Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
ALL- NWADG GIRLS TRACK
RUNNER OF THE YEAR ANNA WOOLSEY
SCHOOL Ozark
CLASS Junior
HEIGHT 5-6
NOTABLE Woolsey pulled off the hat track by winning all three sprints during the Class 4A state meet at Harrison. … She turned in a winning time of 12.31 seconds in the 100 meters, and she was the only runner to run the 200 in under 26 seconds (25.56) and the 400 in under a minute (59.87). … Also finished fifth in the pole vault (8-6) to account for 34 of the Lady Hillbillies’ 44 points and a sixth-place finish. … Finished fourth in the 100, fifth in the 200 and second in the 400 during the Meet of Champs in Russellville. … Finished 18th in the Arkansas High School Girls Heptathlon with 3,597 points. QUOTABLE “I had a pretty good season this year. The state meet turned out to be a pretty long day because we had prelims at the meet. I won the prelims in the 100 and 200, so I was pretty confident in them. Then I came back and won the 100, the 400 and the 200, so it was pretty fun that day. I just wanted to continually get PRs and obviously win state, so it was a pretty good year. I did the heptathlon for the first time ever this year, so next year I will focus more on some of those events next year.”
ATHLETE OF THE YEAR KESSIAH BEMIS
SCHOOL Fayetteville
HEIGHT 5-7
NOTABLE Accounted for 48 of the 191.5 points the Lady Bulldogs had compiled to win the Class 6A state championship. … Won the 300-meter hurdles with her time of 45.22 seconds, took second in the long jump (personal-best 18 feet, 6.75 inches), triple jump (personal-best 37-3.25), the 100 and the 400 and finished third in the 200. … Won the 300 hurdles in 44.68 at the Meet of Champs, where she also finished third in the 200, fourth in the long jump and fifth in the 100. … Capped her high school career by winning the Arkansas High School Girls Heptathlon 4,477 points, where she won the 200 and finished second in the 800. … Had the state’s best time in the 300 hurdles at 44.64 seconds, a time she set on her home track. … Will continue her track career at Arkansas, with a possible focus on the heptathlon. QUOTABLE “I think I did well toward the end. The indoor season was good, but it takes me a little while to get back into the groove and shake off the offseason legs. So I was able to work up to what I need to do. I was strong, and I did what I could for the seasons in the past. I think the first Bentonville West meet was a good meet for me, especially in the 300 hurdles. That’s where I set a PR and broke through for the outdoor season because I started seeing better times. I have to say both state meets — indoor and outdoor — will be something to remember because they were full-circle moments. We had worked so hard for it.”