Lady ’ Hawks coach Wade makes comeback
Heather Wade’s girls track and field program took a hit in 2017. After all, they plunged all the way down to — second place.
Last year’s runner-up finish in the 4A-1 District Track Meet was the first time in four years that the Lady Blackhawks didn’t win the championship. In Coach Wade’s first season as the skipper of the varsity track program in 2014, they took an unexpected district championship. They took the title again in 2015 and again in 2016. It seemed that the coach was destined to never lose a district title.
Last season, Gravette’s Lady Lions had a great year in track and field, claiming the 2017 4A-1 championship to end Coach Wade’s streak at three. This year, it would appear that the Lady ’Hawks are headed back to the top with a vengeance.
The Lady ’Hawks shocked track and field observers by running off with the 4A State Indoor Track Championships. It wasn’t just that they won, but that they won big, effectively clinching the meet halfway through the running events. Most times, it takes the last event or two to settle things.
Currently, the Lady ’Hawks are the top ranked team in the state, already having pre-qualified nine entries for the state meet coming up next month in Heber Springs. For 2018, the Blackhawks are prohibitive favorites to win the district championship and are a probable favorite to add an outdoor title to match their indoor championship.
With all the scoring being done by underclasssmen, it would seem that the Blackhawk girls are setting the stage for a long run at the top. Top being the top of the district as well as possibly the top of the state.
The top two teams with the best chance for winning the outdoor state title right now are Pea Ridge and Joe T. Robinson High School out of Little Rock. Counting just running events, the Lady Senators have a 73-59 edge over Pea Ridge in possible scoring at the state meet. The ’Hawks, however, hold a 53-14 edge over the Senators in possible field event scoring, which is why the Blackhawks are ranked at the top.
The reason for the Blackhawks’ strengths is their great depth. There are a lot of girls out this year and they are pushing each other to get better, and Coach Wade has done an outstanding job in putting them where they need to be to get maximum scoring.
Second-ranked Robinson is very strong in the running events but their lack of power in the field events will hurt them. Third-ranked Pocahontas has been jumping up the rankings weekly, with their scoring evenly split between field and track. Fourth-ranked Ozark is nearly all running events with sixth-ranked Ashdown nearly all field events. Seventh-ranked Shiloh is not projected to score at all in the field events. Eighth-ranked Hamburg has all their points tied up in one individual, Tiana Wilson, who is leading the state in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter.
State meets can be wildly unpredictable (like Pea Ridge at the indoor meet). Injuries, the addition of junior high athletes to rosters, event disqualifications, and the like can radically alter a team’s point totals.
Team rankings are just an indicator of whom have the best chance to do well at the state meet. One athlete teams like Hamburg have no chance for team titles, but balanced teams like Pea Ridge, Pocahontas and Robinson have the inside lanes to grab the glory.
The 4A-1 District High School meet is set for Tuesday at Gravette stadium. Like any other sport, fan participation can often make the difference in pumping up athletes to do their best. The field events start at 2 p.m. with the running events to begin around 5 p.m. or so. The meet will likely continue until perhaps 7 p.m. or 8 p.m., so come on out and support the Lady ’Hawks bid for history.
4A Girls state Track team rankings Top 10
as of April 15, 2018
1. Pea Ridge
2. Robinson
3. Pocahontas
4. Crossett
5. Ozark
6. Ashdown
7. Shiloh
8. Hamburg
9. Lonoke
10. Gentry
Individual state rankings
*means pre-qualified for state
100 METERS
1. Tiana Wilson, Hamburg 11.86*
4. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge 12.87*
200 METERS
1. Tiana Wilson, Hamburg 24.96*
4. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge 26.30*
100 METER HURDLES
1. Natalie Toney, Pocahontas 16.13*
2. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge 16.23*
3. Shelby Dunlap, Pea Ridge 16.32
300 METER HURDLES
1. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge 46.01*
3. Shelby Dunlap, pea Ridge 48.79*
4X100 METER RELAY
1. Pea Ridge
4X400 METER RELAY
1. Shiloh 112 87 56 42 41 36 35 30 22 20
51.21* 4:26.54 2. Pea Ridge
HIGH JUMP
1. Kynley Burton, Pea Ridge
POLE VAULT
1. Cassidy Mooneyhan, Pea Ridge11-4*
4. Tori Scrogham, Pea Ridge 8-6
LONG JUMP
1. Keiunna Walker, Lonoke
2. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge
TRIPLE JUMP
1. Shelby Dunlap, Pea Ridge
2. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge
DISCUS
4:28.25 5-0
17-8* 17-2*
34-9* 34-1
1. Chastery Fuamato, Gentry117-11*
3. Meredith Mitchell, Pea Ridge 94-2
New Blackhawk coach continues winning ways
If Asa Poteete’s Blackhawk tracksters win the 4A state title next year, it won’t be his first time in the winner’s circle.
Poteete’s 2017 Tulsa Union Redskins won Oklahoma’s 6A class last season, the highest classification in the state. His charges scored more than 100 points to break a string of state titles by Oklahoma track power Edmond North.
He joined his former Union colleagues Stephen Neal and Bryan Claytor by accepting a position here as a football coach and head track coach. Neal and Claytor came over the previous year.
The Blackhawk boys track program kind of bottomed out a few years ago, routinely finishing last in the conference. In 2014, the ’Hawks finished seventh in the 4A-1 and sent one entry to state but didn’t place.
In 2015, the ’Hawks took a team fifth place in the district, sending the 4x100 relay to state, with that relay placing seventh to earn the first points (2) in a state meet in quite a long time. In 2016, the ’Hawks were fourth in team points in district, sending their 4x400 relay to state. They took fourth to score 4 points in the state finals.
In 2017, things began to look brighter as the ’Hawks rose to take second in the district meet, sending athletes who scored in three events at state (100-meter, 4x100-meter, 300-meter hurdles) to rack up a school record 9 points for a 4A state meet. Look for the Blackhawks to score a whole lot more than 9 points at this year’s state.
Fast forward to 2018, and the boys surprised 4A track fans by showing potential championship mettle, taking third in the state indoor meet in February. The ’Hawks were a photo finish in the 55 hurdles away from scoring just one more point that would have given them the second place trophy.
Starting out with the 2nd ranking this spring for outdoor track, the Hawks have steadily improved and now sit on top of the rankings as the top team.