
Russ Hooks went 5-6 with Standridge fifth with a distance of 18-10 and Hooks sixth at 18-4.50. Bell was eighth in 18-4.
Hooks also took seventh in the 400 in a time of 56.05.
Benton competes next on Thursday, traveling to Lake Hamilton in Pearcy.