Gentry boys take first in district meet

Gravette girls place second

GRAVETTE — Strong performances by Cole Cripps and Bryan Harris led Gentry to the boys’ team title, while Vanessa Wing flew high in leading Pea Ridge to the girls’ team title at the 4A-1 District Track Meet on April 26.

Cripps won the triple jump and repeated as district champ in the pole vault by clearing 13-6, but it was Harris who earned high-point honors by winning the 100 meters (11.33 seconds) and finishing second in the 110 hurdles, high jump and long jump. The senior also picked up a fourth-place finish in the triple jump to add to the Pioneers’ overall team total of 164.

All season long Harris has battled Gravette’s Alex Fink and Prairie Grove’s Sydney Walker, although Walker watched from the stands after suffering a hamstring injury at the John McDonnell Invitational on Saturday. Harris said Fink and Walker “got into his head,” so it was nice that he only had to worry about Fink on Tuesday.

“It was a really fun meet today,” Harris said. “Before the 200, I shook Fink’s hand and told him this will probably be the last time I’ll ever compete against him in the 200, so I said, ‘Good luck.’

“I always would think about, ‘I wonder how hard Fink is practicing,” or “I wonder how hard Sydney is practicing,” so I’ve always pushed myself to practice harder because of them.”

Walker edged Fink, a junior, in the 100 meters while Fink said he “got Harris back a little bit” by taking first in the 200, 400 and high jump.

“It’s been a lot of fun racing against [Harris] and Sydney Walker,” Fink said, still gasping for air after running the anchor leg of his team’s win in the 4x400 relay. “We’ve always pushed one another to be at our best.”

Wing, who also ran the anchor leg on her team’s 4x400 victory, was the girls’ high-point individual by winning the high jump, long jump, 200 and 400 to help the Lady Blackhawks finish with 170 points.

With a name like Wing, it would seem like she was destined to be a jumper and a sprinter, but the senior didn’t even try out for track until her sophomore year.

“I just felt like I was lazy, so I wanted to try something and track turned out to be my thing,” Wing said.

Photo by Randy Moll Jordan Neeley (4), Gravette senior, runs at the start of the 100-meter dash in Gravette on Tuesday. She won with a time of 13.19. Vanessa Wing of Pea Ridge (6) finished second in 13.34 at the district track meet in Gravette on April 26.

Photo by Randy Moll Jarod Lawrence runs in a relay for Gentry at the district track meet held in Gravette on April 26.

Photo by Randy Moll Felicia Heflin of Gravette cleared the bar at 7 feet during the district track meet held in Gravette on April 26.

Photo by Randy Moll Mallory Morris, Gentry senior, rounds the track during the district track meet on April 26. Morris took first place in the 800-meter run.