Arkansas Track

[FilmCrew]

Can anyone tell me why there isn't a category for High School Track?

Looking over Fearless I see we have soccer, movies, volleyball threads but not track?

[stattracker]

Ask them if they will race to put one up? In all my time on here that is the first request for track.

[AB™]

I'd love to have a track/cross country board. It would probably get as much traffic as the vollyeball and junior high basketball boards. There are a lot more track & field fans on here than most people think.

[RATTLER43]

I have been here long enough to have read requests for it. I like things just as they are. We just keep this thread going all year for CC, Indoor, then outdoor.

Go here to read:  http://www.fearlessfriday.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=95184.175 

By the way, Filmcrew, it is my personal favorite. I love all sports but look at CC as the purest of them all.

[FilmCrew]

My son is a pole vaulter and with any luck should go on  (college) doing it. I was just surprised by the number of post on here that no one had started a Track board.

[AB™]

Once track season starts someone usually starts a thread and it gets a good amount of traffic.

FilmCrew, where does you son go to school?

[RATTLER43]

What is his personal best?  Love PV!!!!

[FilmCrew]

My son pole vaults for Mount Ida, trains under Morey Sanders in Black Springs. I believe he is one of best in the south as far as taking your child to the next level.

He is a 9th grader and his pr I believe is around 12'6.  We can't wait for indoors to start this year.

[AB™]

I don't expect much right now.  The closer it gets to track season, though, it will pick up.

[RATTLER43]

Right now most of our posts will be on my CC thread. This could get rolling in March (if they can find it).

Thanks for the site. If I converse with one other about the sport I most love I am happy.

[FilmCrew]

Cool, I will send out the message that there is a new track board an see what I can do to generate some interest.

[AB™]

Just go some information about some new kids coming out for Alma's track team this year, all from the football team.

One is Isaac McCoy our basketball and football standout.  I don't know what kind of speed he has, but he may be able to help us out in our only weak area, and that is in the sprints.  I do know he will be a jumper for sure, and I fully expect him to be good enough to qualify for state, and get us points in HJ, LJ, and TJ.

Another is Nathan Workman who is a WR on the football team.  Apparently he has about 4.4-4.5 speed and will be a sprinter, again helping us i nour only weak area.  He has the school record in the 40 yard dash that was previously held by Dexter Pendergraft.  Pendergraft placed 5th in the 100m, 3rd in the 200m, and 1st in the 400m, at the state meet his senior year.  Workman is supposed to be faster than Dexter.  Last year Alma was able to win state without anyone placing in any of these three events, so if Workman is able to place in just one sprinting event it would give Alma a HUGE boost.

Another is lineman on the football team that would be a thrower.  We are already loaded in this area but another one couldn't hurt.

These would be three big additions to the team if they do in fact come out for track this year.

[RATTLER43]

Looks like another banner season on its way for Alma.

[AB™]

If Workman can legitimately compete statewide in the sprints, and McCoy is as good of a jumper as I think he will be, then we just became scary good.  I mean we were already scary good, but still. 

Alma had two areas last year they weren't that strong in..  We had zero sprinters and only two long and triple jumpers and only one of those placed at state.  McCoy is one of the best athletes in the state and has the speed and leaping ability, IMO, to probably be a top notch LJ and TJ.  I didn't know Workman was that fast but if he is in fact faster than Pendergraft, he'll have a 100m time in the low 11's, a 200m time in the 22s, and a 400 time near 50 flat or possibly sub 50.  However, he's never ran track before, and Dexter had ran track all three years in high school, so that may hinder Workman until he can figure out how to race.

[RATTLER43]

On to indoor track. Only CC All Star meet left for this season.

[#GameOn#]

Whats your predictions for state championship teams?

[RATTLER43]

For Indoor? or Outdoor?

[#GameOn#]

How about both haha

[RATTLER43]

Indoor is a different animal. Hard to predict?
In girls small school - Mansfield
          large school - Bentonville
In boys small school - DeQueen
           large school - Lake Hamilton

[RATTLER43]

I got almost every CC pick right. Let's see how I do for indoor.

Give me until March or April to make my outdoor picks.

[RATTLER43]

Your picks?

[RATTLER43]

Just for kicks here goes:
7A- Conway?
6A-Lake Hamilton
5A-Alma
4A-DeQueen
3A-Prescott?
2A-Magazine
1A-Trinity Christian

[AB™]

Thanks for picking Alma this early in the season. 

I'm still very scared of what Magnolia has and it will be a 2 team race once again at state.

THose three kids coming out for track are HUGE question marks. 

Best case scenario, they are as good as I speculated already, and take us from being loaded, to be loaded with no weaknesses, and win state comfortably.

Worst case scenario, only one of the three pan out, we still have a very good team, and not win state.


Like I said, Workman is supposed to be fast, but has never ran track.  But if he is faster than Dexter was in 03-05, he will have times to place at state in the sprints, events Alma had no one place in last year, and still won state.

McCoy is fast and very good leaping ability, and the build, IMO, to be a very good LJ and TJ.  I'm guessing he'll HJ as well. 

Alma's biggest weaknesses every year:  100m, 200m, 400m, LJ, TJ.  Workman, and McCoy have a very good chance of filling a void in every event, or at least in half of them.


We figured out from last year's state championship team, Alma lost 7 seniors that scored points at state.  However, we also figured out that if some underclassmen progress how we think they are capable of progressing we would make up for almost all 7 kids.  That's why the addition of McCoy and Workman would be so huge for Alma.  Not only would it add two more kids to makeup for the 7 or 8 Alma lost off of last year's team, but it would give us 2 kids capable of scoring points at state in 3 or 4 events Alma NEVER scores points in.

[RATTLER43]

Alma will be good with or without the additions. I rarely pick against Coach Mac. He always has the boys prepared.

[#GameOn#]

For Indoor Im going to agree with you 100% on the girls side those two teams have the best athletes of the state and I always love watching a state championship title come down to the 4X4 meter relay. That usually happens in the boys between Dequeen and England.
Alma has a good boys program as well. I hope that Mansfield can pull their 4th consecutive indoor title, thats amazing, how many is bentonville up to?

[AB™]

Alma will be good with or without the additions. I rarely pick against Coach Mac. He always has the boys prepared.

I think Alma will always be a "football" school, but I think their success the last 6 years has slowly started to turn the tide.  Three state titles and three runner's-up will do that.  Over the last 2 or 3 years alone, we've had kids quit one of the big three sports to concentrate solely ton T&F.  Coach Mac has built a monster and the kids love running for him.

[RATTLER43]

Agreed. Nothing replaces the revenue sports but Coach Mac has the snow ball rolling downhill.

[AB™]

It's a pretty telling sign when a kid that has been playing football, or basketball, or baseball their whole lives quit that sport for track.

[RATTLER43]

Yes. But that is the transformation for me as well. I was all about baseball until 12; basketball was everything for 15 years after that. Now track and cross country are better than the others combined even though I still love the others (played basketball yesterday and football today).

I have seen what he has done and admired from afar.

Indoor is just around the corner.

[#GameOn#]

Now that we have our predictions lets talk about individul perfromances, standouts, etc. Know anybody who is getting any scholarships?
I think last year the best perfromance I saw was at the meet of champs when Grace broke the record and then trotted over to her dad.
On the boys side the young man from southside who can high jump like nothing else. He was fun to watch also.
Love watching the hurdles to!

[AB™]

Best peformers I saw last year:

The high jumper from SS was insane.

Seeing the Rogers kid and some others from SS and Conway run the 800m.

Turpen from Lake Haimlton doing it all:  HJ, 800, 4x800 (great leg)

Southside killing it in the 4x800. 

Pretty much the entire McDonald's Relays.  To me, that was a more exciting and fun meet than state in different ways.  Alma placed 3rd which really was telling since, Lake Hamilton, Southside, Bentonville, all had their full teams there and Alma was still able to place 3rd with all the big boys.


I'm also excited/scared to see how much better Sax from Vilonia is this year.  He was a freshman last year and placed 8th in the 100m, just missed on qualifying for the 200m finals (9th best time in prelims), 5th in the 300m hurdles, 6th in the 110m hurdles, last year at state.  I repeat, he was just a FRESHMAN!



Some things I'm looking forward to seeing from Alma this year:

Montoya ran a 1:58 in the 800m last year at the MoC and I hope he can get that down to a 1:56 by district.

My brother was running low 2:03's consistently last year.  I'd love to see him get his 800m down to a 2 flat.  He will also be running th 4x8 and the 1 mile a lot of meets so that will hurt his indiviual 800.  I hope there is a meet or 2 that he can run only the 800m and see how good of a time he can get. 

We had a sophomore last year PR at a 2:05 last year in the 800m so I'm hoping by district he is running consistent 2:05s and maybe even have his times down to a low 2:04.

I'm interested to see how good our 4x8 team can be.  That has been our bread butter along with the individual 800m.  We won't have 4 legs as strong as all 4 legs last year, but our two fastest legs this year could be 1:58 and 2:01-2:2:02, and a third leg of 2:04-2:05.  There are a couple of candidates right now to be the 4th leg, neither with blazing times, but my brother has told me he thinks by the end of the year the 4th leg will be about a 2:07. 

Conservatively speaking, that would give us another great 4x8 team: 
1:58
2:01
2:05
2:08
-----
8:12


That's me low balling everyone for the most part.  Maybe (hopefully) they can have their time under 8:10 by the end of the year.

Alma has all of its throwers back, the kid who got 1st in the HJ at state last year, it's second best JFer back.  I'm also interested to see how much Dada Ester progresses.  He was a freshman last year who placed 4th in the TJ at state.  He also has potential to be good in the 200m and I would like for him to qualify for state in the 200m and placing would be nicce.

If Isaac McCoy comes out I can't wait to see if and what events he will do.  The kid is a sick athlete (low level D1 recruit in basketball and football) and he has the build and natural ability, IMO, to be good in the TJ and LJ.

Same goes with Nathan Workman.  Cna't wait to see if he is as fast as advertised and to see if that translates onto the track.  If so, then we might finally have a kid who can place in the 100m and 200m at state.

[RATTLER43]

I always enjoy the MOC. The PV was great last year. Grace was great. Girls distance running is at an all time high. For me personally, I, of course, enjoyed the boys discus. Cannot wait to get started.

[AB™]

Did Lake Hamilton lose their PVer? 

[RATTLER43]

I thought he was a senior. Not sure. They have another great one back.

[AB™]

Lake Hamilton is a PVer factory.  They always have 3 or 4 of the best in the entire state.

[RATTLER43]

Actually, for the past half decade I have thought that Mansfield girls, Alma boys, and LH boys and girls have developed kids in every event. I chalk that up to great coaching. Rogers is a distance factory as is Bentonville now. Southside seems to always produce great field events in boys. Shiloh has become a distance factory as well. Acorn, Eureka Springs, DeQueen, Heber Springs, and MH are all distance meccas, too.

[#GameOn#]

Well said Rattler!!!
Mansfield girls lost some depth from some girls graduating...but their main studs are still there, which is amazing.
I agree MOC is a place to watch some great athletes participate.

[RATTLER43]

Mansfield has been a powerhouse. I think they will be fine this year even with the loss of those seniors. Incredible depth the past few years.

[Pick_DA_EAGLES]

i believe des arc will return several of last years state champion boys team, so i look for them too be a force again.

[RATTLER43]

Who did you lose? I thought you had everybody back. We look to be in the hunt again. JC will be good again.

[RATTLER43]

Wow, AB. I am always impressed with your 4x800 when we compete at same meets. Many times we are runner-up with times like 8:45 to 9:05 and Alma is way out in front of us. We look good for top Class AA time this year. I project us in the 8:40s if we stay healthy.
Williams 2:05
McElroy  2:09
Chadwick 2:15
Thao 2:15
Yang 2:15
Crawford 2:15
Chang 2:15
Travis* 2:15

I have a thrower who ended in 140s  last year and over 49 in shot. #2 thower over 125; #3 over 120. We have some nice strengths. Just have to put it all together. Waiting to see how my vaulters and sprinters come along. Could be great season.

[Pick_DA_EAGLES]

Who did you lose? I thought you had everybody back. We look to be in the hunt again. JC will be good again.

i think the biggest losses would be dunlap & metcalf.

[RATTLER43]

Agreed. They were great at sprints, hurdles, and jumps. I think they won three events or so.

[RATTLER43]

I just know that we are working hard. You guys and JC finished in front of us last year. Trying to figure out a way to get you guys.

[Pick_DA_EAGLES]

the hurdles and jumps will be picked up by a soph. trentt whiting 6'5" 180lbs 35"vert., he was high point runner-up at last years 6-2a jr. dist meet. lost by half point to hazen's matt tenison. i think he won the both hurdles, high jump, and one other event, second in 2 more events. i believe his high jump mark would have been in the top 5 at 2a sr. state meet.

[AB™]

This is just a rundown off the top of my head of what I know Alma will have next year as far as how many can place at district and qualify for state and what grade they'll be in.


High Jump 
Jarek Pulliam SR - placed 1st at state and district last year.  PR 6'5"

Austin Wofford JR - Placed 4th at district, had a bad day at state.  PR is 5'11" (I think)

Matt Woosley SO - placed 2nd at the junior high conference meet last year by jumping 5'10".  PR 5'10"

Cody Meredith  SR - Thought he moved off but he's back.  He's placed at district and state the last two years.  I think he has potential to consistenly jump 6'4" this year.  PR 6'4"

Unfortunately, Cody Meredith who would be a senior this year, and placed 7th at state last year moved to somewhere in Oklahoma.  Isaac McCoy could do HJ if he comes out for the track team.  If I had to guess, I'd say he'd be better than Wofford but not as good as Pulliam.



Pole vault 
Brody Young SR - Placed 3rd at district last year.  They made the pole rule change last year the day of the state meet, it really affected him, and he didn't have a qualifying jump, knocking down the bar all three jump.  PR is 12'6"

Kevin Fagan JR - Jumped 11'6" at district last year and placed 5th.  PR 11'6"

Zach Burton SO - Placed 5th at Jr. High district meet last year by jumping 9'6".  PR 9'6"



Long Jump
Dadrian "Da Da" Ester SO -  Won Jr. High district, placed 2nd at Sr. High district, and 4th at state.  PR of 20' 11.5"

Ethan Kelton SR - 5th at district last year.  Two years ago he scratched all 3 jumps at district, but he has the talent to qualify and place at state, which I think he'll finally do this year.  PR 20' 6.25"

Jason Hensley JR - 8th last year at district.  PR 18' 8.75"

Another event McCoy would be very good at, IMO.  Maybe as good or even better than Ester.



Triple Jump 
Ethan Kelton SR - Placed 4th at district last year.  Didn't place at state.  He has a PR that would be good enough to place at state if he can reach ir or better it this year.  PR  41'5"

Austin Wofford JR - 8th at district last year.  Never really did TJ until last year so he should improve quite a bit this year.  He's got a long stride and long legs, perfect build for the TJ.  PR 39' 3.5"

Jason Hensley JR - 9th at district last year.  PR 38' 6"

Victor Leathers SO - Placed 3rd at Jr. High district last year.  PR 37' 8"

Ester didn't compete in the TJ in the junior high or senior high meets.  I don't know if he will this year.  I think he will and I think he's obviously talented enough to qualify for state and place.  This is also another event I think Isaac McCoy would be good at.  I'm sure you're starting to see just how much better we could be if McCoy comes out for the track team.



Shot Put
Jesse Pennington  SR - Placed 1st at district, 2nd at state, and 2nd at MoC last year.  IMO, he'll be the best in the state this year, regardless of classification, now that Carmical from Monticello has graduated. 
PR 53'10"

Jordan White JR - Placed 3rd at district last year and 5th at state. 
PR 50' 7.5"

Jason Hensley JR - Placed 7th at district last year.  PR  47' 4.5"  

Brandon Wilson SR - Placed 8th at district last year.  Last year was his first year to ever throw and IIRC he only participated in 3 or 4 meets including district.  He's a big strong kid and I think after getting an offseason's worth of practice and instruction from arguably the best throwing coach in the state (Coach Hale) he could come around and qualify for state.  PR 46' 1"



Discus
Michael Phan SR - Placed 1st at district, 1st at state, and 2 at MoC last year.  PR 168' 4"

John Bass SR - Placed 2nd at district and 6th at state last year.  PR 139' 10"

Some Wildcards who threw well at Jr. High district last year with the lighter weight.  Stephen McMurray (Coach Mac's son) threw 133' 6.5", Conrad Carr 127' 3.5", Charles Busby 122' 10.5".  All will be sophomores.  Supposed to have a kid off the football team come back out for track (hadn't thrown since junior high) who is a big strong kid and was about as good than Pennington and Phan in junior high.



110m Hurdles
Jose Rivera SR - Placed 1st at district and 7th at state last year.  I really think he can break 15 this year.  PR 15.14

We had a kid who will be a senior this year who placed 7th at district last year but his PR is only in the 16s.  He could improve enough, though, and qualify for state.  I wouldn't put anything past our coaching staff.  Meredith, the kid who moved to Oklahoma, had never done the hurdles before, Coach Mac decided to enter him in the 110's at district last year and he placed 4th.  Would be nice to have him back because we are thin in the hurdles this year.


300m Hurdles
Jose Rivera SR - Placed 2nd at district and 3rd at state.  PR 40.47

Again, Ethan Berry is really our only other shot of qualifying 2 people for state in this one but his PR is only in the 44's. 



100m
Ethan Kelton SR - Placed 3rd at district last year but didn't place at state.  He'd have to knock off about 0.5 seconds of his PR if he wants to place at state this year.  PR 11.61

Bobby Brown JR - Only placed 9th at district on a bad day.  Will need to shave off about 0.6-0.8 off his PR to have any shot of placing at state.  PR 11.85

Dadrian Ester SO - Placed 4th at Jr. High district meet last year, didn't run at Sr. High district meet.  I think he has more potential than anyone else to breakout and be our only hope of placing at state in the 100m.  PR 11.83

Another event McCoy would probaby be good at but I'm not sure exactly how fast his 100m speed would be.  Matt Woosley is a sophomore with a PR of 12.13. 



200m
Ethan Kelton SR - Placed 3rd at district.  Needs to do some work if he wants to place at state.  PR 23.57

Dadrian Ester SO - Placed 7th at Sr. High district meet.  Same as in the 100m, has the most potential to make a substantial leap and improve this year. 
PR 24.29

I think Isaac McCoy has the build to be better in the 200m and 100m but that is nothing but a guess.



400m
Shawn Tabor SR - Placed 7th at district last year.  Got a lot of work to do if he wants to place at state though.  PR 52.22

Isaak Montoya SR - He's actually probably about a 51 guy in the 400m.  He's just never an it before since he's been primarily a 800m and 4x800 guy the last two years. 



There is a chance a kid from the football team, Nathan Workman, who is a senior is going to come out for track this year.  He has the school record in the 40 yd dash.  4.4 I believe.  Not 4.4 flat but still in the 4.4s.  A kid my SR year who had the previous school record in the 40 yd dash placed in the 100m, 200m, and 400m, his senior year at state.  Needless to say, if Workman is as fast as advertised, he should be good enough to place in at least 1 or 2 of those three events, which obviously would give us almost zero weaknesses.  Sprints have always been our weakness and we still found a way to win state last year with no one placing in the 100/200/400.  Pendergraft was fast but small, (5'7") Workman is not only fast but a big kid, about 6'2".  He has a good build to be good in all 3 sprinting events and obviously fast enough.  He is just going to have to learn how to actually race since he's never ran track before.



800m
Isaak Montoya SR - Placed 2nd at district, 1st at state, and 4th at the MoC.  PR 1:59.31

Brooks Blanton - Placed 3rd at district and 5th at state last year.  Also placed at state as a sophomore.  Ran some of his legs in 4x800 in the 2:02's but his individual 800m PR is in the 2:03's.  PR 2:03.62

Hayden Woods JR - Placed 7th at district last year.  I think he's right on track to be a 2:04-2:05 guy this year.  PR 2:08.22

There are two other kids that will be seniors that really made a ton of improvement between last year to XC this year and they will be battling it out for the 4th kid ont he 4x8 team.  My best guess on them right now is they are both 2:08-2:10 right now.



1,600m
Brooks Blanton SR - He only ran the mile once last year and he's never gone into a season training for it and focusing on it.  This offseason he really trained harder than ever and knows he will be their primary miler.  He said he's targeting at getting down to a 4:45-4:50 but knows it will be tough since he'll also be running the 4x800 and 800 every meet.  PR 5:09.07

Judd Boster SR - Made a ton of improvement this year in XC and hopefully it'll translate onto the track.  I don't know if he can qualify for state though. 
PR 5:15.32

Matt Bond SR - He and Boster are the two kids that will also be fighting it out as the 4th man on the 4x8 team.  He also has improved by leaps and bounds and from what I've been told has been working just as hard, if not harder, than any of our other long distance runners.  PR 5:25.61

Andy Hannah JR - Looked great in XC this year should be improved.  Hopefully he'll be running the low 5's high 4's this year.  PR 5:17.65



3,200m
Anthony Serrano SR - Will probably run the mile as well.  I see this kid outside running all the time.  Unfortunately he is limited physicall but probably is the hardest worker and most dedicated kid on the entire track team.  Great work ethic and great kid who loves to run.  Placed 7th at district last year. 
PR 11:41

Nathaniel Mickelson SO - Placed 8th at district last year.  Don't know how good he'll be but there is potential there for him since he is so young. 
PR 11:49


We're pretty think in the 1,600 and 3,200 this year since Colton Mason graduated.  I think Blanton has the potential to place at state in the 1,600m.  Not sure if anyone can even qualify for state in the 3,200m.



Relays

4x100:  Workman and Kelton will for sure be on the team.  McCoy (if he's on the team) and Ester would probably be the other half of the team.  As is the norm, we might have the potential to place in the 5-8 range at state.  However, if those are our 4 on the team then it could be one of Alma's best ever.

4x400:  Workman and Tabor for sure.  Montoya is running the 400m this year and so I'm guessing he will probably be on the 4x4 relay team as well.  He's actually faster than Tabor in the 400m...I think.

4x800:  Won't have a team as strong as last year in regards to all 4 legs being sub 2:05 guys.  But we should have Montoya running 1:58-1:59, Blanton running 2:00-2:01, and Hayden in the 2:05-2:06 range.  If we can just get a 4th leg in the 2:08 range the 4x800m team may be better, time wise, than last year.





That's my season preview.  I know it's long and don't even know if anyone will read it.  But I think Alma will be the team to beat again this year if Workman and McCoy come out for the team.  My brother said McCoy is still kind of iffy on whether or not he'll do track but Workman is supposed to be a sure thing, for now.  Without those two, we're still a top 2 team along with Magnolia.



EDIT:  Just talked to my brother right after posting this, and he said Meredith came back, so that gives us another kid who should place in the HJ at state, and qualify for state in both hurdles events.

[RATTLER43]

Wow. Looks great. Your distance guys will have to get those times down. With Coach Mac it will happen. You guys are getting me all hyped up!! It's still months away from our first competition.

[RATTLER43]

I will give my preview as the season closes in. Waiting on football to end. Right nowall I have are my distance runners.

[AB™]

Agree on the distance guys.  Only one I expect to qualify for state in either event is my brother.  Llike I said he's never been a miler before but trained hard this offseason.  That PR of 5:09 is a bit misleading.  I think he's easily a sub 5 miler.  Could be in the high 4:40's by the end of the year.

I'm hoping our 4x800 team can go 8:10 or better this year.  If they get a 1:58, 2:00, 2:05, 2:08 leg that would be 8:11.  I'm hoping that one of the two "weaker legs" by the end of the year, and if conditions are right, can run a 2:04 and 2:07.  I really wish they would have gone to the MoC last year because I think they would have ran a sub 8:05.  Hot Springs ran an 8:26 and got 2nd at state last year.  They went to the MoC and ran an 8:12.  Everyone went crazy that day at the MoC in the 4x800 and it was a beautiful day to run.  Lake Hamilton and Cabot would have really been pushing them and by that time of the year all 4 legs of our 4x8 team were running better than they ever had before.

[RATTLER43]

Start approaching that 8:00 and you are getting into that elite area. Your brother getting his time into 4:40s would really help Alma win the title.