HIGH AND FAST
Trinity Christian students bring glory with standings in Class 1A field events
Trinity Christian High is a small Class 1A school with approximately 75 students each year for grades 9-12.
But the school has made a name for itself with some outstanding performances in athletics, especially in track and field.
Two that have made a big impact at Trinity Christian with state titles to their credit are Elizabeth Gillette in track events and Rhett Nelson in a field event.
ELIZABETH GILLETTE
Gillette, a 19-year-old sophomore at Arkansas State University (Jonesboro), has several school records in the 1600 meters (mile) and the 3200 meters.
She holds the state record in the Class 1A indoor tw0-mile event at Fayetteville, Ark., with an 11:31, and the outdoor two-mile record at Harrison, Ark., with an 11:08 in her senior year at Trinity.
Gillette has continued her success at ASU in cross country and track, making all-conference honors in both events.
She has kept busy after school related events, having won the overall female in the 5K (3.1-miles) at the recent Hope Watermelon Festival. Her best time for the 5K was a second place finish at Little Rock in July with a time of 17:42.
Even though she started running in the seventh grade, she really didn't take it seriously until her junior year. She credits a lot of her success to former coach Jeff Haynes.
Haynes is also a real good runner, holding school records at Prescott High School in the one-mile and twomile events, and often wins in his age division (45-50) in 5K and 10K races.
“If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have accomplished what I have done, and he changed my life as a person,” Gillette said.
“She is one of those kids that have talent, but also works extremely hard,” Haynes said. “She is so dedicated that even after the 5K in Hope, she ran the course two more times to get in extra mileage.”
Gillette has other interests besides running as she was on the Lady Warriors' basketball team at Trinity for two years, and has recently taken up disc golf. She and her partner, Parker Sitton, placed third in a disc golf tournament at Spring Lake Park.
RHETT NELSON
Nelson, 15, is not only the Class 1A state pole-vault champion, he was also the third best overall in Arkansas as a freshman when he vaulted 15 feet, 4 inches.
To become No. 1, he has some work to do.
Although one of the two ahead of him has graduated, the other is Haze Farmer, who will be a junior this year at Lake Hamilton. Farmer vaulted 16-2 last season.
“He is one of my best friends,” said Nelson. “We practice a lot together, and the competition brings out the best in us.”
After his freshman year, Nelson had struggled a little this summer. “I think we have worked out the kinks, and have been doing well the last few practices. I believe I'll be able to clear 16-0, and possibly even higher.”
Nelson started vaulting at a very early age.
“I brought Rhett along to one of sister Hannah's practices when he was five years old,” his father Russ Nelson said. “Soon he was using an old broom stick and vaulting over things.”
Rhett, however, claims he didn't get really serious until the seventh grade when he improved two feet from 9-9 to 11-9. He has come a long way since then.
In addition to pole-vaulting, Nelson was also the leading scorer during the basketball season.
He does not plan to play basketball this season, concentrating on being a member of the cross country team and pole-vaulting.
“I believe we'll have a real good team,” said Rhett, who has a 3-mile time of 18:27. “We have a couple of real good runners returning.”
The Trinity Christian cross country season begins Sept. 2 at home.
Nelson credits his success to his parents for taking him to those far-off practices and non-school track meets, and his coaches, Morrey Sanders and Steve Irwin.
“Despite all his success, he is still very coachable and easy to work with,” Russ Nelson, 48, said. Russ was one of Texarkana's top runners in his younger days at Arkansas High, and later often winning 5K races.