Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bulldog Relays
Bentonville High girls, Fayetteville boys finish with top points.
FAYETTEVILLE — Winnie Spurlock’s first long jump attempt was already in the books when most of the Bulldog Relays suddenly came to a halt Wednesday afternoon.
The Bentonville West junior went 17 feet, 3 inches on that attempt, and it turned out to be the winning distance for the meet, which endured about a 30-minute delay for most of the events after Fort Smith Southside sophomore long jumper Breanna Clark suffered a leg injury and had to be escorted from Ramay Junior High in an ambulance.
Spurlock said she was standing near the long jump pit when the injury took place. She didn’t see what took place, but what she heard told her what had happened.
“You could hear it,” Spurlock said. “It was awful. There was a loud pop — snap. It was definitely her leg. After that, everybody was a little shaken, and nobody jumped nearly as good.
“I prayed with one of my friends because I felt awful for that girl. I know what it’s like to give up something for a little while. It made me sick to my stomach just thinking about it, and it was hard to start jumping again. I just had to clear my mind and think of what I had to work for.”
Once the long jump resumed, athletes were limited to three attempts instead of four because of the delay. Spurlock ended up being the only person to reach the 17-foot mark, and teammate Bailye Pratt went 169.5 on her first attempt to give the Lady Wolverines a one-two finish in that event.
Meanwhile, it was Bentonville High’s time to shine in the girls division as the Lady Tigers won seven events and compiled 202 points while Rogers High was a distant second with 122.5, followed by Fayetteville at 119. Bentonville was able to get some athletes automatically qualified for the Class 7A state meet with their performances, including Sterling Thomas in the high jump (52), Avery Hughes in the 300-meter hurdles (47.37 seconds).
“Everybody else was really solid on a windy day,” Bentonville coach Randy Ramaker said. “It went pretty well — not a lot of negative things in this meet. I thought this one was much better than last week at Rogers.
“We’re just trying to peck away at things. We had some qualify in this meet, and maybe we can get some more next week in Fort Smith and keep pushing forward.”
The boys division proved to be a much tighter race during the meet, which was originally scheduled for Friday but moved because of the threat of severe weather that day through a good portion of the state. Fayetteville, thanks to five first-place finishes, compiled 141 points while Springdale Har-Ber had 122.5 and Bentonville had 105.
Camren Fischer led the Bulldogs with victories in the 1,600 (4 minutes, 24.64 seconds) and 3,200 (9:50.27). Fayetteville also had wins from Cody Grey in the long jump (21-8), Ryan Roark in the pole vault (14-6) and the 4x100 relay team of Jon Conley, Matt Carter, Drake Stanton, Frank Morgan (44.33).
“The adjustment was having warm weather for the first time,” Fayetteville coach Drew Yoakum said. “That was the big deal. We’re two weeks out of the conference meet, and we needed a meet with warm weather, although the wind was a little strong.
“We came in and competed hard. Any time Camren Fischer walks out here, he has a presence about him. He came home and ran well. Frank Morgan did well in the long and high jumps, Ryan Roark stood out in the pole vault, and we had several throughout do well in the sprints.”