Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Getting On Track
U. S. 62, NW, Ark. — In 2012 Nikki Thordsen became the second athlete in as many years to win an individual title from a school that did not have a track.
“There is a humorous side story to this story,” said Thordsen’s father, Michael. “Lincoln does not even have a track yet, so the track athletes joke with the other students to get their cars off our track, which of course is the parking lot around the gym.”
Brittany Faust won the 2011 state championship in high jump for Lincoln.
“I think this is rather impressive, considering that they don’t have the facilities to even properly train,” Michael Thordsen said. “Yay, we will finally have one for next year, though.”
Next year has come and the 2013 Track and Field season is well underway, yet problems continue to plague the new Lincoln Track and Field facilities constructed along with the new high school.
“We want to give the community the track facility they envisioned when they voted on this bond issue,” said Lincoln athletic director, Deon Birkes. “It’s just slow going, some things we haven’t approved yet.”
Like Lincoln, Prairie Grove does not have a track and according to head boys coach, John Elder, there are no plans to build one in the near future. Elder said the program just doesn’t attract the numbers to be competitive with other spring sports such as baseball and softball drawing numerous athletes to those programs.
Farmington assistant boys Track and Field coach, Mike Adams, who handed the head coaching reins over to his son, Spencer, this year, has seen a lot of changes over the years. Mike Adams pioneered a program at Charleston and served four years as Fayetteville’s head coach and three years after that as assistant.
Mike Adams has coached world class athletes such as Wallace Spearmon, who went on to the University of Arkansas before turning pro and even competing in the Olympics.
“When I was in school, the sports in school were football, basketball and track, there wasn’t baseball,” Mike Adams said. “There’s not as much emphasis on track as there used to be.”
Adams said athletes are now bigger and stronger but the shot put and discuss aren’t nearly as strong as they used to be — which baffles him.
“I can’t figure it out,” Mike Adams said. “If you’re not real precise and have good fundamentals, it’s hard to do well.”
“We [Farmington] don’t have the facilities to practice. With so many things involved in technique, it’s really difficult to achieve a level of technique that you need to.”
One thing not lost to first year Farmington head boys Track and Field coach, Spencer Adams, is the boost local programs receive from the visibility of NCAA perennial power, University of Arkansas Track and Field program. The Razorbacks have won more than 25 national championships, including a 2013 crown, and are just miles away from all three U.S. 62 schools.
“Definitely being able to see the University right down the road be so successful helps everybody,” Spencer Adams said.
Once Lincoln gets their Track and Field facilities up to par, the Wolves may set a trend for their U.S. 62 brethren to follow.