Farmer wins state decathlon
CABOT — The third time was the charm for Haze Farmer.
After attempts to break the Class 6A state and Meet of Champs records in the boys’ pole vault were unsuccessful earlier this month, Farmer pulled through Thursday at the 55th annual state decathlon at Panther Stadium.
The Lake Hamilton junior cleared 16 feet, 5 1/4 inches in the pole vault to set the decathlon record in the event, surpassing Bentonville’s Ethan Sandusky’s mark of 16-3 in 2010.
In addition to his pole vault victory, Farmer used finishes of 12th place in the triple jump and eighth place in the 1,500-meter run to win the decathlon, totaling 5,970 points.
“The pole vault was great. It’s his specialty, and we know that,” Lake Hamilton coach Karl Koonce said. “But he had to come through in some other events, too.”
Farmer became Lake Hamilton’s fourth decathlon champion, joining Matt Lawrence in 1999, Matt Vining in 2003 and Ethan Turpen in 2009.
“It’s all about being the best you can be,” Koonce said. “We talk about it’s a point event. It’s not so much winning every event. Get the points and be the best you can be.”
The state’s top pole vaulter this season, Farmer won the Class 6A state championship May 3 in Russellville with a clearance of 17 feet and the Meet of Champions with a mark of 16-8. He attempted to break former Lake Hamilton standout Nick Johnson’s state record of 17-3 set in 2016, but failed to do so.
Then, at the Meet of Champs on May 12 at his home stadium, Wolf Stadium in Pearcy, Farmer was unsuccessful on three attempts to beat Mount Ida’s Andrew Irwin’s mark of 17-1 set in 2011.
On Thursday, Farmer reached the top of the record books.
“It was great,” Farmer said. “The last few records, I’ve fell short on. It wasn’t the height that I wanted, but it’s nice to have it.”
With the pole vault triumph, Farmer earned
913 points. Trinity Christian’s Rhett Nelson was second at 15-5 and Lake Hamilton’s Michael Harris came in third at 14-9.
Farmer finished 98 points ahead of Ashdown senior Tre Green, who had 5,872 points. Prescott junior Adrian Block was third with 5,864.
Rounding out the top 10 were Fayetteville’s Austin Compton, 5,833; Rogers Heritage’s Ty Graser, 5,665; De Queen’s Tanner Manasco, 5,563; Conway’s Cary McClain, 5,412; Springdale’s Sebastian Frazier, 5,346; Genoa Central’s Remington Bearden, 5,345; and Camden Fairview’s Detemon Curtis, 5,313.
Block earned a victory in the 110-meter hurdles, clocking in at 15.48 and earned 792 points. Manasco finished second at 15.65 and Green came in third at 15.66.
Harris won the discus with a winning toss of 118 feet, 2 inches. He earned 584 points. Crossett’s Michael Thompson was second at 115-4 and Green finished third at 108-4.
McClain took the triple jump title, leaping 43 feet, 10 1/2 inches to earn 624 points. Green had a mark of 43-5.25 to finish second, while Bearden was third at 41-8.75.
Jessieville’s Noah Eskew had a winning time of 4:16.35 in the 1,500 to earn 837 points. Green Forest’s Lex Hilton was second at 4:28.26 and Springdale Har-Ber’s Ethan Carney came in third
4:34.08.
Entering the second day of the decathlon, Farmer trailed day one leader Graser by 159
points. But Farmer came back and used his record-setting vaulting mark to come out on top.
“It’s huge,” Farmer said. “I like winning the pole vault because I work so hard at it. But to win this [the decathlon], this is even greater to me. It’s something not a lot of people get to do.”
Maumelle’s Claire Luallen won the 21st annual heptathlon Thursday, totaling 4,164 points. Camden Fairview’s Tai’Sheka Porchia was second with 4,125 points and El Dorado’s Breya Clark finished third with 4,086 points.