Lady Hornets 5th at State, MOC
RUSSELLVILLE – After finishing fifth at the 6A State Championships last Friday at Scott Field in Little Rock, the 6A Central Conference champion Bryant Lady Hornets track and field squad also took fifth overall at the Meet of Champs at Russellville High School Wednesday.
Fayetteville, also the 6A state champions, won the Meet of Champs Wednesday with 84 points, with Bentonville (71), Conway (45), El Dorado (40.5) and Bryant (36) rounding out the top five of 49 schools’ top athletes competing.
Fayetteville would take state with 191.5 points, with Bentonville (157.5), Bentonville West (68), Rogers (60.5) and Bryant (55) rounding out the top five.
The Lady Hornets put up several excellent finishes at the Meet of Champs, including taking tops in the 4x400-meter relay with the foursome of Eliza Parker, Zoe Wilson, Brilynn Findley and Parris Atkins winning it in a time of 3:59.06.
Bryant sophomore Kylee Branch was runner-up in he discus, with a throw of 112-8, while junior Lauren Lain was third in the triple jump with a distance of 36-6.
The foursome of Atkins,
Findley, Lain and Wilson took third in the 4x200 relay with a time of 1:42.11, just over a second away from the winner Har-ber’s 1:41.02.
Findley finished fifth in the 400 in 59 seconds even, with freshman Taegan Herrien taking seventh in the 800 with a time of 2:25.94, which broke Bryant Junior High’s record.
Competing but not scoring for the Lady Hornets was the 4x800m relay, with Paige Spicer, Herrien, Maddie Nelson and Parker ninth in a time of 10:32.34.
Junior Jessica Rolen competed in the pole vault, with her height of 9 feet taking 15th.
At the state meet last Friday at Scott Field in Little Rock, the Lady Hornets also won the 4x400 relay with Parker, Wilson, Findley and Atkins winning in 4:01.66.
Branch was second in the discus with a 112-4. Atkins was third in the 400 dash with a time of 59.71, with Findley (1:00.43) and Wilson (1:00.66) fifth and sixth.
Lain was fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 36-10.5.
Rolen was fifth in the pole vault with another 9-even.
Mia Jordan, Marks, Gould and Shilayah Hammond took fifth in the 4x100 relay in a time of 49.95, just a second away from winner Conway.
state quarterfinals for a shot at today’s semifinals in Springdale.
The Hornets (15-14) best chance to score came in the bottom of the third when junior Jordan Knox and sophomore Grant Johnson took two-out walks from Heritage starter Coleman Macrae with Knox stealing second and taking third on an error, but Macrae struck out the next batter to get out of the inning unscathed.
Macrae gave up just two hits in the game, both to Bryant senior Colby Morrow, while striking out nine Hornets vs. two walks in a complete seven innings for the win.
Heritage (18-12) got on the board early, pushing two across in the top of the first on a bases-loaded base on balls and passed ball for the 2-0 lead after one, and it stayed that way until the top of the seventh when the War Eagles scored four more, aided by more walks, to set the 6-0 final.
In fact, Hornet senior
Logan White threw a no-hitter through six innings while striking out nine, but four walks came back to bite Bryant as he finished giving up three runs (two earned).
White walked the first batter to start the seventh before senior Turner Seelinger took over on the mound trying to stop the bleeding but was unable, giving up three runs on three hits and three walks in two thirds of an inning. Morrow came in and struck out the only man he faced to get out of the frame.
Morrow also singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh, but Macrae shut the Hornets down the rest of the way.