STAR RUNNER
LH’s Carson signs with Arkansas Razorbacks
PEARCY — One of the most decorated athletes in Lake Hamilton history inked her name on a national letter of intent to run track and cross country at the University of Arkansas Tuesday morning in the Lake Hamilton High School library media center.
Josie Carson, who earned her fourth straight individual state title in November, was joined by family, friends, teammates and coaches for the event.
“This is obviously is a very special day for Josie,” Lake Hamilton head track and cross country coach Karl Koonce said. “Josie’s been involved in a big part of four state runner-up championships — three in cross country and one in track, and of course a big part of our winning state championship.
“She wasn’t the only one, of course. It was a team effort, but she was certainly a big part of winning the state championship in track and field in 2015, 2017, and she’s not through yet. We’re still working on 2018.”
Carson finished her high school cross country career in November at the Nike Cross Country South Regional at The Midlands, Texas, finishing 28th a week after besting the competition at the Arkansas vs. Oklahoma All-Star Cross Country Meet in Rogers. The senior won the event with a final time of 18:40.58, easily defeating second-place finisher Hailey Day, of Rogers, by 8.72 seconds.
In her junior track season, Carson won all three of her events in the Class 6A State Championships hosted by Lake Hamilton. In the 800-meter run, Carson bested teammate Morgan Pruitt by 1.4 seconds with a time of 2:29.61, and she defeated Priutt in the 1,600-meter run by over three seconds for the title with a time of 5:37.44. Carson’s
3,200-meter run finish of 12:13.18 saw her in front of her closest competitor by over 5.5 seconds.
The 5-6 senior also finished second in the
400-meter run at the Class 6A West conference meet with a time of 59.49.
“As you know, Josie has won quite a few honors,” Koonce said. “Individually, she is the two-time Gatorade Cross Country Athlete of the Year. She has won four individual titles in cross country, only the second person in the history of Arkansas to be able to do that. She won it ninth through 12th grade.”
The fastest female cross country runner in Arkansas will be joining a Razorbacks’ team that won its fifth consecutive Southeastern Conference title by 58 points on Nov. 10 before finishing 13th at the NCAA Division I Championship meet on Nov. 18. She will also be part of a track team that won four of its last five indoor track titles and past four outdoor titles, as well as the winning the 2016 NCAA title ahead of host Oregon by 10 points.
“Today, she is celebrating getting to sign to be part of the University of Arkansas Lady Razorbacks track and field team,” Koonce said. “In case you didn’t know that, they are one of the top track programs in the country.
They just finished national runner-up in the NCAA Indoor Meet this year. They look to be a big part of that in the future. Josie is probably going to be a part of maybe some national championships in the next four to five years.”
Carson admitted she was most excited to have a higher bar to strive toward as a collegiate athlete.
“I love the school and campus, but team-wise, I’m really excited to be a small fish in a big pond where everyone will be so fast and it will make me improve a lot to raise up to that level of competition,” she said. “They’re just amazing, and it would be awesome to be going to national-level stuff. I’ve been dreaming of this for a long time, so it’s exciting.”
With a high school career that included multiple awards and accomplishments. along with nearly 100 medals, there was no question as to Carson’s most memorable accomplishment — her “fourth individual cross country title.”
“My freshman year, I had a good race, and this year I had a good race with (Benton’s) Gracie (Hyde),” she said. “I trained really hard, and it was probably one of the most rewarding races of all of them because I worked so hard to get there and get to reap the benefits at the end and because it was the fourth one in a row. The Arkansas vs. Oklahoma All Star (Cross Country Meet) was awesome. I had a really good race and PRed (achieved a personal record).”
While Carson will be a member of the Razorback cross country and track and field teams, she will not receive any scholarship funds for her participation. With a score of 34 on her ACT, she earned the Sturgis Fellowship to attend the university, receiving $17,500 per academic year while being a member of the Honors College.