I guess we can start a new one. Been a few years since we had a big dog thread going. Hoping some oldtimers along with some young pups come on board to bring back good conversation, info, stats, and to help grow a great sport! Here is to 2019 being a great year!
Arkansas starts with their first indoor invitational tomorrow. High schoolers, who are invited, will run on Saturday.
Milesplit has entries list: https://ar.milesplit.com/articles/254416-arkansas-hs-inv-entry-lists
Quote from: RATTLER43 on January 10, 2019, 12:10:50 pm
Milesplit has entries list: https://ar.milesplit.com/articles/254416-arkansas-hs-inv-entry-lists
Awesome. I'll be eagerly awaiting the college entries, too.
https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/arkansas-invitational-accepted-entry-list.pdf
.... Kelsey Herman is listed! Hoping for a breakout season for her to go along with Payton, Lexi, and Tori ...
Also see Freier listed! This could be a great year!
Read where England got 2A bid for state. Can anyone confirm?
Quote from: RATTLER43 on January 10, 2019, 05:43:37 pm
Read where England got 2A bid for state. Can anyone confirm?
They did ...
Meet of Champs--Lake Hamilton
1a---Mineral Springs
2a-- England
3a-- Green Forest
4a -- Batesville
5a & 6a-- Lake Hamilton
Not going to lie...... HF da man for posting all these spring sites for what seems like all the sports. It's greatly appreciated!
Also, unless they got a track recently that I do not know about is Green Forest hosting at Eureka's track? If so I probably will attend that meet. I know GF used to do that in the past, but I did not know if they have their own track yet?
Quote from: HorseFeathers on January 10, 2019, 08:43:08 pm
They did ...
Meet of Champs--Lake Hamilton
1a---Mineral Springs
2a-- England
3a-- Green Forest
4a -- Batesville
5a & 6a-- Lake Hamilton
Thank you.
Why is 5A/6A combined? Will they have separate races? One overall winner or one winner for each class?
Quote from: groundhawg on January 11, 2019, 05:37:17 pm
Why is 5A/6A combined? Will they have separate races? One overall winner or one winner for each class?
It's always been this way just for indoor.... I do not like how they split the new format.... With 4A gaining 16 larger schools from compared to the last decade the 1A and 2A schools have no business running with some of these 4A schools. Also, the old 1A-4A meet took entirely too long and will only be longer with the addition of 16 programs. I hope they start this an hour or 2 earlier if any AAA people have the slightest bit of intelligence.
As for 5A and 6A this makes it more competitive actually from previous years where 5A-7A ran together. This in fact takes those sixteen smallest 5A schools from previous years I just talked about, and now instead of them running with 7A schools they get to run against 1A and 2A schools cause they are 4A now instead of 5A cause the restructure this cycle. Rattler will tell you this took what already was an uphill battle for small schools and made it even harder adding them into the 1A-4A mix
Trackster and Rattler can also attest outside of the 7A big dogs in a certain area(let's say the Bentonville and Fayetteville distance guys just as one example) .... That 5A and 6A is pretty competitive in the middle of the pack and will be fun to watch. Those 5A guys will hang just fine outside of the couple really, dominant folks from 6A
As of right now indoor is 1A-4A(gag) and 5A/6A.... 1A-4A run together and 5A/6A together
I don't think 5a &6a are combined....Lake Hamilton just somehow wrangled both meets(is that the right wording? Never followed track, or even posted on this board until that earlier post haha)
Quote from: HorseFeathers on January 11, 2019, 08:37:58 pm
I don't think 5a &6a are combined....Lake Hamilton just somehow wrangled both meets(is that the right wording? Never followed track, or even posted on this board until that earlier post haha)
Well I feel like a dummy cause I thought he was talking about indoor. Had I done what normal people do and just read above that LH is hosting 5A and 6A for outdoor then I would have seen what he was talking about.
Outdoor should be separate for 5A and 6A cause they have never combined classifications for outdoor, but I am still grumpy about how they split indoor so my rant doesn't change there ;D
If they did combine 5A and 6A that would be something cause it has not be done before and seems unnecessary. I understand the indoors combined cause they use the U of A track and that's a special ordeal, but outdoor would be whole new territory if they did.
Quote from: beach bum on January 11, 2019, 08:41:23 pm
Well I feel like a dummy cause I thought he was talking about indoor. Had I done what normal people do and just read above that LH is hosting 5A and 6A for outdoor then I would have seen what he was talking about.
Outdoor should be separate for 5A and 6A cause they have never combined classifications for outdoor, but I am still grumpy about how they split indoor so my rant doesn't change there ;D
If they did combine 5A and 6A that would be something cause it has not be done before and seems unnecessary. I understand the indoors combined cause they use the U of A track and that's a special ordeal, but outdoor would be whole new territory if they did.
Maybe they were willing to don't cause between the 2 classes they're still not bigger than the smaller ones? 🤷 Who knows...LoL...Lake Hamilton wasnt the only one to bid on 6a...I forget who the other two were
6A Boys Preseason Rankings:
1. Bentonville - 115
2. Conway - 92
3. Springdale Har-Ber - 84
4. Fayetteville - 67
5. Bentonville West - 56
6. Rogers - 52
7. Little Rock Central - 43
8. Bryant - 30
9. North Little Rock - 26
10. Springdale - 25
Did Heber just get tired of hosting 4A?
Quote from: HorseFeathers on January 11, 2019, 08:37:58 pm
I don't think 5a &6a are combined....Lake Hamilton just somehow wrangled both meets(is that the right wording? Never followed track, or even posted on this board until that earlier post haha)
It will be two separate meets, held on the same day at the same location ... two boys state champions and two girls state champions. There will be no prelims earlier in the day.
It's something track coaches have wanted to do, but Lake Hamilton was the first to take the next step. It made a bold bid and went to the AAA meeting to defend it.
It caught 6A off-guard and made a few people upset because they just thought the 6A meet would go to a West school (Rogers Heritage) like it's always done because it was at a Central school (Bryant) last year. Rogers didn't even have a rep at the AAA meeting, so it goes to Lake Hamilton.
Quote from: beach bum on January 11, 2019, 07:19:38 pm
It's always been this way just for indoor.... I do not like how they split the new format.... With 4A gaining 16 larger schools from compared to the last decade the 1A and 2A schools have no business running with some of these 4A schools. Also, the old 1A-4A meet took entirely too long and will only be longer with the addition of 16 programs. I hope they start this an hour or 2 earlier if any AAA people have the slightest bit of intelligence.
The AAA won't step in on this because indoor track is not a sanctioned sport in Arkansas. The meet is run by the Arkansas Track Coaches Association, but they are at the mercy of the University of Arkansas. The meet can't start until the UA teams have completed their practice sessions that day.
John McDonnell used to work with the high school coaches and tell them you have your meet when you want and we will get out of the way. The current coach I've heard is a jerk about the high school meet being there.
Quote from: SouthpawSensation on January 20, 2019, 08:28:47 am
It will be two separate meets, held on the same day at the same location ... two boys state champions and two girls state champions. There will be no prelims earlier in the day.
It's something track coaches have wanted to do, but Lake Hamilton was the first to take the next step. It made a bold bid and went to the AAA meeting to defend it.
It caught 6A off-guard and made a few people upset because they just thought the 6A meet would go to a West school (Rogers Heritage) like it's always done because it was at a Central school (Bryant) last year. Rogers didn't even have a rep at the AAA meeting, so it goes to Lake Hamilton.
No prelims? Wow!
Which part have coaches been wanting to do?
Two meets at same site on same day is nothing new. A and AA have done it a few times including last year at Mineral Springs and before that at Hendrix. I even remember Class B with a larger group back in 85 or 86.
I enjoy combined meets. Wish we had a multiple day championship with all classifications so I could watch others. But I love it as it is now too. I just love watching great track and field. I believe folks will get to enjoy some great competition on a great track at LH this spring.
Quote from: SouthpawSensation on January 20, 2019, 08:28:47 am
It will be two separate meets, held on the same day at the same location ... two boys state champions and two girls state champions. There will be no prelims earlier in the day. It's something track coaches have wanted to do, but Lake Hamilton was the first to take the next step. It made a bold bid and went to the AAA meeting to defend it. It caught 6A off-guard and made a few people upset because they just thought the 6A meet would go to a West school (Rogers Heritage) like it's always done because it was at a Central school (Bryant) last year. Rogers didn't even have a rep at the AAA meeting, so it goes to Lake Hamilton.
If that is true (and I am NOT suggesting otherwise here), that brings up some interesting questions. With NO prelims, that should mean each classification will be straight to the finals schedule. If that is true, that puts a lot more pressure on athletes who run in multiple events because they will have less rest time, and likely have to bounce back and forth between events even more.
One result from this should reward a deeper team as opposed to a team carried by a few individuals.
But I am also wondering about the process to identify the finalists in each event. Obviously, the results from the various conference meets will be used in some way/shape/form but if each running event is limited to 8 entrants, does this mean that only the top 2 from each event in 5A will advance to state?
Hopefully, this has already been addressed....
Edit: AHSAA posted this: http://members.ahsaa.org/public/userfiles/Track_Field/BD-Rec_2018.pdf
The track and field advisory committee recommends to the AAA Board of Directors the following number of qualifiers from each classification and conference.
Also, the recommendation is to NOT replace athletes that choose not to participate in an event.
6A 2 conferences Top 8 at conference qualify to state
5A 4 conferences Top 4 at conference qualify to state
4A 6 conferences Top 3 at conference qualify to state
3A 8 conferences Top 2 at conference qualify to state
2A 8 conferences Top 2 at conference qualify to state
1A 8 conferencesTop 2 at conference qualify to state
RATIONAL:
We are moving from 7 classifications to 6 classifications, therefore revisiting the number of qualifiers for each classification was needed. Also, this recommendation provides more equality for each classification and removes the use of alternates at the state meet. Thoughts:
In 5A, this means 16 athletes advance to the state final meet - so the results of the conference meet are the ONLY criteria/basis on which to advance.
No more knowing that if you met a published state qualifying standard somewhere during the year that you will be at state.
Big game changer.
Also, the state finals schedule will need EIGHT heats in each finals sprint event.
5A Girls (2 heats), 6A Girls (2 heats), 5A Boys (2 heats), 6A Boys (2 heats).
To this end, I did look on AHSAA and found this info: http://members.ahsaa.org/public/userfiles/Track_Field/2019_6A_and_5A_State_Track_Meet_Schedule_Tentative.pdf
This is the schedule only and does not address the above questions.
Another concern - that might mean a LOT more people in the stands along with athletes.
Will Lake Hamilton have sufficient space for people in the stands, around the stadium and parking?
I do wish Lake Hamilton the best of luck in this endeavor - they have been a great host with a wonderful facility over the years and if anyone can pull this off, Lake Hamilton would be on the short list of locations to try this...
Thanks for all you guys posting informative info.... This new classification for the "other sports" is definitely going to be a little confusing for track in some stuff until this all becomes the new norm over time..... Some crazy new changes all around for sure. I plan on being at the 1A-4A indoor meet in a little less than 2 weeks as long as my schedule stays clear.
What time does the 1A-4A indoor meet start this year next week? if my memory serves me correct wasn't it 4 or 5 o'clock last year?
5:00
Thank you as always
It's still 6 days away so it will probably be a few days before they get a more accurate view of weather.... But as of now they are showing around a 40-50% chance of snow on Friday up in NWA and I-49 from Alma to Fayetteville is not a smooth drive at all in weather let alone a bunch of kids on busses coming from all over the state. I hope it does not happen cause if the 1A-4A meet gets cancelled there are no other times to get the indoor meet in cause the U of A has it the following 3 weekends after that for the Tyson Invitational, Last Chance Meet, and SEC Indoors. Let's all wish that weather away ;D
You're welcome.
It happened way back around 2002 or so. I had possibly the top athlete in small school. Hated the cancellation.
Keep watching the forecast.
Changed to way to warm to be snowing on Friday in NWA..... Which is great news. When it snowed 2 days ago up here they did not have it on the forecast until the night before and it came up. But looking good now for some racing on Friday.
Stayed at the Indoor 1A-4A meet for a couple hours.... Honestly I was a little disappointed at the turnout. I feel like there were a lot more schools there the last couple years? Maybe I just imagined that but it seemed like a low turn out of schools as compared to normal.
-There were plenty of stand out performances, but the ones that caught my eye was the young man from Dequeen who ran 2:00 or 2:01 on the first leg of the 4 X 800 relay. He definitely can easily get 1:59 or lower as the year progresses and I'll be watching him in outdoors to see how low he can get that 800m time. Dequeen just never lets you down when it comes to them producing quality middle distance guys.
-The individual athlete that stood out in the girls side was the young lady from Pea Ridge, Winn. That family seems to never disappoint when it comes to having athletes to help Pea Ridge programs succeed. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but she is just a sophomore and was running faster than the majority of boys in the hurdles I saw until it got to the fast boys heats where they finally consistently started running faster than her. Someone with more girls knowledge on track can maybe fill me in on how competitive her hurdle times would be against 5A and 6A, but I imagine she would hold her own. If she gets good coaching, and has time for working more and more at hurdles which is a tough technique she has some serious potential in the future. I know its hard to focus on something in a smaller school when the good athletes play so many sports though. Only so much time in a day to focus the energy at multiple sports.
I was at the indoor until the end. Some very good races. Honestly though, the indoor for a lot of smaller schools is a bit of a stretch. Many of the better athletes dont come because basketball is still going.
Quote from: hogdiggity on February 02, 2019, 09:05:39 am
I was at the indoor until the end. Some very good races. Honestly though, the indoor for a lot of smaller schools is a bit of a stretch. Many of the better athletes dont come because basketball is still going.
I was thinking that same thing.... So many talented athletes are stretched out thin in the spring in those small schools cause they play so many sports. Even in outdoors with baseball/softball/soccer its really a crapshoot at meets until really district.
That leads me to my soapbox rant.... WHY on Earth is soccer not a fall sport?? It's common sense that it belongs in the fall better. It would balance up the spring a little more too.
Quote from: beach bum on February 02, 2019, 09:38:32 am
I was thinking that same thing.... So many talented athletes are stretched out thin in the spring in those small schools cause they play so many sports. Even in outdoors with baseball/softball/soccer its really a crapshoot at meets until really district.
That leads me to my soapbox rant.... WHY on Earth is soccer not a fall sport?? It's common sense that it belongs in the fall better. It would balance up the spring a little more too.
This is why I'm here! ;D ;D
Just a disclosure here, Beach Bum - my kids were all multi sport athletes with soccer as their main sport of choice. Of course, that meant we were playing club soccer for years....and years....and.. well you get the idea. They also ran track as youths as well starting with our local AAU team so they developed some affinity for track as well. The typical sports season for us was soccer (year round), basketball in the winter, track and soccer in the spring. I say this because at first glance, I would agree with you about moving soccer to the fall. BUT.....
Soccer in the fall would have one big issue immediately - fields. Trust me when I say that football doesn't play well with others in the off season so if you tried to hold soccer in the fall, you'd have to find more areas for practice. There are some football players who play soccer as well but you'll have crossover with any sport.
I do agree with your point about balancing sports throughout the year. Spring seems to have the most crossover between track, baseball and soccer (and of course softball for girls). Under present circumstances in Arkansas, I don't see how soccer could be moved to the fall. Now maybe baseball and softball?????
Good stuff^^^
And I agree football is the reason soccer here in the south can't ever be in the fall cause they won't share the fields. And your point about more crossover with track/soccer kids cause way less kids crossover from football to soccer which is in reality why they should be at the same time cause that lower crossover between football/soccer.
My favorite from living in Florida is how crazy long their high school soccer season is and they wisely do it between late September to early March. Much cooler temps and the dry season. That's the best high school season I have ever season. I know most out west start in August even before school sometimes cause the spring out West has so much snow. March actually has the highest snow totals usually. Good stuff again though.
And btw how about them Magazine Rattlers ;D .... Hope you have at least got some sleep since then Rattler!
Congrats to their boys team and that young man who took individual high point marks
Congrats Rattler43!
Actually just seen it on Twitter and came here to see if anyone had mentioned it yet
Quote from: beach bum on February 02, 2019, 09:38:32 am
I was thinking that same thing.... So many talented athletes are stretched out thin in the spring in those small schools cause they play so many sports. Even in outdoors with baseball/softball/soccer its really a crapshoot at meets until really district.
That leads me to my soapbox rant.... WHY on Earth is soccer not a fall sport?? It's common sense that it belongs in the fall better. It would balance up the spring a little more too.
Our school doesn't have soccer so we dont have that conflict. After basketball is over our baseball and softball do a good job of sharing athletes. The issues come back a little when district and state tournaments are scheduled on top of each other. Basketball rightfully isnt going to share athletes when district tournamenst are just a weeknor so away and region and state will follow, especially when they are competitive and could advance a ways. State will get into softball seasons a little.
My child plays volleyball, runs track and plays softball. It is a lot on a kid to go to track practice change clothes and go to softball practice, but we have several that do it and I am proud mine will put in that much work. It probably hurts a bit at both sports that tjey dont get a full practice at either tho
Thanks guys! Got in bed after 4 am. and was too hyped to go to sleep even then. Never sat down for 8.5 hours at the meet I was so wired! Kids came to compete. Tatum is a sophomore that just works his butt off. Great kid and great family. I coached his dad and he was the best leader I had on any of my mens teams. But they all work and get after it and after each other to be better. Old school accountability among most of them. I had four of my scorers driven in by parents after their basketball game at Hackett. Gibson won long jump and high jump and Witt won triple in a big PR. Last year ended at 40' and started this season at 43'11". Hyatt in throws! Yang in hurdles! My 9th grader could go low 11s in 3200m this season. He is just figuring it out. The mileage and speed work has been constant, but the feel for it is just now hitting. His pacing just gets faster and faster. I could go on and on about these kids .... They are another special group.
Again, thanks.
To the earlier topic, I agree with points from all sides. I really would like balance. We are so small that our kids can do two spring sports but it is very difficult to get in proper practice time for each. Soccer guys would be in great condition at least. Baseballers have to be natural athletes to play any real role in track and field due to lack of practice time. But, I love all sports. Track just happens to be my passion.
I plan to enjoy this one well, but, back to work on Monday! Outdoor is here.
Quote from: hogdiggity on February 02, 2019, 09:05:39 am
I was at the indoor until the end. Some very good races. Honestly though, the indoor for a lot of smaller schools is a bit of a stretch. Many of the better athletes dont come because basketball is still going.
Hit the nail on the head. My girls had the talent to win their division as well but big scorers were playing ball in Hackett. Two came on up but each only got in one event. My biggest scorer is recovering from flu and had nothing left after the ball game and went home to hydrate and recover as did other athletes. It is a bit of a stretch at our small schools to have a big indoor meet sharing athletes. The next factor was the early date for state. Conference games to end the season then tourney. Tough to reschedule games to avoid state date.
I thought it was a very top-heavy meet with some incredible performances but not the depth of some I have seen. But, I may have enjoyed this one as much as any in the past!!!!
Good stuff Rattler! Just goes to show what happens when you have a leader in charge who spreads positivity and cares so deeply about a program. And with that positivity usually attracts numbers. I am starting to see the key to sustaining a program long term in these small classifications in any sport is having a baseline of participation every year. I know at my alma mater participation seems to be down across the board in all sports recently and the programs are finally starting to suffer because of that. A lot easier to replace graduation every year when you have a solid base line of numbers coming back through the pipe. I think it speaks a lot to what the community must think of what you have going there. Its so rare to see a school in a rural area like that have kids come out year after year in solid numbers. Teams are strong in their numbers and common goals and its showing for you all. I hope you all go out and dominate outdoors.
I agree. Build the culture. The most successful thing I did was to incorporate track meets into our elementary physical education program back in the early 90s. The Little Rattler Relays are grade level competition. We had every kid participating in 60 yard dash races, softball throw, and long jump. They got to decide if they were in the 400. We gave awards and made it a fun two week event. Amazing how many of those kids signed up for track in junior high over the years. When talent is down we are competitive and when talent is up we are pretty good.
Rattler, looking at 2A boys and girls, I think your teams are competitive this year.
Can any boys team beat Earle and will Desi carry Decatur to another title? (although she has help with Meija)
Earle is stacked. Junction City is always great. We will be there.
Maybe. But Foreman is loaded, Quitman looks to have one more good year, Bigelow has the most talent, Danville is stacked, and my girls and Cotter are dark horses. But Melbourne is the favorite in my mind's eye.
Quote from: beach bum on February 02, 2019, 10:58:55 am
Good stuff^^^
And I agree football is the reason soccer here in the south can't ever be in the fall cause they won't share the fields. And your point about more crossover with track/soccer kids cause way less kids crossover from football to soccer which is in reality why they should be at the same time cause that lower crossover between football/soccer.
My favorite from living in Florida is how crazy long their high school soccer season is and they wisely do it between late September to early March. Much cooler temps and the dry season. That's the best high school season I have ever season. I know most out west start in August even before school sometimes cause the spring out West has so much snow. March actually has the highest snow totals usually. Good stuff again though.
Beach Bum,
Our discussion reminds me about something that I think helps Vilonia be so competitive in the spring sports - our coaches will do their best to work together for the benefit of all the teams. While soccer and track tend to have a good amount of crossover, baseball and softball do as well. If it were not for our coaches in those sports, Vilonia would not be anywhere near as competitive in the spring as we have been over the years.
This is crucial to sustained success. ^^^^^^^^
I have come to appreciate Vilonia's athletic department more and more as years have gone on. I think they are trying to find a fit in football and have done a good job building up their basketball program. That stacked on top of their awesome spring sports gives them possibly the best athletic program in the 5A West.
There were some great things at the meets this weekend.
Seeing a Stuttgart kid and a Nashville kid each go 6'6" was great. High jump has been so down for so long.
It is a very technical event which requires time to develop. Most kids in high jump now are just great leapers who aren't technically sound.
We used to see some high 6s and 7 footers but has been a while now. 6'6" was great to see.
Not sure, but I think the last 7 footer I witnessed was Antwon Hicks from Hot Springs. Great hurdler too.
I didn't get to witness it but read that the Bentonville kid hit high 50s in shot put. Great mark for early February!
And the Trinity Christian and Lake Hamilton vaulters were sensational!
Quote from: RATTLER43 on February 02, 2019, 02:26:53 pm
Hit the nail on the head. My girls had the talent to win their division as well but big scorers were playing ball in Hackett. Two came on up but each only got in one event. My biggest scorer is recovering from flu and had nothing left after the ball game and went home to hydrate and recover as did other athletes. It is a bit of a stretch at our small schools to have a big indoor meet sharing athletes. The next factor was the early date for state. Conference games to end the season then tourney. Tough to reschedule games to avoid state date.
I thought it was a very top-heavy meet with some incredible performances but not the depth of some I have seen. But, I may have enjoyed this one as much as any in the past!!!!
Yellville-Summit got lucky this year. Earlier in the year Arkansas Arts cancelled on us before the season, and we never were able to schedule a replacement game for that Friday during conference season. Track coaches decided to take advantage and were able to get more scoring, especially in hurdles because of having several basketball players with them instead of at a game. Especially in girls. 4 of the 10 were basketball girls and all of those 4 were involved in scoring points, some of them scoring a lot.
That was a nice break. We tried to get games moved to an earlier start or rescheduled, but it was senior night for Hackett, plus they had travel ball of some sort the next day and this week's slate was full for coaches due to junior high tourney. Just part of the dynamics with indoor state happening during basketball season.
Congratulations to Yellville-Summit though! I am sure the athletes were thrilled.
Camren Fischer yesterday inked with Princeton. That's a huge honor to end up going to a school like that with such a high academic history. He said he was probably headed down the street to the U of A until over Christmas Break he got a letter in the mail saying he was academically accepted into Princeton. Not a shabby place to run either considering they finished 22nd as a team at Cross Country nationals in November, even ahead of the Razorbacks. I hope he goes on to have some serious success representing the state and dominates the Ivy League as he becomes an upperclassmen.
Awesome!
Princeton can use a guy like......Camren!
Quote from: Almatrackster on February 04, 2019, 12:57:21 pm
I have come to appreciate Vilonia's athletic department more and more as years have gone on. I think they are trying to find a fit in football and have done a good job building up their basketball program. That stacked on top of their awesome spring sports gives them possibly the best athletic program in the 5A West.
Very nice opinion Trackster. When you have the type of coaches that we have leading our track programs, it is not as surprising to see how our accomplishments keep repeating consistently. Coach Stout and Coach Steward have been around coaching track for 10+ years I believe. I sat in the bleachers when Coach Stout first came to V and spoke to parents about his philosophy when my oldest was in 8th grade (2007 I think). I knew right t here that he would have a lasting effect on my son and any part of the athletic program he was a part of. Kids absolutely buy into his philosophy of being your best in all things. Newer AD from Conway is a breath of fresh air and is building the athletic program very well. I also see V continually improving in football and bball. Girls sports are all competitive as well. If you were a kid in V why wouldnt you want to play some kind of sport, band, or something. Town is a blip on the map and nothing to do outside of school. ;D
Quote from: InYoGrill on February 09, 2019, 02:00:45 pm
Very nice opinion Trackster. When you have the type of coaches that we have leading our track programs, it is not as surprising to see how our accomplishments keep repeating consistently. Coach Stout and Coach Steward have been around coaching track for 10+ years I believe. I sat in the bleachers when Coach Stout first came to V and spoke to parents about his philosophy when my oldest was in 8th grade (2007 I think). I knew right t here that he would have a lasting effect on my son and any part of the athletic program he was a part of. Kids absolutely buy into his philosophy of being your best in all things. Newer AD from Conway is a breath of fresh air and is building the athletic program very well. I also see V continually improving in football and bball. Girls sports are all competitive as well. If you were a kid in V why wouldnt you want to play some kind of sport, band, or something. Town is a blip on the map and nothing to do outside of school. ;D
I know Coach Steward from college and he and his family are top notch. Kids like working for coaches that believe in them and encourage them.
Quote from: RATTLER43 on February 02, 2019, 08:35:22 pm
Earle is stacked. Junction City is always great. We will be there.
Maybe. But Foreman is loaded, Quitman looks to have one more good year, Bigelow has the most talent, Danville is stacked, and my girls and Cotter are dark horses. But Melbourne is the favorite in my mind's eye.
I would add Parkers Chapel as a darkhorse in the girls this year. They may not be able to score enough points in the sprints and field events to win but from what I saw last year they should be among the best in the distance stuff.
Our boys had a great run but will probably have to rebuild this year. Girls look like it should be their turn to make a run at it.
Coach has done a good job building the program from basically nothing.
Rumor is going around that there might be some facilities upgrades coming as well.
I like it. The more the better. Adding PC to the girls' list is great. If it spreads the points out, then you have the makings for a great state meet.
I love it when it comes down to the last few events and especially the mile relay to win it all!! My boys had won the mile relay over Junction City in 2012 to win it all and my girls in 2014 beat Magnet Cove in the mile relay to win it all. There is just something special about it when that happens and all is riding on that final event! Of course, it is not so sweet when you are on the other end (my 2011 group against Augusta!). But all are great memories upon reflection.
Hello All, I've been a lurker for years and finally decided to post. I just wanted to say how impressed I am with the young man Kennedy Lightner out of North Little Rock. This young man is likely one of the best sprinters to come out of the state of arkansas. He has gone a wind legal 21.01 in the 200m, 10.4 in the 100m and 47 in the 400m. I'm just surprised not many have been talking about him. I hope he stays healthy and has a great year
Agreed. I think I read he was ranked 11th in the nation. Impressive indeed.
4A Shot Put, who are the top throwers?
Quote from: by-stander on February 28, 2019, 11:12:02 pm
4A Shot Put, who are the top throwers?
By-Stander,
I know it is early so there will not be any current stats for this year, but in the meantime I suggest you look at LAST year's numbers...
AT does a lot of work in putting these together and you can find them at:
http://www.fearlessfriday.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=155636.0
ar.milesplit.com will keep results and you can look there as a resource as well.
Quote from: by-stander on February 28, 2019, 11:12:02 pm
4A Shot Put, who are the top throwers?
4A shot put should run through Clarksville, Gravette, or DeQueen.
Michael Powell for Clarksville is the defending 5A state champion with a pb and state title winning throw of 50-6. He threw a 50 even in his first meet tonight, so he should continue to improve.
Aidan Patton of Gravette placed 3rd last year in the 4A state meet with a throw of 47-5. The two who placed above him graduated and he set a new pb of 52-11 tonight by adding over 2 feet from his previous best last week. If this trend continues he will be the man to beat in the 4A.
Malik Beasley of DeQueen, with a pb tonight of 49-9, has shown significant improvement from last year and should continue to get better as the year progresses.
All three of these athletes have surpassed the state qualifying mark of 47-3, so we will for sure see them come April and May, barring any injuries or other set backs.
These are the early contenders, but someone else could jump into the mix with a good throw.
Rob Morrow from Highland placed 4th at the state meet last year, threw 50'6" at the Peco Relays in Pocahontas Thursday
Good deal. It's always a plus to have a bunch of big throwers, it makes for an interesting and competitive state meet. Hopefully ar mile split updates soon and we can get a better idea of where everyone is.
Thanks for some info guys on some throwing events. I follow the distance runners the most so sometimes I get out of the loop especially on throws and jumps so your input is appreciated. Keep us updated throughout the season.
Upcoming meets at Mansfield, Alma, and Booneville!!! So exciting to get back to it.
Class 2A looks to be competitive with Earle, Magazine, Junction City, Gurdon, and Lafayette County among the front runners in boys (Earle is defending champion by a large margin)
and Melbourne, Foreman, Magazine, Quitman, Cotter, and Bigelow in girls.
Going to be a great state meet this year.
Who else looks to be in the mix for 2A this year?
Yellville-Summit is pretty decent. They have some 9th grade girls that will be very solid in the future. Both teams have been coming in 2nd through 4th in meets featuring Pea Ridge and Harrison and Mountain Home, etc. Not predicting championships or anything, but think several individuals can place at state.
That, along with indoor results, is a good starting point and something to build upon.
New to the forum but thought this was worth sharing. My guy Camren Fischer raced in the Arcadia 3200m invitational last night and finished 10th in a time of 8:55:04. What a race and atmosphere that meet provides for High School Track. Wow!! Proud of you Cam! Tim
http://www.rtspt.com/events/arcadia/2019/190405F032.htm
Arcadia Invitational - 4/5/2019 to 4/6/2019
Arcadia High School
Event 34 Men 3200 Meter Run Invitational
===============================================================
Comp# Name Year School Finals
===============================================================
Finals
1 #2024 Nico Young 11 Newbury Park 8:40.00
2 #3378 Cole Sprout 11 Valor Christian 8:40.73
3 #1350 Drew Bosley 12 Homestead 8:49.28
4 #3156 Charles Hicks 12 The Bolles School 8:49.62
5 #2463 Cole Bullock 12 Red Bank 8:50.70
6 #1337 Leo Daschbach 11 Highland 8:51.09
7 #2516 Liam Anderson 12 Redwood NC 8:51.89
8 #146 Evan Holland 11 Ashland 8:51.93
9 #1 Colin Baker 12 Academic Magnet 8:54.68
10 #1056 Camren Fischer 12 Fayetteville 8:55.04
11 #1972 Joe Waskom 12 Mount Si 8:56.52
12 #1809 Caleb Easton 12 Middleton 8:57.67
13 #2917 Thomas Boyden 11 Skyline 8:57.79
14 #1452 Kashon Harrison 12 Kirtland Central 8:58.90
15 #1420 Matt Strangio 11 Jesuit 9:00.58
16 #292 Hunter Appleton 12 Brother Martin 9:01.49
17 #2645 Kevin Ramos 12 Rubidoux 9:09.88
18 #3082 Marcus Mota 12 Stockdale 9:11.50
19 #1789 Zane Fodge 12 McMinnville 9:11.55
20 #1722 Tommy Brady 12 Maine South 9:11.62
21 #1432 Peter Herold 12 Jserra 9:11.67
22 #3074 Asefa Wetzel 12 Star Valley 9:12.49
23 #2041 Cruz Culpepper 11 Niwot 9:12.79
24 #2267 Austin Mathews 12 Paul Laurenc 9:13.64
25 #971 Henry Chapman 12 East Troy 9:14.25
26 #3638 Luke Houser 12 Woodinville 9:15.54
27 #1879 Jonathan Velasco 12 Mission Hills 9:18.47
28 #1704 Camden Gilmore 12 Loyola Blakefield 9:20.04
29 #928 Jack Roberts 12 Downers Grove North 9:26.07
30 #143 Noah Hibbard 12 Arroyo SS 9:27.81
31 #2964 Grant Gardner 12 Springville 9:34.84
32 #1119 Riley McDowell 12 Glacier Peak 9:41.12
33 #259 Tyler Cushing 11 Bolingbrook 10:01.19
I assume that 8:55 is his first time under 9 in the 3200m? That's unbelievable and the stuff you see from those stud distance guys in high school out West, in the eastern US, or great lakes area where the best distance runners usually are
Even if you convert that 3200 to a true 2 mile which just about 15m further that still converts to a sub 9 two mile at about 8:58 or 8:59 .... I knew that young man had more in him when he got pushed against the who's who out there in the 3200m
Great run!
Finally watched the race. He looked almost back in 20th almost in last at the mile mark and moved his way up about 10 spots in the second half of the race. Looks like he not only ran tough, but a smart race! I see some Ivy League titles in that young mans future
His strategy was to go out not with lead pack but to lay back and hit his splits of 67. He was surprised how fast the pack went out in first 200 and reacted a little late to avoid the back of the pack. He stuck with his plan and hit his splits and slowly worked his way back thru the pack and accomplished his goal which was to be competitive and break 9:00 mins. Up next he wants to go after the 4:10 1600m mark.
Rarified air. Go get it!!
Speaking of distance ... I have a question for you Rattler as well as Trackster from his running day experiences. With a runner that is specifically a 2 mile specialist/good 5K guy in the fall and a true blue distance guy(maybe drops down to the mile at shortest of distance).... How often do you have that runner drop down to anaerobic for workouts during a spring season? I always find that a delicate line to toe with runners as far as you don't want to peak them too early, plateau them out, or just burn them out between a congested racing schedule with the shortened season length which is just a bummer. I know someone can handle threshold pace stuff a lot more frequently which I like to use a lot more and not burn out like playing with fire with v02 max, or even more specifically anaerobic!
Just a thought I have been having and I always like to hear how others feel on that issue! I know thats a loaded question cause there are so many variables you have to consider there like whether its boys or girls, the persons age and running history, and the overall mileage base they have under them that I know you can't have an overall lump answer that works for every runner. I find myself probably on too much of the cautious end and probably should use vO2 and anaerobic stuff more. I can be a bit stubborn and lean too much on volume sometimes for sure!
I must apologize. In my 30+ years, I have had few "true" distance runners. If you can imagine, mine are typically playing football and/or basketball and we have one maybe two cycles in which to work with them. In the last decade, the AAA has cut us down to basically a 10-week season so I have to work within those parameters. With that said, it varies depending on the athlete. Let me go into a little detail for me. If I have a kid who is in great condition as a 7th grader and he runs for me the entire 6 years, I have him doing higher mileage base building if he is willing. Intervals with even longer runs on weekends. It includes lots of hills as well. It must be on his own and I have to have faith he is doing it. Then when I actually get the kids for track in February, I will do speed work once a week in short bursts of repeats (distances of repeats can vary). I might even use the meet days as some speed work if I put my distance runner in one distance race and some short distance races as well. If I only get the athlete for the spring, then I will use more speed work just to get the "quick" distance speed of VOmax training by doing mileage for about 3 or 4 weeks then going alternate days between mileage and speed work. I am old school and believe in mileage. (Know that I am careful with my athletes so as not to have overuse injuries.) But, as an example that one style does not fit all, Jasper had a great distance group years ago under the tutelage of Coach Yeager. I was told that one runner was a high mileage guy (I think it was Yeager) and the other a speed guy (I think that was J. Purvis). Both worked out well and were great distance runners. Personally, I like a lot of base/mileage but use what I have when I have them to achieve my best results with that athlete. Travis Williams and Chris McCleod were my best distance runners. Travis did lower mileage (35 miles a week) with more "speed" work. Chris did high mileage mornings and evenings (70+ miles a week). Both were in the 16s for 5K. Chris did it as a freshman and Travis as a senior. (Travis got down in low 10s for 3200m as a senior and Chris got into high 10s as a freshman.) Chris started high mileage young. Travis never really did high mileage and only began "training" as a sophomore. I also have to concern myself with overuse injuries and even burnout (I've only had one burn out). Finally, you have to know that in my career, proms, Beta, FFA, jobs, etc. have cut into what I would have them do. Great kids, but I encourage them in things outside of running. At my small school, we don't have many "true" distance runners come through.
I hope this rambling makes any sense.
In short, I prefer much mileage with true distance runners. We drop down once per week if during 10-week spring season.
At one point, I'd asked about the combining of 5A/6A state and how events would be handled. AAA website has this:
2019 6A/5A State Track Meet
Tentative Schedule
Lake Hamilton HS
Field Event Schedule:
9:00 5A Girls Long Jump Discus Pole Vault
6A Boys High Jump Triple Jump Shot
10:45 6A Girls Long Jump Discus Pole Vault
5A Boys High Jump Triple Jump Shot
12:30 5A Girls High Jump Triple Jump Shot
6A Boys Long Jump Discus Pole Vault
2:15 6A Girls High Jump Triple Jump Shot
5A Boys Long Jump Discus Pole Vault
Running Event Schedule:
11:00: 4x800 Relays
11:00: 5A Girls 4x800 Relay
11:15: 6A Girls 4x800 Relay
11:30: 5A Boys 4x800 Relay
11:45: 6A Boys 4x800 Relay
All Running events will be in this order: 5A girls, 6A girls, 5A boys, 6A boys.
4:00: 100/110 Hurdles
4:40: 100 Dash
5:10: 1600 Run
5:35: 4x100 Relay
6:00: 400 Dash
6:20: 300 Hurdles
7:00: 800 Run
7:20: 200 Dash
7:50: 3200 Run
8:50: 4x400 Relay
9:30: Meet Concludes
That is how we did combined Class 1A and 2A for a couple of years with one big exception: we ran the Class 1A 3200m run races before any other events in the morning.
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, I'm working on updating all my performance lists, but Rattler, your coaching job this year has been outstanding...you were right, you guys have a real shot at this...I'll post more later.
2A Boys:
Magazine, LC, CHG, Gurdon, Foreman are going to all make noise.
Great group of kids. And we look to be even better next year. I'm so excited but trying to stay on an even keel. Earle is the team to beat but my kids have put in the work. Just a matter of getting them all to state. No matter what, the kids have done what it takes to put themselves in position to make a run. I could not be more proud!!
I can promise you this Earle wont back down from a challenge!!!!!!
No doubt. They remind me of the great Augusta teams of 2010 and 2011.
Again: Earle is the team to beat.
Rattler43, Lafayette County looked really strong at the 8AA meet yesterday. They will be a tough out.
On the Girls side Parkers Chapel and Bearden had an epic shootout. Chapel came out on top and got a bunch of events qualified, including a few surprises.
Both could have a say in the outcome of the Girls AA meet.
Yellville-Summit ran away with the 1AA yesterday, winning by over 100 points in boys and girls, but because our region isn't that competitive, not a huge number have qualified for state.
I believe it is Melbourne's to lose. They have so much talent. There are about 5 or 6 battling for second. But, that is on paper. Championships are won by competitors.
Earle is the odds on favorite on the boys' side. Lafayette County, Gurdon, Foreman, and Magazine look to make some noise as well. I love track and I love competition!!
Let the championships begin!!
Did you have a young man go 2nd today rattler in the high jump? Thats amazing. It appeared the small schools dominated that event on the boys side. Results are up as far place, but i still can not find marks/time/etc. for the events
Not mine. Prom and MOC on same date.
I know a few places had early graduations this weekend so I know that makes MOC very sporadic year to year as far as who can show up
We moved our graduation to a later date to avoid any spring sports. But prom got my three state Champions this year.
Quote from: beach bum on May 11, 2019, 06:42:59 pm
Did you have a young man go 2nd today rattler in the high jump? Thats amazing. It appeared the small schools dominated that event on the boys side. Results are up as far place, but i still can not find marks/time/etc. for the events
How did the small schools dominate the HJ??
Quote from: Hogman2018 on May 13, 2019, 08:22:22 pm
How did the small schools dominate the HJ??
Did you not read the part "appeared" ... I specifically wrote that cause I knew it didn't look right. Blame milesplit cause thats what they prematurely showed. I wasn't even going to respond to you cause I know you are just wired to argue but I went against my best judgment and responded to you.
Aren't you lost anyway and supposed to be on the football boards complaining about LR Christian or PA?
The Fayetteville distance runner is possibly the standout performer of the year. The Bentonville thrower, the LH and TC vaulters, the Fayetteville prodigy, and the RussVegas high jumper had incredible performances on the boys' side. The NLR sprinter is also great.
Was a great year for T&F.
Quote from: beach bum on May 13, 2019, 09:21:31 pm
Did you not read the part "appeared" ... I specifically wrote that cause I knew it didn't look right. Blame milesplit cause thats what they prematurely showed. I wasn't even going to respond to you cause I know you are just wired to argue but I went against my best judgment and responded to you.
Aren't you lost anyway and supposed to be on the football boards complaining about LR Christian or PA?
Next time I will ask you to post on this site! Just responding to your post that didn't make any sense! You are not the only one on here that knows track and yes I HATE PA and LRC!!
Quote from: RATTLER43 on May 14, 2019, 11:50:04 am
The Fayetteville distance runner is possibly the standout performer of the year. The Bentonville thrower, the LH and TC vaulters, the Fayetteville prodigy, and the RussVegas high jumper had incredible performances on the boys' side. The NLR sprinter is also great.
Was a great year for T&F.
Rattler43, I agree it was an outstanding year in T&F in 2019. NLR's Lightner lite up the track, LH's Farmer was outstanding in both the PV & Decathlon, the Bentonville athletes Bryant Parlin set an all- time mark at the Kansas Relays for an Arkansan in the the discus & on the girls side Laney Quandt I believe is only the 4th girl in the state of Arkansas to break the 5 minute barrier in the 1600m. She also won the distance triple crown in the 6A winning the 800,1600,3200 and anchoring the 4x800m. Fayetteville Freshman Isaiah Santegna will be one to watch! Cam Fischer had an outstanding year as well winning the Triple crown the the distance events for the 2nd year in a row and setting a 6A State record in the 3200m and a MOC record in the 1600m and being the first AR HS runner to run under a 9 minute 3200m. I do have to voice my disappointment at the 5A/6A State Meet and the MOC not having an electronic time clock set up at the meet. To have LH host 2 meets of this magnitude and not have a time clock set up for athletes to see an electronic timing clock at the start/finish line is a disservice to the student athletes that participated in those meets. In addition I would hope that in the future the AAA mandates that a time clock being utilized at all classification States meets and that a results scored board be used as well. It was quite disappointing to see athletes yell to their coaches and parents asking for their times after they finished their race. :(
Agreed...With everything you said.
I'll try to bring the last part up at our T&F Advisory meeting.
I threw the Russellville high jumper in, but was glad to see so many over 6'6" this year. HJ has been down for awhile now. Was nice to see a slight return for this year.
Quote from: RATTLER43 on May 19, 2019, 01:52:49 pm
I threw the Russellville high jumper in, but was glad to see so many over 6'6" this year. HJ has been down for awhile now. Was nice to see a slight return for this year.
6'10 as a junior is pretty salty. 15 kids over 6'5 with 9 returning. As long as your taking up advocating a Time clock be Mandatory at a State Meet and MOC, IMO moving the State Meet to a two day event with all classifications participating on opposite days similar to TX and CO would be a great meet for fans to watch. Alternate sites between U Of A, ASU and UCA & move the MOC back to the middle of week WED/THURSDAY vs Saturday at 5:30pm.
We've discussed state meets changes including your suggestion along with like Kansas. Has failed to come to fruition for five years. Universities have been a no go so far with possible exception of UCA. Having enough field event venues specifically vault has been a holdup. At least, that's what was said at meetings, and I believe it. Taking UofA or Astate facilities for days when preparing for Conference meets is unlikely. MOC is like All Star games: must evolve to keep it going whether folks agree on changes or not.
Quote from: RATTLER43 on May 19, 2019, 04:15:10 pm
We've discussed state meets changes including your suggestion along with like Kansas. Has failed to come to fruition for five years. Universities have been a no go so far with possible exception of UCA. Having enough field event venues specifically vault has been a holdup. At least, that's what was said at meetings, and I believe it. Taking UofA or Astate facilities for days when preparing for Conference meets is unlikely. MOC is like All Star games: must evolve to keep it going whether folks agree on changes or not.
If it's a facilities concern both Harding university & Hendrix University are finished with conference championships by end of April according to their schedules. Both are centrally located with a nod going to Hendrix being in Conway and availability for hotels. A MOC Champs could be held at either facility as well. Just throwing out ideas.
Quote from: Track junkie on May 19, 2019, 10:34:37 pm
If it's a facilities concern both Harding university & Hendrix University are finished with conference championships by end of April according to their schedules. Both are centrally located with a nod going to Hendrix being in Conway and availability for hotels. A MOC Champs could be held at either facility as well. Just throwing out ideas.
It's a good point Track Junkie - but remember there has to be some willingness on the part of Hendrix and/or Harding to host as well.
In the past, I know we used Hendrix for conference championships but that has been a few years back.
One would think a college / university with a track program would want to host the MOC for recruiting purposes.
AAA uses a bidding process, so LH, Cabot, and those schools typically will get it every year. I was surprised LH didn't have the electronic timer up and running. They do every time they host state cross country. If a school wanted it at a university, they would have to win the bid with the approval of that university in advance.
As far as combined state meets, any venue must possess enough pits and throwing areas to have those events going on simultaneously. Example: Class 5A boys vault going on while 6A girls vault is going on. When other state meets were visited, they had multiple pits, rings, etc. for each event. Not sure if those universities have two vaulting areas, two long jump pits and two triple jump pits, two shot and two discus areas. To put all state meets in one location would require it. Or so it has been said at the meetings.
Name School Class Mark Date/Year Location
1 Aadrian Williams Arkadelphia 10.22 04/16/99 Wolf Classic, Lake Hamilton
2 Torrium Cobb Magnolia 5A-SW 10.27 03/28/08 Doc Walker Hog Relays, Texarkana
3 Fred Rose Texarkana 6A-S 10.29 05/23/07 Meet of Champs, Cabot High School
4 Melvin Lewis Little Rock Central 10.30 05/21/86 Meet of Champs, Hot Springs
5 Charles Blakley Searcy 10.30 06/89 Keebler Invitational, Chicago
6 Anthony Hampton West Memphis 10.30 04/22/89 FCA Relays, West Memphis
7 Basil Shabazz Pine Bluff 10.30 04/07/90 Hog Relays, Texarkana
8 Brannon Kidd Crossett 4A 10.32 04/27/03 Arkansas Democrat-
Welcome aboard.
Good stuff there. Look like hand held rather than FAT.
Cite your sources.
But all of those could truly fly!!!
Karl Koonce named National Coach of the Year!!!!
Quote from: RATTLER43 on July 22, 2019, 02:49:16 pm
Karl Koonce named National Coach of the Year!!!!
Congrats to him! Def a legend! I have a question though..how is that voted on? I went to look up his team. His girls team finished 9th overall in their classification.
I assume that it is based upon his legendary career coming to an end and they recognized the need to acknowledge it before he was gone. I read that he retired.
Agree with Panther2211. Congrats to Koonce on a great career. IMO the Sylvan hills girls coach should have received a nod as well as the Bentonville girls Coaches too.
Their nods were in that they were Arkansas coaches of the year in their respective classifications and nominated for overall coach of the year.
We opened cross country season at Ft. Smith today. We had three medalists with my bests being a sophomore and two freshmen.
Like on the 2A football page, I'm going to do a Rattler legend each meet. If anyone feels like it, they can match it with legends from their respective schools.
Week 1: I'll start with Robert Reed. Robert was our first true distance runner back in the 90s. It was his progression and success that paved the way for all the legends afterward. On the girls' side is a track athlete who ran cross country at Magazine: Brittney Bryan. Nice career winning 5 cross country invitational individual titles at meets, 6 District Championships, 6 All Conference nods, and was part of a two year run where the team won 11 meets and finished top 5 at state. Was 6-time District Champions in Track, 3-time All State, individual and team State Champion. Made the UCA track and cross country teams after high school.
Next meet is at Caddo Hills.
Great meet at Caddo Hills. Rattler sophomore ran low 17s. Freshman 2nd in junior high race.
Week 2 Rattler legend is Churxa Yang. Chur as we called him was a 2-sport all state runner. He was all conference. River Valley All Star. District Champions. Helped Rattlers to state runners up twice and 3rd place at state twice. Rattler legend Churxa Yang!
My kids had average at best day at Clarksville. More later.
Next up on the legends list: Levi Wright and Logan Lyle. Levi was the 2A-4 Individual District Champion plus led his teams to 3 District titles in cross country, 4 in Track, and topped it off with an Indoor State Championship for the 2A Rattlers!!! Logan Lyle was part of an undefeated junior high track team and state runner-up individual at cross country.
Rattler Pride!!
You going to be up at the Chile Pepper rattler? Just a little over a week until that time.
Won't be able to make it up this year. I've got some great memories from there. Would love to see our #3 ranked Lady Razorbacks with Taylor Werner run.
I know this is the high school thread... But I imagine you all are seeing the team USA in Doha absolutely tear it up at the World Championships?
Brazier in the 800m was phenomenal. He ran that nearly to perfection going 50 then 52 for his 1:42 American record in that event. This team USA is so deep in the mens and womens right now. Good sign for the Olympics in a little over 10 months
Yep. I'm loving it. And that 800m was incredible!
Mens 4x100m was smoking!
On a separate note, how about Taylor Werner, Katie Izzo, and the Lady Razorbacks cross country team?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quote from: RATTLER43 on October 07, 2019, 08:58:08 am
Mens 4x100m was smoking!
On a separate note, how about Taylor Werner, Katie Izzo, and the Lady Razorbacks cross country team?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I believe they sat out Lauren Gregory too with nothing major but a minor injury so they are just loaded... More of a being cautious thing before the meets that really matter in late October and November but they say she will be fine. When they add her they may win at all. Anything less than 3rd or 4th at nationals would be a let down.
Totally agree. Harter has it going!
Werner is spectacular!! Triple crown (although not in same season, but in same year!!!) would be quite a feat.
If they can win this CC, maybe they can find the replacement for points and win the season triple crown. But Janeek, Payton, Kiara, Weeks sisters...a lot to replace.
Quote from: Almatrackster on October 08, 2019, 05:30:23 pm
If they can win this CC, maybe they can find the replacement for points and win the season triple crown. But Janeek, Payton, Kiara, Weeks sisters...a lot to replace.
You said it!! So much to replace while USC is growing. Will be fun to see how it all plays out in each season.
Thought I'd throw in some of my stories as well. Not because I have anything earth shattering, but something different.
I didn't join cross country/track at Alma until the second quarter of my sophomore year. Basically when cross country was wrapping up. I ran one meet, didn't do well, and ended up not going to state.
Just to set this up, I had been a basketball player only my whole life. There are a lot of reasons I quit, some of them childish as I was only a child at the time, but in all I was burnt out on the sport. Many of my friends who were in track said I had the ability to be a distance runner, so they talked me into joining track after quitting basketball.
This is how my cross country/track year starts:
Sophomore, 2007-2008
Conference Cross Country Meet - DNF (I overestimated my ability to be kind to myself)
State Cross Country Meet - DNS (Wasn't part of the top 10 who got to go)
First Indoor Track Meet - Can't make it because I have the flu
State Indoor Track Meet (yes there used to be two of these a year) - Throw up all over my living room floor and can't make the trip
Honestly, any other man than Coach McMurray might have gave up on me. I know he believed me when I was sick and he saw my hard work in practice. He gave me a chance.
We go to the first outdoor meet at Fort Smith Southside. I finally get to run. I am only anchoring the 4x800 meter relay team. I'm not sure his reasons for putting me on anchor that first meet to this day.
I had three amazing teammates. Colton Mason, Izaak Montoya, Alex Marciano. Colton and Alex are juniors at this time. Izaak and I are sophomores. We are running against mostly 7A schools and I get the baton in first.
I run briskly to say the least. I know Southside and Rogers are closing in on me. Rogers, who was as dominant as ever at this time, had a red headed young athlete who ran at Arkansas as a walk on. He flew past me the last 300. I felt terrible about letting down my team in the moment, but I kept after it. I ended up running a 2:16? 800. I was disappointed. My teammates had run 2:10 or under.
Turns out they weren't disappointed and neither was Coach Mac. They had been looking for a 4th leg on the 4x8 and I seemed to provide hope for them. I also staved off a pretty good runner in Southside.
I'll never forget the confidence that Coach Mac instilled in me (he had a knack for this, one of his best qualities as a coach) and how absolutely terrible I felt after my first hard ran 800. My legs were jello and I couldn't breathe correctly. I still love the 800 to this day, though.
My favorite kind of story!! Coach Mac was/is great.
Yes. 800 can destroy you physically and mentally. Not for the faint of heart.
Don't know if it's been mentioned yet. I just watched women's mile relay from the world championships. Sydney McLaughlin 48.8 split!!!!!! Wow!
I love reading these track stories. Almatrackster was a big help to me at our time together at the 2A school. I wish I had you now coaching my distance runners at my 1A school. Anyway, the world championships was amazing to watch (I watched all 10 days). Can't wait for Indoor/Outdoor season.
I got to watch some, but mostly have watched via YouTube after the fact. Amazing is the word.
Quote from: hurryup on October 11, 2019, 08:30:26 am
I love reading these track stories. Almatrackster was a big help to me at our time together at the 2A school. I wish I had you now coaching my distance runners at my 1A school. Anyway, the world championships was amazing to watch (I watched all 10 days). Can't wait for Indoor/Outdoor season.
Thanks coach.
I'll share a story helping Coach at JC-Westside.
I'll save the sappy stuff for another time, but I am forever grateful for Coach Dunlap letting me help out with his established program when he didn't know me from Adam.
One of my favorite memories was our last state meet together. I guess that would be the 2017 state track meet. We knew we had a solid girls team going into the year, but we had a few obstacles come along during the season. Injuries, kids playing other sports, motivation factors, and just what any 2A school will deal with in track and field. RATTLER can tell you countless stories where you have a good team on paper, but a lot of things get in the way of them being good on the track and in the field.
We got to the state meet and I think Coach Dunlap and I had us projected for around 10th? Maybe 12th? We were being generous to ourselves, too.
I knew we were doing well in the field events, BUT I didn't know how well.
The Lady Rebels had about as good of a morning/early afternoon as we could ask for. I'm looking at the results:
Our stud sprinter had dealt with injuries and some other stuff that year. I think we may have had her making the final of one sprint and getting 8th. Lauryn ended up qualifying for the 100 and 200.
I know for a fact we didn't have our 4x100 making the finals, and they qualified, too. By the skin of their teeth.
Where the big shockers came were the field events. We had a few points projected here and there, but this is how it really ended up:
Emily gets 2nd in the high jump. This is all on Coach Dunlap. He is one of the best jumps coach I've ever been around. Lauryn finished 6th in it.
In the pole vault, Emily gets over the bar and gets 8th (getting over the bar was a struggle for us that year)
Lauryn finishes 3rd in the long jump. Another Bruce Dunlap special. Lauryn had not jumped even close to what she ended up jumping at state.
Lauryn and Emily go 3rd/4th in triple jump. This is where Coach Dunlap really shined. He was a triple jump master. I never saw someone take athletes you would never expect to triple jump and have them over 30 feet or beyond. I think he had a triple jumper place every year for many consecutive years.
Our shot put girl, Sadie, just blew our minds with her competitiveness and got 2nd in shot put. I don't think we had her scoring.
Unfortunatley, on my end, our 4x800 did not score. They finished 10th.
Yet, we were still in the lead coming out of the field events and we DID NOT expect that at all. We had passed our projected points by 20 and we hadn't ran yet.
Lauryn ended up finishing 7th and 5th in the 100/200. Which was fine with us, considering what she was battling that very day. She didn't place in the 300 hurdles. I think that was our only hangup of the day.
We don't place in the 800/1600, that's on me. We tried to give the athletes that qualified for state the best opportunity to score, but we just couldn't pull it off. It was starting to become clear that we weren't going to win the state title at this point, as Quitman was running away with it, but we knew we had an outside shot at runner up.
With the 3200 meter run coming up, we were down two to Foreman. We grabbed our 3200 meter runner and just asked her to compete. She ran her heart out and a PR to get a 7th place. One of my favorite moments in this short time helping with distance there. This meant we were tied with Foreman going into the final event and whoever finished ahead of the other team would be state runner up.
Foreman was projected to beat us by quite a bit. Actually, we ran in the slower heat, while Foreman would be in the faster heat.
Coach Dunlap and I pep talked to the girls and asked the seniors to give everything they had. That's all we could ask for. They did. I believe they ran something like a 15-20 second PR and finished first in their heat. We just had to time watch for Foreman. Around the 3rd or 4th leg, I could tell it would take something catastrophic for Foreman not to run faster than us, and sure enough they did.
They finished 4th, we finished 6th in the 4x400.
We finished 3rd place, 2 points behind state runner up. We scored 50 overall and I'm not joking when I say we had us projected for around 20, maybe less.
I think the girls realized that after all we had been through that year, that was a great result in the end. We didn't accomplish our girl to start off the year, but that is fine.
I can't ever thank Coach D enough for showing me so many lessons in coaching in general and coaching track and field.
Big shout out to Bruce!!! I may have shared this story on here, but, it is worth sharing again because it shows his true character. My older daughter was a senior and my youngest a freshman. Girls discus for the older and girls triple jump for the youngest. At Ft. Smith Southside for State. I am at discus with older while my youngest for some reason got off on her approach. She and teammates are trying to get me to come over there but I am not going to miss my oldest's final throws of high school career. Bruce (and David Peach from Union Christian) were over there at triple jump. They work with my younger daughter and get her steps down. She hits one and is standing in about 7th going into the finals. Bruce gives her some advice which improves her marks but not her standing. Then he helps again with it increasing her 5th jump as well but still in 6th. He gives her one more tip and she hits a big one jumping up to bronze medal as a freshman. She was so excited and happy. We visit about it and she always mentions thankful for Bruce being there for her. Will always mean a lot to me too! Just one of many examples I could give of his positive role modeling.
Bruce Dunlap: great coach, great guy.
(Side note: older daughter won the gold and I got to see it!!!).
Thanks Almatrackster and Rattler43 for the kind remarks but not necessary. I love seeing kids reach and go beyond their potential even if it's not my kids I'm coaching. I'd hope most coaches would do the same for my kids (I know you two would). Looking forward to our first ever Indoor meet with my kids and outdoor season as well.
Not necessary, maybe, but needful, yes. You are a great ambassador for the sport and an awesome coach to boot.
Coach Dunlap story #2: My younger daughter is now a senior in 2014. She narrowly missed team championships in 2011, 2012 (her torn hamstring was the only thing standing in our way of dominating the meet), and 2013. She is in the anchor leg position for our 4x800 relay. She gets the baton 100m out of first and runs the girl down but with 200m remaining is running out of gas. Bruce yells at Brittney, "Don't let her get away!" sending a boost of adrenaline with Brittney knowing his voice from all the help over the years. She battles the pain of the 200m kick of the half mile against the #1 ranked Marmaduke anchor and takes the gold by about a foot running her then best split of 2:27. We won state by 1.5 points meaning that extra 2 points made the difference. Bruce, our entire team will always be thankful!! She brings up your yelling at her being pivotal every time we reminisce about track days.
Four weeks to Indoor State!!
Who are the top contenders (boys and girls) for 2020?
In 2A, I'll say Yellville girls and Magazine boys.
Uncertain about other classifications.
5A boys Vilonia will dominate!!
Who are the top teams they will dominate?
Indoor State in two days...
Quote from: RATTLER43 on February 26, 2020, 05:38:54 pm
Indoor State in two days...
Such a great weekend... HS indoor and SEC Indoor Championships
You know it!!
Quote from: RATTLER43 on February 26, 2020, 06:45:14 pm
You know it!!
You fancy your chances at much as last year?
We are not as strong in the jumps with Witt and Gibson graduating. We have almost all others back including Scott who was fantastic in all events and Hyatt who is a wonderful thrower from just shear hard work. We return our top hurdler. Our 800m runners are stronger than last year. We lost our top distance runner to graduation as well. Our top returning distance runner is primed for a breakout season but is young. I believe there will be a stonger field this year with Lafayette, Quitman, and such being there. With all the variables, I believe we may be the favorite but not to dominate like last year. Replacing a 43'11" triple jumper, 6'3" (outdoor) high jumper and 21'+ (outdoor) long jumper is tough. But we are excited at the opportunity.
Ok good luck I won't be there but will be following the results as soon as they get posted
Thank you. Off to a good start. Acorn looks good. Keith always does a great job.
Lafayette County beat us. State Runnerup for us.
With sports being shut down, we need some track stories. AT, hurryup, Beach Bum???
I had this great kid, Jason Bonner, back in the day. He is a parent now. His 7th grader is up for her first meet a few weeks ago and she was so nervous she was sick. It reminded me of Jason and a few Jason stories.
Story 1: Jason's freshmen year, we had a great team and were in team contention at state (ended up 3rd). The prior week, in the mile relay at district (the Class 2A runnerup was in our conference) we were pitted against Cotton Plant/Augusta who was loaded. Our kids knew how good they were and had battled all day long. The winner of the relay would be District Champions. I replaced a Team A runner with my freshmen Jason Bonner. My first leg ran out to a synchronized start with CP; our runner #2 also handed off about even, maybe a little behind but both had PR splits. Bonner takes the baton and runs an unreal freshmen time to give us a 1.4-second lead. Handing off to our anchor, Roy Carey who had run sub 50 splits meant that unless catastrophe happened, we would win and win we did! Bonner had run 4 seconds faster than our regular 3rd leg. We go to state and are 11 points behind CP for state runner-up and 13 out of first so our team knows we cannot bring home hardware. To their credit, they asked me to let some of our other runners get some state experience and run the relay even knowing they were giving up probable gold medals and All-State accolades. Great kids.
Story #2: Jason and our team are at Heber Springs for state. We had 3 of the top 8 runners but there was a stud runner from another school. Jason leads to the 600m mark when the stud runner makes a move and cuts Jason off pushing him off the track for a couple of steps. I am running from outside the fence at the 200m area to go file a formal protest when luckily I was watching as Jason kept his composure, ran the kid down, and passed him at the finish line to win by .02. State Champion in the 800m was great; overcoming adversity was incredible; his attitude unbelievable.
Story #3: We are at Dardanelle for state. Jason was my 3rd leg in the 4x800m relay. He gets the baton 100m+ behind Jessieville and Genoa Central 3rd legs. He ran them down and handed off even to our anchor. Running down state level half-milers from that far behind is amazing for lack of a better word. The Arkansas Dem-Gazetter writer interviewed Jason, who was laying down on the infield puking, telling Jason that in his 30+ years of covering track and field that he had never seen anything like it.
I have so many Jason Bonner stories, but three will have to suffice. Give me some stories to pass the time during this trackless spring. By the way, his daughter did fine.
Quote from: RATTLER43 on March 17, 2020, 02:51:45 pm
With sports being shut down, we need some track stories. AT, hurryup, Beach Bum???
I had this great kid, Jason Bonner, back in the day. He is a parent now. His 7th grader is up for her first meet a few weeks ago and she was so nervous she was sick. It reminded me of Jason and a few Jason stories.
Story 1: Jason's freshmen year, we had a great team and were in team contention at state (ended up 3rd). The prior week, in the mile relay at district (the Class 2A runnerup was in our conference) we were pitted against Cotton Plant/Augusta who was loaded. Our kids knew how good they were and had battled all day long. The winner of the relay would be District Champions. I replaced a Team A runner with my freshmen Jason Bonner. My first leg ran out to a synchronized start with CP; our runner #2 also handed off about even, maybe a little behind but both had PR splits. Bonner takes the baton and runs an unreal freshmen time to give us a 1.4-second lead. Handing off to our anchor, Roy Carey who had run sub 50 splits meant that unless catastrophe happened, we would win and win we did! Bonner had run 4 seconds faster than our regular 3rd leg. We go to state and are 11 points behind CP for state runner-up and 13 out of first so our team knows we cannot bring home hardware. To their credit, they asked me to let some of our other runners get some state experience and run the relay even knowing they were giving up probable gold medals and All-State accolades. Great kids.
Story #2: Jason and our team are at Heber Springs for state. We had 3 of the top 8 runners but there was a stud runner from another school. Jason leads to the 600m mark when the stud runner makes a move and cuts Jason off pushing him off the track for a couple of steps. I am running from outside the fence at the 200m area to go file a formal protest when luckily I was watching as Jason kept his composure, ran the kid down, and passed him at the finish line to win by .02. State Champion in the 800m was great; overcoming adversity was incredible; his attitude unbelievable.
Story #3: We are at Dardanelle for state. Jason was my 3rd leg in the 4x800m relay. He gets the baton 100m+ behind Jessieville and Genoa Central 3rd legs. He ran them down and handed off even to our anchor. Running down state level half-milers from that far behind is amazing for lack of a better word. The Arkansas Dem-Gazetter writer interviewed Jason, who was laying down on the infield puking, telling Jason that in his 30+ years of covering track and field that he had never seen anything like it.
I have so many Jason Bonner stories, but three will have to suffice. Give me some stories to pass the time during this trackless spring. By the way, his daughter did fine.
Great stories. When did Bonner graduate?
2005
He was in that era of my coaching where I had great 4x800m relay teams that would possess one excellent half-miler, two really good half-milers but one who would just be good to average. We have such small numbers, and with us trying to win state championships, we would not be able to focus on an individual event. Jason Bonner is an example of that where he would be asked to do long jump, 4x800m, 400m and/or 800m, possibly 4x100m, and then 4x400m. Good at all but not allowed to reach full potential in any one event. He ran a 2:03 individual 800m, split 2:01 in his best relay performance at state one year, low 51s in 400m split, etc. Might have gone sub 2:00 if focused on 800m or sub 50 in 400m. In those years, our relay PRs included:
8:32
8:39
8:41
8:46
We would have runners like: 2:00 (great quarter-miler), 2:06 (high jumper), 2:07, 2:18 (better distance runner than half-miler) one year; another year it would be like 2:03, 2:05, 2:11, 2:18, and that would be our norm. Finding that 4th good runner to make us be able to go 8:teens or low 8:20s escaped us. Finding a 4th in a small school can be really difficult. But, each of those kids worked so hard to get to where they were and were driven to win district and state titles so they understood having to be in multiple events and maybe not hit their potential in one event.
There was one exception to the norm. In 1998, we ran an 8:46 with no runner sub 2:10. They each ran 2:10 to 2:12. We could not overcome Acorn's anchor (Phelps) who was about 2:03. We led them at invitational meets, at district, and at state until their anchor would run past my anchor to beat us every time. It was a great rivalry back then.
Good stuff. In terms of my own running days that reminds me of Alma-Vilonia 4x800 rivalry.
I've talked about that 4x8 enough here, but just to add a bit more.
Sophomore year: Two sophomores (Me(Brooks), Izaak), Two juniors (Alex and Colton). We were a ragtag bunch. None of us looked extremely athletic, but we ran all out on that track.
We didn't have a lot of expectations, but we won the Van Buren meet and then the Russellville meet and after that we knew we were contenders in the half mile relay and half mile individually. At the U of A outdoor meet, we pre qualified for state and finished 4th amongst power houses like Rogers, Bentonville, and some Missouri teams.
That said, the 4x800 was stacked at 5A state that year. Hot Springs had almost beat that Rogers team indoors, Magnolia had two absolute studs, and Vilonia was great as always.
I'm getting off track.
Every time we raced our order was: Colton (2:00-2:02), Izaak (2:02-2:04), Alex (2:05-2:11), Brooks (2:05-2:09).
Vilonia seemed to be trying to find the perfect order to beat us all year. But at conference they ran their weakest runner first (around what Brooks ran), Hawkins Hutson (around Izaak), their best miler/two miler in Zac Bowling (he was inconsistent as a half miler, anywhere from 2:02-2:07), and then a wildcard every meet.
At the conference meet: Colton got us way out ahead, Izaak kept the lead about the same and held off Hawkins, Bowling made a pretty good move against Alex, but we were a couple of meters ahead when Brooks got the stick. That said, Vilonia had put a runner on the relay they hadn't all year. A long jumper/400 runner who was athletic looking and a senior. I was scared to death of the unknown, but I kept my cool and finished ahead of him. I was told he really made a move on me the first lap, but couldn't sustain it and just was able to keep me lightly in touch until the end when it was obvious he wasn't going to catch me.
Our best time that year was the 8:21 we ran at the U of A meet.
We finished 3rd at state behind Hot Springs and Magnolia. I always blame myself for finishing 3rd. I got the stick in third and busted my gut to get ahead of Magnolia, but the Magnolia runner, a kid I would become good friends with, kept his cool and blasted past me to finish 2nd. I wish I had ran more even keeled.
Tell as many stories as you want. I never tire of the good stuff.
Good rivalries make it even better. Make for great memories for sure.
Junior year was my probably my favorite track season, for the obvious we won a state title. Yet at the same time, I enjoyed so much more of that season.
Of course, we returned our whole 4x8 quartet. Colton and Alex were now seniors. Izaak and I were now juniors. We had a lot of expectations for ourselves. We wanted to win the 4x800 at state. We thought we could be the best 3200 meter relay team in the state.
We lost one regular season meet all year that I can remember, which was without Alex. Our alternate, who we put on the last leg, had a almost 100 meter lead on the Southside runner, but the Southside runner passed him at the end. We even won the U of A meet. Vilonia was still an intense rivalry. They were going to come after us hard, but we mainly avoided Vilonia all year. (This might have been by design).
We ran our same order as the year before. As the anchor leg most meets (except for that one where Southside beat us when we had an alternate), I hardly ever had to sweat it. At the Mansfield meet at the beginning of the season we had a 200 meter lead on the field after Colton handed it off. He ran a 2:00 flat at the beinning of March by himself. It was incredible. We qualified for state that meet.
We didn't get challenged much, really ever. Colton was producing 2 minutes or under. Izaak was doing 2:02 or 2:00. A 1:59 mixed up. Alex and I were both at 2:05 consistently. I think our best was an 8:12 that year at the state meet, which we won by 13 seconds over Hot Springs.
We ended up not going to the meet of champs. That was the last season that track ended the third week of May and our seniors (Colton and Alex) skipped their graduation to help our team win state (a whole other story), so we understood going on their senior trip and missing the MOC. I do think we go right around 8:00 flat or sub 8:00 if we go. Conway, who we beat all year, and Lake Hamilton, who we beat once, both ran 8:00 flat.
So impressive. I agree. Get to MOC and the three teams push each other to 8:00 or better. What a season. And yes, maybe by design. Coach MAC was a smart guy and I'd never doubt him using that strategy for you guys.
Got another story for any track fans out there with a decent sense of humor. My kids love when I tell this one and it is not meant in any way to demean me or any of my athletes.
I have already mentioned that I coach at a very small school that had Class A numbers for a long time but we have football so we competed in 2A and for about 15 years have been at or near the bottom of Class 2A for numbers. I have always said that is no excuse for anything. If anything, it has helped my kids understand that in life, sometimes you have to overcome obstacles or even perceived obstacles. Great lesson.
Early in my career, I was only getting one or two of the "athletes" on our campus and worked hard getting other kids in my classrooms to come out and try track and field. One year, I had a good 800m runner. He loved relays so he asked me to try to put one together for the upcoming season. So I recruited and recruited and worked the classes, hallways, and cafeteria. The three that I got had never run in track and two of them had never been in any kind of athletics. Challenge accepted! Our preseason workouts focused on building for this relay. The first meet out, we ran at Subiaco. We finished dead last about 2 minutes behind every other team. We improved drastically each week due to their hard work. By the last few invitationals, we were finishing top 4 at those meets and were feeling good about our chances of qualifying for state at our district meet. At district, we chopped about 20 seconds off of our season best and were ecstatic. We get to state and the kids just ran incredibly well and won gold. Now, for us it was special. But, they only ran a 9:04. But, that was about two minutes faster than the start of the season with a bunch of out of shape non-athletes at the time. We arrive at the MOC with so much excitement. And it was a nice big crowd that day due to some big name athlete participating (maybe Kenny Evans?) Even SI was there. So the race commences and my kids are running well. My anchor leg comes around turn three to the finish line sprinting side-by-side with Rogers and RussVegas, if I remember correctly. The crowd is going nuts!!! They all cross about even.......... then, with a big grin on his face, my anchor leg slows down and continues his final lap.......
I hope this makes you smile a little on these days with no real-time sports. It made me smile just remembering those guys.
Diamonds in the Rough
Like I mentioned in a previous story, I always combed my classes and hallways looking for kids to tryout for track. Back in the 90s, I had some good teams with absolutely zero depth. We had won district with a lot of underclassmen one year. I envisioned us making our first true run at a state title the following year. After Christmas break, we really started building toward a great season with all athletes really committed to our goals and workouts. About late February, I ask a kid in my biology class if he might be interested. He said he'd think about it and ask his folks. He returned the next day with a yes. He had never been in sports so he was a true challenge. 6'3" and about 125 pounds. Super skinny and little muscle. At that time I ran with my kids. My plan was for him to be a distance runner. His first day at practice, I ran with him and the distance guys. We ran a route around town. After a few minutes, the guys noticed our new guy was nowhere to be found. They continued while I ran back to find him. When I got to him, he informed me that he ran for about one or two minutes and was so out of breath, he had to stop. I figured it would be his first and last day. But he continued to jog walk each day making regular progress. Fast forward to early March and our first meet. He had folks from out of state, parents, siblings, etc there to watch him. He was in the 3200m run. They ran girls and boys together and he finished dead last. After the meet, he walked up in his regular clothes and with his folks. I just knew he was turning in his uniform. But no. They were all excited that he was competing for our school!! The next day, he asked what more he could do to improve. Wow! I gave him a late evening workout to go with our afternoon training. Over the season, he drastically improved. One Sunday at church, a member asked me what training we were doing at 6:00 a.m. I said none. He told me that there were kids running every morning on his way to work. You guessed it. My rookie had added morning workouts on his own. At our last three invitational meets, he placed and got his first ribbons. We go to district where he helps us win the title and qualifies for state in the 3200m. At state, our 4x800m goes in ranked #4. One of my vaulters is on the team and in the final four competitors remaining so asks if I can replace him on the relay team. Yep, you got it. I put our rookie in who ran 8 seconds faster than my regular guy's PR and we win gold. New guy is named All State!! Team finished 3rd at state. He worked his tail end off the next two years ending up at 170 pounds and benching 225. Won multiple state golds. Great guy! Great family! Great commitment!
A Story a Day
During these sportsless days, I've had time to reflect when looking at pictures, scrapbooks, videos, and the like. I have been trying to post a story a day. It's as much for me as anything but I'm surely enjoying it.
Way back in 2006, my oldest daughter entered 7th grade. That is basically the beginning of a program for Lady Rattler Track and Field. Fast forward to the 2011-2014 era. I previously mentioned a small portion of this paying homage to Coach Dunlap. In 2011, my daughters led us to a 4th place finish at state and the District Championship. The next year, we were dominating winning hardware at nearly every meet and winning another District title. We entered state as the favorite in the girl's division. All was going well as we were exceeding even my expectations. My younger daughter scored in long jump, silver in 4x800m relay, ran a PR to be the 3-seed in the 200m, 4th in high jump. The triple jump (she was seeded third) competition was going on during high jump. By the time she was done with high jump they were awaiting her to complete triple jump. On her first jump, she screamed and I knew something was horribly wrong. I ran over to carry her from the pit. (Torn hamstring) She said, "We can't win it now, can we?" And she began sobbing uncontrollably. The girls competed hard but came up 11 points short. 2014 arrives and I only have four girls remaining on the Senior Girls team but a strong group in junior high. We win both District titles and enter state projected 4th, well behind Magnet Cove. Our girls had a great morning session scoring in every event. Then my daughter, as anchor in 4x800, ran down a girl from 100m+ to take gold in the 4x800. Our afternoon session surpassed what we projected. The evening session began with my 4th ranked hurdler finishing 7th by slowing down then my miler finishing 7th 15 seconds slower than her average run. I call the team together to really chew them out. I began by asking them if they wanted to win this thing!! A timid voice asked, "We can still win?" I said. Well YES!!!!! (We were down by 29 points and they had looked at posted results causing them to think we were out of it) No chewing needed. My daughter led us to a top three in the 4x100, turned around for bronze in the 400m, my hurdler silvered in 300m hurdles, 9th grader silver in 800m, and my miler took silver in the 3200m. The announcer called out the standings with us a point* behind Magnet Cove!! My daughter has our mile relay team with her when she says to me, "All we have to do is beat Magnet Cove and we win it all? We've got this!!!" The first runner (sophomore) PRs, the next two runners (both freshmen) PR but we are in 5th and 20 yards behind MC. My daughter just ran her heart out and passed all but the leader (closed within 10 feet of her) for silver and the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!!! Proud dad moment.
Outstanding Day, Painful Day, Championship Day
This story is a little shorter, but very deserving. I've told about my boys teams winning titles, about my older daughter being the start of Lady Rattler track program and it's first state champion, and about my younger daughter's heroics and state championship. Now about a dominant day.
2012
Katy Carter has already won 2 individual state titles in cross country along with a state runner up. I didn't think she could top that. Yet, in her senior year, she won nearly every race that season including two indoor state events and the 1600 and 3200 at all but one invitational meet. She topped even that at outdoor state. She warmed up with a bronze in pole vault while setting our school record, she then anchored our 4x800m relay to silver, then won the high jump in the afternoon session. She smoked the field in the 1600, then out kicked the lead runners in the 800, and finished it off by gutting out a gold in the 3200!!!! What a day for this Rattler great. (Cari Bryan won gold in discus that day. I had a wonderful team!)
Work Ethic
At the beginning of every season, I give my athletes a track/cross country handbook chalked full of good stuff and then have a big team talk. My track philosophy states that I try to relate everything in track to life. One of the areas I discuss is developing a good work ethic.
Go back to 2009. Like many times before, I talked some young people into trying track and field. One such individual was Joseph. Joseph joined us after Christmas break having never truly been in athletics. He would do workouts during athletics period then go home to the family farm. He was a smaller lad about 5'5, 110 pounds at the time. Quiet, rarely speaking to anyone at practice, but true to whatever I asked him to do. Weeks pass and we finally open up our outdoor season. I've got three returning on my 4x800m relay looking for a fourth. At the meet, I run Travis first and we are battling Alma for first, Then Churxa runs great and we are in second well in front of third place. Ethan runs third putting an 80 meter gap between us and the third place team. I had decided to try Joseph and wanted him to be comfortable upon receiving the baton so put him as fourth leg. Well, every team passed him as he ran a nearly four minute half mile. Yes. That is accurate. He came up to me after the race with tears welling up. He finally spoke to me. I thought he was certainly quitting. He quietly asked what he could do to never let that happen again, to never let the team down. So I give him an after school workout to do on his own. He improved all season. Skip ahead to summer. He is doing about 45 miles a week and asks what he can do to improve his speed. I give him speed drills, weight room routine, hills, fartleks, resistance drills. We run our first cross country meet and he medaled! I was impressed. He asked about how to even more improve speed and kick. I mentioned bleachers. He continued medaling getting his time down even more each week. We begin cutdowns in late September. About the second week of October he limps up to me and says his knee is hurting so bad he can't run. I ask lots of questions. Finally it comes out that after we all left practice each day, he was staying and doing bleachers. EVERY DAY!! Tendonitis. Uggghhhh. I told him he would cease all lower body exercises until healed. Tears again. We did all types of therapies prescribed by PT. He ran District and placed third overall. I asked him and he said there was still discomfort. I made him take off until state. He ran great, finished top ten and was named All State. Had the biggest smile on the medal stands!! Then took that work ethic minus every day bleachers through track season. We won the 4x800m at all of our small invitationals that year. At State he shined: 2:08 800m split in relay helping us to silver. Placed in 3200m as well helping our team to State Runner-up. Joseph exemplifies what my handbook is trying to convey.
In the Beginning
When I arrived at Magazine, track was pretty much a one-day event. The basketball coach would come in on a Monday and ask how many want to miss a day of school and go to a track meet. Then on Friday, load up a bus and go to a track meet and finish out of the hardware.
The first four years, I had very few kids. Joe Wilks, Jeremy Wortham, and Paul Thompson were the three scorers and the three who truly committed to it. They each scored at State with Jeremy winning gold in high jump at 6'5".
This short story is about an individual from the next era: 1994-1999. Bryan Gibson was All State in '94, Joe Standridge in '96, and Jasper Franklin in '96-98; but Josh Scott took our program to a different level. As I've often mentioned, I build my athletes in a Team philosophy. Until Josh arrived, we still seemed like a small group or a few individuals. He embraced "Team". Our numbers increased at the same time and he led me to my first District title as a track coach. He was part of our first relay gold at state in the mile relay in '97, plus another relay gold in the 4x800m in '99 along with three silvers in relays. He was All State three consecutive years. He took the '99 group to the brink of a state title but we had to settle for third. Josh was a good athlete who worked so hard to reach and fulfill his true potential while having incredible leadership skills to draw others to do the same. From Josh Scott's era to the present, our program has never been strayed from District titles and has remained a state power.
This is copied from another post but one of my favorites.
Preface: teams had finished 3rd, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, r-up, r-up at State in 7 of previous 11 years. In 2011, I had an incredible squad. We had a lead from the first event (McElroy gold in shot put) until the final event and lost by 4 points.) But my distance crew all gave blood the day before state, Ryan Chambers (#2 LJ, #3HJ, #3PV, #4TJ) injured ankle warming up for pole vault as we lost by 4 points. That tough loss set the tone for the next year.
So, my #3-ranked team in 2012 decided to not let anything stop them. Great commitment all year. My girls ranked #1 all year. Both are rolling along when my daughter tears hamstring in triple jump. I tally points in my mind and know DES Arc and Magnet Cove will now be able to overtake us. Girls crying everywhere even though they continued competing to the end. Well, my teams all work together and it just poured more motivation into the boys who were scoring seemingly in every event. McElroy took 3rd in shot and discus, Scott and Cory Chambers (2nd) scored in high jump with Cory also scoring in triple jump. Josh Dority took third in the 100m. Ron Stafford outkicked and passed 4 runners to score in the 1600m. Our 4x100m relay scored. Ethan Williams won the 400m! With three events to go, the announcer calls out team standings and we find ourselves down 21 to Junction City! I'm immediately overcome with emotions as that news hits as my daughter is walking the 200m dash final limping with an ice pack taped to her hamstring to get that 1 point. Tears are streaming as I'm questioning why my Lord is testing me with the emotions of my kids (yes. I know it is silly, but true). Dority and Williams come up 3rd and 6th in 200m. Unexpected. Then Stafford and Moua (#4 and #8 going in) gutted out a gigantic 3-4 finish!!! They call out the standings. If our mile relay beats them, we are champions. If they beat us, they are the champions. By the way, they had a #1 season best 3:36 going in and we had a #7 3:46 going in. My team culture is always about team and each other. Charly Moua, my best hurdler, and Josh Dority, my top sprinter come to me. Coach, we've been on the relay all year but we think after all of our events, we have a better shot with Cory and Michael's fresh legs. I said let's do it. Jack Scott starts slowly and at the 200m mark is well behind JC and Magnet Cove runners. But something kicks in and so does Jack. What a kick. PR to hand off sidebyside with JC. Michael "Squeeze" Vasquez then runs a PR to hand off side by side with JC again. Cory Chambers then runs a PR handing the baton to our anchor from about 3 feet behind JC. It is now a 2-man race between Ethan Williams and Romunskee Flowers. They do nearly 350 meters of synchronized running. Flowers technique breaks just a little and Williams takes us to Gold in 3:35 and the promised land of a state championship. My girls who led all day until the final events are jumping up and down screaming with tears of joy and sadness. Facebook exploded among Rattler faithful and my phone went dead from all the calls and texts from family, friends, community, fellow coaches, etc. There is so much more but this paints the general picture.
Sibling Greatness
Over the years, Rattler track teams have often been loaded with siblings. The first ones on my teams that I remember are Shane and David Hughes and Claude and Jasper Franklin. But to keep this post manageable, I'll just discuss the most successful ones.
We begin with Jason, Donald, and Justin Bonner. Justin only competed at the district level. Jason was a 3X state champion and in two events. Was All State 3X. He set school records in the 800m and on the 4x800m relay. He led teams to two top three finishes at state and four district championships. Donald was a state champion and All State with his teams finishing top 3 at state twice. He was part of 4 district championships as well.
Next are Ryan and Cory Chambers. Cory was a state champion and 2X All State. He set school records in triple jump and as part of the mile relay. The two led their teams to a State Championship, two State runners up, and a third place finish plus five district titles.
The next siblings are Courtney and Brittney Bryan. Courtney was the start of a program for the Lady Rattlers, led teams to the first track district championships (two total) in Rattler history. She was State champion and All State. She set school records in discus, shot put, triple jump, and as part of the mile relay. Her final team finished 4th at the state championships. Brittney was a State champion and 3X All State. She set school records in long jump, triple jump, high jump, 100m, 200m, 4x100m, 4x400m, and 4x800m relays. She led her team to the 2014 State championship and finished 3rd, 4th, and 5th during her career. Her teams won the district championships all 6 years.
Finally, we finish up with Ethan Williams and Jesse Witt. Ethan was 2X state champion. He was 2X All State. He set school records in 400m and mile relay. He led his team to the 2012 State championship plus finished runner up twice and 3rd. His teams won five district titles. Jesse was State champion and All State. He set the school record in triple jump. He led his team to a State championship his senior year. His teams were 4X district champions.
There have been many others including Long, Chang, and Cheenew Yang; Jericho and Skyler McElroy; Larry and Travis Williams; Lowell, Albert, and Ramon McDonald; the Moua brothers; Billy and Xeng Yang (younger brother looks to be great as well); Kaitlynn and Connor Ryan (Connor is just a sophomore); and Cari, Heather, Kalyn, and Nate Bryan among others. Each of those were part of state hardware. I can't wait for the next set to continue the tradition.
Heart. A Rattler must have Heart.
My next story goes back to the 90s again. I was still trying to develop more than just a team, but a program worthy of respect. Wortham had already won an individual state title and Standridge, Gibson, Franklin, along with Wortham had given us an All State athlete four consecutive years. But we had yet to experience much team success. In '97, Jasper Franklin and Josh Scott made for a strong core of athletes. They were joined by Fred Salzer, Thomas Hyatt, Lowell and Albert McDonald, and Justin Shelton as regulars plus baseballers at the end of the season. At the beginning of a warm February day after school practice , a skinny young man approached me. I dispatched the team to their respective workouts. He asked if he could join the track team this late in the year. I said, "Only if you have heart." He asked what he could do. I told him to run a lap. He did. We talked. "What next?" I told him to run a lap. He did. More talk. "What next?" Run two laps. Talk. Next. Two laps. Talk. Next. A lap. Talk. Next? A lap. Talk. What now? Two laps. Talk. Next? A lap. The team begins to show up and cheer him on about now. What next? Four laps. He finished that final lap and asked, "When is practice over?" I said , Right now." We embraced Jeffery as one of the team immediately. In '97, he helped us to my first track district title. He ran on the state champion mile relay and bronze 4x800m relay. Then in '98, he ran to silver on both relays and silver in a photo finish in the individual 400m. He completed that team and allowed us to finally finish top ten at state. Always worked hard. Always competed. Always left it on the track.
Side note: I had developed good rapport with him and his family prior to that day. He and I talked many times before and after classes. I felt like testing his will would be fine and the best way to make up for weeks of missed training with the others (not physically but in a team sense.). His folks became ardent supporters of our program. Jeff became part of Rattler T&F lore. We still visit from time to time to this day. I also use him as an example to kids today.
Excellence in the Midst of a Lull
From 1998 to 2014, Rattler teams had two State championships, two State runner up, seven third place finishes. I suppose all schools experience lulls, but it had been awhile for us. It's really hard to look at it that way but we really were thin. That is why this story highlights three young men who carried on our tradition even with low numbers. Hunter Chastain, Billy Yang, and Cheenew Yang were brilliant during that era. They continued the work ethic, the determination, the desire, perseverance, and great attitude. Hunter was Class 2A State runner up in cross country and scored at state in the distance races. Billy and Cheenew scored in shot put and discus at state. Cheenew set state records at the state weight meet, and Billy benched over 450 lbs. They never lost sight of our Rattler track and field goal to reach full potential. Their desire for team success was in evidence as Hunter learned to vault and all three would run in various relays in preparation for trying to win another district championship. Finally, they kept the bar high for the groups which followed them. Great leadership and role modeling.
Don't Judge a Book by its Cover
Way back in the 1938-1940 era, Emmit Cleveland, using a bamboo pole, set the state record for pole vault in the midst of winning state in the event for three consecutive years for the Rattlers. The record stood for 17 years.*
Leap forward all the way to 1999. Harley Love was the next Rattler to be state champion in vault. Then Dakota Kohler came along to challenge for it. But this story spotlights Rattler immortal Long Yang. Yang's football exploits are well-documented in the Magazine Rattler Football thread in the 2A Board. But this will highlight a few things about his track and field greatness. He was a mere 4'11", 119 pounds yet could bench over 255 lbs. He would work out during 8th period athletics, alternate days working on hurdles, sprints, relays, vault, and long jump. He would practice track from 2:20 until after 6:00 regularly then soccer after a supper break. Just a workhorse determined to reach excellence!
One of my few true regrets in 30+ years of coaching is that we couldn't purchase all the "correct" poles for him to reach his potential in that event. I've seen him go over 3 feet over a 12' crossbar but the pole "explode" him in all directions. He used poles rated 10 to 35 lbs over his weight. It was just his sheer strength and athleticism that allowed him to vault over 12' with those poles. Even so, he was ranked #2 in Class 2A behind Andrew Irwin. He was also a fantastic hurdler even though he was not your prototype at 4'11". Nonetheless, his attention to technique allowed him to medal at state along with winning district in both hurdle events. He ran first leg on our 4x100m relay and split in low 11s and scored at state. He helped our mile relay medal at indoor knocking off perennial power Nashville back in the day. He rarely got to work on or compete in long jump, yet when given the opportunity at District, he came through with a nice PR just under 20'.
But my favorite Long Yang story just shows his commitment to our team philosophy. His senior year, he was the favorite to win our District MVP award. But knowing we needed to qualify as many athletes as possible for state, he allowed one of his teammates to "beat" him in vault by bowing out when only Long, Ryan Chambers, and Andrew Irwin remained in the competition thus assuring Chambers of top two finish. That move cost him the MVP by one point. He was more than willing.
By the way, he helped our cross country team to a third place finish at state.
Long Yang is the epitome of Rattler Track and Field.
Greatness at a Small School
Roy Carey = speed! Roy was recruited by every university in Arkansas plus a few out of state after scorching tracks all over the state. He still holds meet records at various venues. He was State Champion in the 100m dash, 200m dash, long jump, and 4x200m relay (Sam Hartman, Isaac Vaughn, David Everett). He took silver and bronze medals at the Meet of Champs. He was All-State four straight years and All-Conference those same four seasons. He led the Rattlers to back to back 3rd place finishes at the state championships. He was District MVP and still holds district and school records in those events. He tied the state record in the 55m dash indoor at Fayetteville during his senior year. He was named to the All Arkansas team as a senior. The first Rattler to be named. He ran at the university level in Kansas qualifying for the national meet. Roy could just wow a crowd. Roy was a dedicated athlete. He was about 5'7" and 135 pounds when he first started in athletics at Magazine. He was in a junior high P.E. class and the teacher came up to me at lunch one day and suggested that I take a look at this kid who had performed well in the Presidential Fitness Challenge. He had also run a 5:24 mile in P.E.*without any training. Not bad for a junior high non-athletics kid. I went and asked him if he had thought about doing school sports and he said no. I asked him if he might be interested in just trying track with no obligations. He said he would ask his parents. He came back the next day with a no. I asked if he was good with me talking to his parents and he said yes. The mother came and visited with me and said he could try it for two weeks. He was hooked and never looked back!
He dominiated meets and still holds our junior high sprint records to this day at school and at District.
He moved up to our senior high team at the end of the junior high season and was our best sprinter immediately. At the state level, he took the baton in 5th place in the old 4x200m relay, passed three within a couple of seconds then ran the other down and crossed the line in a photo finish where the camera showed that he won! I knew that day that we had a special kid. He would repeat that type of feat with regularity. In his sophomore year, he astounded folks by winning the sprints at the Vilonia invitational meet against a number of large, perennially powerhouse schools and medaled at state. His junior year is when he started long-jumping well. He and Craig Gentry of Ft. Smith would typically go 1-2 at our local meets. Roy really showed off by taking silver at the Lake Hamilton meet against a murderer's row of sprinters. He also silvered in the long jump that night. It was during his junior and senior years that he got to square off against future Olympic medalist and World Champion Wallace Spearmon of Fayetteville. Roy actually knocked Spearmon off a few times (although Spearmon won most races including an incredible MOC performance). Roy won two golds and two silvers at State his junior year again catching and running down runners well in front of him in the 4x200m relay in the most exciting race of the year. He also tied the state record in the 100m prelims. At Indoor meets (we actually had indoor seasons back then), Roy won many medals including a 6.52 55m dash time and a 22'+ long jump. His best performance is not even recorded, unfortunately. At the MOC where he took silver in the long jump, all athletes got 6 attempts. Roy hit around 22' on his first attempt. His entire high school career, he had never been able to break the stutter-step approach that never allowed him to hit his potential. I told him that he had 6 attempts and his steps were right and that this would be his last meet to hit a giant one. So he went for it, scratched by about an inch. I asked the folks to measure it. 24'4". Yes, that is right!! Then on his next 4 attempts, he stuttered again each time. Silver. He ended with PRs of 10.72 and 21.76. He never ran the open 400m but split sub 50 at Alma one night and that was slowing down to end the race with a big lead in the mile relay. Just a great athlete who worked his tail end off. He ended up about 5'9" and 165 pounds of pure, lean, and explosive muscle (benched over 300 lbs). One of his teammates posted that he was the most committed athlete he ever saw.
I cannot say enough about his track feats during his time as a Rattler. Roy Carey was an all-time great.
Throwing is Track?
My kids have always been expected to be in tip-top condition due to needing them for so many events during the District and State Championships. Being at a small school hardly affords any opportunities for specialization in events. As a result, it took me a while to get the throws off the ground so to speak. Some of my "larger" athletes (although throws is a truly athletic event and can be performed by athletes of all shapes and sizes) often just predetermined not to go out for track. That changed in the late 90s as Justin Shelton put the shot in the mid-40s. He was a baseball player who practiced during his lunchtime weekly. Next was Dan Smith who was a large and strong young man (benched over 300 lbs) but not overly explosive or athletic if you will. He just worked on technique so much and scored at state. Ramon McDonald also relied on some technique to score at the state level. Next was Justin Yates. He was my first to master the spin. He took three medals at the state level while also setting our school record in the discus. Ryan Barrett followed Justin. He was masterful with technique in both events and medaled at state in both. He also benched over 400 pounds. That set the tone for Allen Fairbanks who moved in for his junior year. He started off in baseball, but after a couple of weeks asked the coach if he could switch to track. He had little time to do any practice and we went to the early Ft. Smith meets at Southside. There were 6 or 7 throwers over 50' at the meet. Poor ol' Fairbanks hit a gigantic 29' Lol. The look on his face was priceless and we still harass him if we get the opportunity. But, he, as great athletes/people do, responded in the most positive of ways. He just worked on lifting, explosion, and technique all the time over the remainder of that season and his senior year. By the end, he was hitting 49' plus and over 135'. Great progress for the young man. He then held clinics for local throwers over the years to come. One of the all-time greats as well. Since that time, our throwing hit a special level that has never gone down. There have been times that we would have over 15 kids at the throwing areas working on throws at practices. It shows the respect garnered by our throwers in our program. Each thrower passes down what they know. John Williams hit 48'+ and 146'+ winning 5 state medals, Courtney Bryan won state as one of my two girls that I personally saw hit 100+ in discus' she also threw over 35': Cari Bryan won state with 94'+ and hit over 36', Lorraine Dority hit 105'. Skyler McElroy won state gold and bronze in shot and bronze in discus, Andy Moua was silver at state behind Willaims gold as we entered state with top three ranked discus throwers that year (Williams, Moua, Aydelott all over 130'). Lee Simmers took bronze in discus. In our girls' state championship year, Brittney Bryan and Heather Bryan both competed at state with Heather scoring in both and Brittney hitting 93' in discus that year. Adrianna Thomas scored at state, Tannea Thomas took gold in shot and has hit 38' at an invitational meet, Clair Curtis scored in shot and discus at state. Kobe Faughn took silver at shot put. Caleb Hyatt, a senior this year, who will miss his final season, is a 2-time gold in Indoor shot put, and gold in discus along with a bronze his sophomore year. I have left out some of my throwers but this shows how the throws have grown over the years. Almost all of the ones in the past 15 years have demonstrated impeccable technique. I am as proud of this group as I am any I have coached in any sport over the years. Throwers often don't get the attention they deserve, but we have built our foundation on them.
these are some great stories about the football and cheerleading conditioning program you put together 43. Enjoying reading them and breaking away from reality.
Hey, got to fill my practice time somehow. Been a nice stroll down memory lane. Also got me wondering when the virus scare will have peaked. If it rocks on, football season will be greatly affected and dare I mention it: canceled? Praying and hoping we get past this soon.
More short stories on the way.
From what I have heard. Hopefully it peaks in Arkansas end of April beginning June. I am not holding my breath on that though. I have heard nationally won't peak until august into September. Hopefully they get a vaccine but even if we do, will take months to distribute. The only thing we can do at this time is isolate, use proper hand washing hygiene and pray. Schools should be closed for the rest of this school year. If the students go back, that will just undermined the whole process and the cases will spike. Stay safe.
Agreed. You too.
Unlikely Champions
The Rattlers had been on a great run from 1997-2005 with the likes of Josh Scott, Jasper Franklin, Jeffery Emmert, Justin Shelton; then Roy Carey and company; and finally, Jason Bonner and Charlie Kelm's groups finishing top three at state five times but no still no State team hardware; just lots of individual greats and District titles. Then a little, what looked like, athletic lull occurred between 2006 and 2009. Our football team entered the longest losing streak in the state at the time (only to be followed by an incredible four years); the basketball team won 5 games over a 3-year period (which followed a run where our girls and boys were playing in state tourneys and regional finals). And our baseball team's streak of regional finals came to a screeching halt. I only had a handful of young men even go out for track and field: Seth Fox, a hurdler who ran his 100m dash in 13.9 (yes, I am serious); Doyle Wilks, a basketball player who struggled to get to the top loop of a net; Larry Williams who seemed to just be a "P.E." athlete; Chris McCleod who was a stud runner in junior high the year before; Zach Lemmond, my at this time just above average cross country runner; and Ryan Cameron who had never done track before. As we approached the season, we were joined by the aforementioned Allan Fairbanks from baseball, by Donald Bonner who decided at the last possible moment not to take off his senior year, and Marc Reed. The group also talked their buddy, Kyle Krigbaum into running. That gave us a 10-man crew after only having about 5 or 6 at most practices during the winter months. Reed turned into an acceptable sprinter who scored at the district meet and helped complete a sprint relay (with Bonner, Fairbanks, and whichever other runner I put in). Cameron became our lone vaulter and scored at district even while working on vault with, first, a hole in the ground for a plant box (yes, it was the correct size and solid) while landing on mats from I am guessing the 70s that we got donated from another school (that is another story). Fairbanks astounded us by developing into a great thrower ranked number one in the shot put. Fox worked on nothing but hurdles and speed and got down to, for him, an amazing 17.78 (only 3 seconds or so off his 100m time). Wilks got up to 6'2" in high jump with unreal good technique. All the while, the mid-distance and distance group (Lemmond, McCleod, Krigbaum, Wilks, Williams, and Bonner) developed into an incredible force with small school times in the 4x800m and 4x400m which were very good during that time: low 8:30s to low 8:40s and 3:30s. We continued to progress all year long. By district, they were a force. I divided them so that we flooded each event with four runners. By the end of the meet, kids from other schools were bringing water to our athletes, bragging on them and their performances, and asking them about running in so many events (we ran our limit but the perception was that the same three guys were running in most events!!!) Near the end of the meet, it is a two-team battle between us and Danville (typical of our conference meets). Our kids in the 3200m took four of the top five spots and secured a 1-point victory. What a celebration ensued. Then, they top that off by going to state and finishing 3rd behind Jessieville, and Mineral Springs. Those kids just would not be denied. They just worked so hard daily. The same crew plus foreign exchange student J.C. Kelle put on a similar show also winning district and finishing 3rd at state. J.C. only high jumped. But at 6'4" as his regular clearance at meets, he gave us valuable points. Those teams were reminiscent of the year after Carey and friends graduated. Kelm, Bonner, and company had to execute perfectly to knock off Danville. Andrew Cameron and Jason Bonner each pulled off upsets to take home the title by two points that year. Bonner entered the 200m ranked #5 in the district behind Charleston's #1, Danville's top two, and Lavaca #1. Cameron was not even top 10 at the district rankings. Bonner closed hard and won in a photo finish and Cameron took 6th to allow our distance runners to dominate the 3200m and our 4x400m team to win gold and take the meet!! Wow, those were fun. I cannot type as fast as my mind is remembering this stuff. Kelm, Bonner, Bonner, and Shook then went on to State gold in the 4x800m and bronze in the 4x400m. Anyone besides me remember the monsoon at Heber Springs? But, that is for another day.....
Ahead of Schedule
Back in 2006-2008, my junior boys teams had brought home plenty of hardware. Slowly, they began to move into senior high for a great four-year run. But in 2009, they were very young with the weight of talent still in 9th and 10th grades. A couple of seniors determined to really commit to track that season. We had no "big" goals of winning state or any illusions of greatness for that spring. I remember our turning point. We had actually improved to a point of being pretty good by midseason (winning hardware at the two previous invitational meets)when a cold front blew in. We were at Paris and it was frigid and drizzling all night. We were running along about the 4x100m relay winning the meet when my senior 400m runner came up and asked if he had to run it that night. Before I could answer, my senior 800m runner came up complaining of the conditions and also asked. I grumbled pretty intensely and finally told them "no, you don't. Just go get warm on the bus." My preseason talks always spoke to expectations at meets: do your events to the best of your ability every meet. After word spread that two seniors begged out of events, I had multiple athletes (about half) ask out. We finished 6th losing to teams we had been beating and to two rivals. When the meet ended, I had gotten worked up. Upon arrival to the bus, my emotions were high. My daughter, who was the only senior high girl, was asked to step off the bus. I lambasted them for 30 minutes. Paris officials even turned out the lights and headed out. From that night on we gelled. Practices had an edge, our competitiveness at meets was up a notch, and kids began holding each other accountable. We win district and enter state hoping for a top 10 finish. State was unreal with PR after PR. John Williams won discus and silver in shot. Freshman Ryan Chambers took bronze in high jump. Dakota Kohler battled for bronze in pole vault. Those two seniors led us to silver in the 4x800m relay. Sophomore Long Yang scored in hurdles. Sophomore Travis Williams scored one 1600m and 3200m. My 400m guys finished silver and bronze to get us within striking distance of Des Arc and ahead of Junction City (with future Razorbacks Byron Jones and Allen Turner). Tim Harper, DA Coach, found me and was asking if we had what it took to knock them off. They were the prohibitive favorites and we threw them a good scare. We battled all the way to the end even taking silver in the mile relay. Third place again. But it showed those kids they could compete with anyone. The next three years were astonishing with a state title and two state runnerup trophies. When those athletes and I reminisce about that season, I tell them that we arrived a year ahead of expectations.
Leadership, Magnetism, Charisma, and Gravitation
I am a big believer in leadership being crucial to the success of a program. Good coaches must possess it. But, it goes even better when a good coach has a great athlete as a leader. Over the years, I have been blessed to have had many good/great leaders. Leadership comes in many forms: vocal, modeling, alpha athletes, etc. all have their respective places; but, when you get an individual who possesses all of these traits, you really have something special. I have had a few of these as well.
I have already sung the praises of Josh Scott who to this day may have been my best male leader on any of my teams. But, for this entry, I will tell about a few others who have left their marks on our program.
We go back about 15 years to Charlie Kelm for the first in my story. This little tidbit sums up how he felt and how he was made and what he meant to the program. At my small school, I coach senior boys, senior girls, junior boys, junior girls, 7th grade boys, 7th grade girls. That means some weeks I may be gone to meets three different days. Yet, to be successful, my teams have to practice. So, I would leave an adult to supervise while my team leaders would run practices. On this particular day, I had left an extremely challenging practice (maybe a mistake on my part, but looking back, maybe not) for the team. As has been the case for my teams since the days of Josh Scott, the athletes tend to hold each other accountable knowing it takes a committed team to win championships and to be successful. On this day, the team warms up. They then stretch. They then do some Romanian drills. They then proceed to doing 400m repeats. About 35 minutes into practice, one of the athletes shows up for practice. He had been playing basketball with the offseason guys. He dives right into 400m repeats. Upon stopping, Charlie and Jason tell him to keep going because he has to make up every one that he missed. He dismisses it as them messing with him. Long story short: it gets heated as Charlie lets him know about it and how it affects the team and that he WILL do all of the missed repeats without a break!! Kid storms off. I talked him down the next day. He made up for his missed practice throughout the week. Charlie understood and would not allow anyone to let the TEAM down. Accountability!
Jump ahead to 2009-2011. Travis Williams is my most successful male distance runner.....ever. He won so many invitational cross country meets and 3200m runs that it just became expected of him during his career. But, Travis made practices enjoyable even when painful. He would just keep it loose for everyone. Like during rainy season, he would do the running and diving/sliding across the field and get everyone going; during summer workouts, he is the one who suggested that we come in at 6:00 a.m. instead of 7:00 a.m.;during speed work, he would challenge sprinters; he would go compete in discus and in broad jump drills. He just brought the energy to practices and made those around him better. He would be the lead cheerleader for girls during their cross country races and for junior boys as well. During his time was the height of numbers for our track and cross country programs. He just made it a joy to even be on the teams but led teams to great success.
Next is Katy Carter. She is much like Charlie Kelm in that she demanded much from her teammates. I can sum up her desire to win in this little story. I was away at a junior high meet at Clarksville one afternoon. I had left instructions with Katy and Sonny as to what the team workout would be as well as individual/small group workouts after team workouts. Well, I start getting all these texts. I look and they are coming in regularly from Katy and Sonny Moua. They are both telling me that 32 kids are hard at work and that 2 (male athletes) are still in the gym not practicing with the team. I tell them to instruct those two to do their workouts and that I will deal with it the next day. They inform me that those two said they will do their respective workouts inside. I can feel the heat coming from their texts! I inform the teams that next day, that even though no athlete is above another, that when I leave a workout with captains, they are to do the workout prescribed. I had no problems with any athletes after that day. Katy let them know in no uncertain terms that her expectations were high for every athlete on the teams.
I may have mentioned it before, but since we are discussing leadership, it must be in this section. Brittney and Heather Bryan. As told in a previous story, my 2014 girls was made up of a majority of freshmen. Brittney and Heather determined at the beginning of summer that they would work and reach their potential as teams all year long. Brittney got up and ran her cross country workouts every morning that summer before sunrise then would go to the campus for basketball and weights. Then during basketball season, she and Heather would practice ball and no matter how late the practice would do their weights and mileage to maintain during winter. Then as track workouts began, Brittney was just absolutely inspirational to the rest of the team by words of encouragement, by example, and by just making it as enjoyable as it could be during those grind days and as they pushed through intense workouts in the weight room, in the gym, on the track, and on the roads. She just would not be denied and led the others toward the goals.
Finally, Levi Wright and Hannah Smith fit into this group as well combining many of the above-mentioned attributes. They tended to tag-team it since my girls and guys do much practicing together. Levi began his leadership role in junior high cross country and Hannah picked up the leadership mantle in senior high track. Their collective leadership has led to today's kids knowing what is expected of a Rattler track team.
In the years to come, I will be able to add Caleb Hyatt, Xeng Yang, and Tatum Scott to this group. But, I always wait until after graduation to include most athletes.
Rattler principles - #7 Leadership: crucial to success.
Starting from Scratch
I have spoken at coaching clinics, at ceremonies, at award ceremonies, etc. I often either share this story as part of my introduction or if asked during a Q&A session. How do you grow a program at a small school?
Here is my story. My first love was baseball. My uncles and older brother were all great at it with one uncle making it all the way to AAA level with either the Buffs or OKC, I believe (so many stories from my grandparents back in summer evenings when I would stay with them). Then came junior high, and like AT, I fell in love with basketball (big fan of Sidney Moncrief and Darrell Walker). I was on our track team, had some success, and enjoyed it but fell in love with track during my college years when during my track coaching theory classes, we were required to work the NAIA National Championships at ATU!! Still have my programs packed away somewhere with Christian Okoye being the big name of the meet. Basketball was still my passion and I got into coaching at the high school level. Track was assigned to me and I ran with it. The first year, I believe we came in 5th at district, the next year 7th (but my junior boys were district runners-up and we began building on that success). ***Side note (during the district meet in 1991, it was drizzling. My kids went to warm up in high jump. One slipped, fell awkwardly, and came up yelling in pain. I looked at his fingers and some were shaped weirdly. He asked me to pull them back into place. Negative Ghost Rider. I missed the rest of the meet that year as I drove him to Danville ER who had me take him to Russellville ER where he had multiple breaks. Like I have said, I have so many stories.) Years 3-7 we were district runners-up 6 times with one third place. In 1997, we finally broke the ice and won a district title (felt like it took forever to get that monkey off our backs). In 1998, I started the cross country program at the request of our school's best athlete. We won our first district title in 2002. Beginning with 1997, we have won 58 conference titles in track and field and cross country. In 2012, we finally got the first State Championship and have done it with girls and Indoors since then.
Here is a little recap:
Where it all started. I was named the track coach at Magazine as my spring duty as a basketball coach back in 1989. Magazine athletes had little interest in the sport at that time with only one recorded district title in school history. We attended district meets and then state if anyone happened to qualify and wanted to attend. One of the first things I determined to do was try to grow it. I began the Little Rattler Relays at our elementary school. Athletes from kindergarten through 6th grade competed every spring in the 55-yard dash, the long jump, the softball throw, and the 440-yard run. My wife would cut out hundreds of ribbons and write all the information on the backs of each ribbon after the meets. Once the late 90s arrived and so many of those kids who had competed in elementary had reached high school, my teams began to experience great success. We just grew from there. In the late 90s, we were allowed to clean out our school's old incinerator. We painted a circle and had our first throwing area! Little by little over the years, we were able to buy or be given equipment. Booneville donated some old high jump and pole vault equipment; Danville donated hurdles and starting blocks. El Dorado sold us some pits. (I had put out an announcement for needing track equipment on the old AAA site. El Dorado contacted me via email. I printed it out, got permission from administration, and headed to El Dorado with trailers in tow. Upon arrival, we are greeted by the AD. He asks why we are there. I told him we were there to pick up high jump and pole vault stuff. He said that they had new stuff for track and they planned to use that for their gymnastics program. I said, well, I was told we could have it. I showed him the email. He turned bright red, disappeared into his office. He returned shortly and said to just take it! We loaded it up and man did we get some odd looks from folks as we traveled 30 mph all the way from El Dorado to Magazine which took seemingly forever.) In 1999, we began our summer practice program. Since then, we have a program where kids can be working on track year round if they wish even while in other sports. We held fundraisers and we purchased shot and discus implements. Our maintenance department, Ag department, and EAST classes each played major roles in the development of our programs. Maintenance built the throwing areas while Ag refurbished the hurdles. Maintenance also built our triple jump pit. Our ALE classes built our runways for pole vault, long jump, and triple jump. Our district paid to have a 367-meter 6-lane dirt track built in 2012. We have now hosted 7 meets at our track. Our ALE classes helped build our cross-country course. It has been host to invitational and open meets since 2006 and has hosted the District 2A-4 meets since 2008. We even hosted the River Valley All Star meet from 2015-2018. Local families raised the money to get our pole vault and high jump pits refurbished. Dardanelle donated their pits most recently and we use them indoors. We still hold the Little Rattler Relays to this day. This all occurred over a 30-year period following the time when we had nothing but those three broken hurdles, a broken starting block, and nothing else.
We celebrate doing things the right way. We celebrate kids. We celebrate success. We set high expectations. We work hard. We develop sound technique. We have a handbook that describes all things Rattler Track and Field/Cross Country. We have developed a culture. It is Rattler Pride!!
This little story only gives a small glimpse of all that has happened during those years. I am glad I was along for the ride.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB_L2_2rJrg (1985 World Cup Mens 4x400m Relay) Make sure to watch from 2:13 on if nothing else. Amazing finish. It shows replays and slow-motion. Just wow!
I love track and field and I love relays.
Quote from: RATTLER43 on April 21, 2020, 10:05:23 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB_L2_2rJrg (1985 World Cup Mens 4x400m Relay) Make sure to watch from 2:13 on if nothing else. Amazing finish. It shows replays and slow-motion. Just wow!
I love track and field and I love relays.
I love track and field too as it allows kids from just about all classifications to compete against each other regardless of the size the school. There is a lot of participation from non team sport kids too, especially in the relay's and distance running. Our school is within a few minutes of downtown Jonesboro can host a meet and there will be hundreds of athletes from the surrounding area that are able to compete against some top level competition. Many of these kids will get scholarships to further their education in track and field. This is a greater opportunity for many more kids to get that money instead of sports like football, baseball, basketball, etc. that have a very limited number of scholarships to be handed out. Track and field has seemed to have taken off a little over the last few year and that's good to see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQUufIbFkI4 Lady Razorbacks need to beat USC in relay for National Title. Watch from 2:08 if nothing else. Then, this from Taylor Werner while the race is going on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8B9ltN_TLo&t=25s Finally, WPS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVxL2e0qUWs Watch from 4:20 on if nothing else.
Quote from: PeteRose on April 21, 2020, 10:40:43 am
I love track and field too as it allows kids from just about all classifications to compete against each other regardless of the size the school. There is a lot of participation from non team sport kids too, especially in the relay's and distance running. Our school is within a few minutes of downtown Jonesboro can host a meet and there will be hundreds of athletes from the surrounding area that are able to compete against some top level competition. Many of these kids will get scholarships to further their education in track and field. This is a greater opportunity for many more kids to get that money instead of sports like football, baseball, basketball, etc. that have a very limited number of scholarships to be handed out. Track and field has seemed to have taken off a little over the last few year and that's good to see.
True. Like a tournament atmosphere for me at every invitational meet.
Great Comebacks, Rising to the Occasion, and Clutch Performances
I have witnessed some great feats in track and field whether it was in watching Olympics, World Championships, NCAA Championships, SEC Championships, or High School meets; all great stuff. I posted about the 1985 World Cup Mens 4x400m Relay comeback. Here are just a few from my teams over the years. Since I am a storyteller, you may have heard some of these already. The kids have earned telling them again.
In 1997-1999, I had some wonderfully hard-working young men. We had been developing the "team" mentality/culture but were still focused on State success so we concentrated quite a bit on the 4x800m relay and the mile relay. We had placed at state in the 4x800m for a few years moving up into medal contention in '97 (Josh, Lowell, Albert, Thomas with Josh, Lowell, and Albert joining Jeff on the mile relay and wining GOLD in '97. More on that story in a little bit), then in '98 I had the group that had that ability to get it done. We placed top three at every invitational that season as our time continued to drop each week. We get to District expecting to win (even against a good Acorn team with an incredible anchor – Shane Phelps). My first leg (Fred) runs us out to a nice 6 meter lead over Acorn; then my second leg (Josh) pushes us out to a 5-second lead; my third leg (Albert) raced us out to a 12-second lead. My anchor (Jeff) was good, but he was no match for the 2:00-2:02 Acorn anchor who steadily ran him down giving them a narrow District victory. We continued polishing up for State fully expecting to avenge our District loss. Our kids ran their best race of the year running the 3rd fastest time in the history of the classification at that time only to see Acorn set the state record and Phelps came from behind again to defeat us. Josh returned the next season with an intense burning desire to be state champion. He was joined in the relay by David, Toby, and Edward this time. The group just worked and worked all season long. They get to State at Greenwood and Tobby is in the final four in pole vault so he is replaced with my top distance runner (Robert). We promptly run our fastest time of the year and take home GOLD! Josh never let go of that goal and worked hard to lead his team to that win. Now, back to that mile relay group. We expected to win the 4x800m in '98 but had no idea about the '97 mile relay team. We knew we were pretty good having taken silver behind Booneville at most invitational meets that season. Jeff and Lowell got us off to a great start having us in third behind Lockesburg and Magnolia. Josh gets the baton and runs a season best to run them down and split them to give the baton to Albert with the slightest lead. The Magnolia anchor catches Albert in the turn and they run the backstretch in synchronized fashion. Albert puts on the afterburners and takes us home for our first relay gold in school history!!
The next set of comebacks were in, of all races, sprint (4x200m) relays. In 2000, a young sprinter had moved up to our varsity squad after dominating the junior high circuit that season. At State, I had a good core of sprinters (Isaac, Sam, and David). The original relay team could have placed at state. But, we put our freshman as our anchor. In the finals, Roy gets the baton in 5th place but way back of the leader. He gets out fast and is past the three in the turn. It seems like an impossible task but he continues gaining on the leader. He leans at the finish line and in a photo finish is declared the winner! State Champion! As a junior, we competed at Alma for State. Roy is, this time, joined in the relay by Charlie, Isaac, and Jason. He gets the baton in the identical situation and again runs down the leader. Roy sure made sprints and relays exciting.
We move ahead a couple of years to the Jason Bonner era. He was our best runner in the 4x800m relay. State is at Dardanelle. Our lead runner (Doyle) goes out too strong with his intentions to keep up with the Genoa Central and Jessieville runners. But, they were just faster than Doyle and he ended up burning out and running a pedestrian time that day (he came back the next year to be part of the second fastest 2A relay ever!), Donald gets the baton in 7th place and runs a great race to get us into 3rd but by now we are 100 yards back of the two leaders. Jason takes the baton and just runs with guts and heart. He ran close to a 2:00 split and hands off about even with the two leaders. Chris takes the baton and runs a strategic race even with the other two then at about 200m out ramps it up and progresses into an incredible kick to win GOLD!
In 2012, our boys had made up most of the 29-point deficit to Junction City at State. It all boiled down to the mile relay. But, let's go back to the week before at District. Josh, Charlie, and Michael had put us in third place position behind Mt. Pine (about 60 yards) and Danville (about 12 meters). Ethan takes the baton and smoke is rolling off his spikes. He passes the Little John anchor in flash and begins to ease toward the Mt. Pine anchor. At the 200m mark he picks up even more speed and is barreling toward the finish line. There is no way he can make up the insurmountable gap, but wait....he is closing, closing, closing, and nips him at the finish line for the District win! Now back to State. Jack runs out and has us in the race with JC and Magnet Cove, Michael pushes us ahead of MC but still a bit behind JC. Cory runs an almost perfect race and his exchange is impeccable with him behind the JC runner yet Ethan coming out even with the JC anchor. Ethan and Romunskee run synchronized for about 350 meters. Then Ethan lights the jets once more and takes us home for GOLD and GOLD!!
Finally, in 2014, our girl's 4x800m relay was in the midst of a great run: bronze in 2011, silver in 2012 (where Marmaduke beat us in an incredible race), silver in 2013. The Lady Rattlers enter State with the third-fastest time over half a minute slower than Marmaduke's state lead. Two freshmen are added to the team. Sophomore Kaitlynn leads off with a PR to have us in contention along with Marmaduke and Des Arc. Then freshman Charity runs a PR to push us into second but now quite a distance behind Marmaduke. Freshman Aubrie runs a PR to have us clearly in 2nd place but now over 100m behind Marmaduke's anchor leg. Brittney takes the baton and a quick peek across the track at the lead anchor and determines to run her down. She does just that. But at the 600m mark of the race, she begins to falter when a familiar voice (Coach Dunlap of JC Westside) yells some encouragement to her and she picks up an adrenaline rush and some speed in the turn. She slingshots toward the Marmaduke anchor and catches her. Both incredible anchors want it so badly. Who has trained harder? Who stayed after basketball practice to lift and run? Who did all of that gym speed work during all the cold and wet weather? Who has more will to win? Who put in that summer and offseason conditioning just for this moment? It is a mad dash to the finish line and Brittney and our Lady Rattlers win GOLD and GOLD!
Yes, I have gotten to witness some truly special moments. I love track and field!
Reminiscing
During this C-19 event, I have had some time to visit, reflect, look at pics, etc. That part has been very enjoyable. Things spring to mind that I hadn't thought about in years and years.
During the mid-90s, my jumpers found an area (now under our football visitors bleachers) that was out of the way for other school purposes. We dug a large hole about 16 feet by 4 feet by 16 inches deep and filled it to overflowing with sand. The approach was just dirt but the unique thing about it was that it had them running on a tilt the entire time until planting to jump. Their bodies would be tilted to the left during acceleration. Then for added degree of difficulty, while I was over with the throwers, some kids would put large black plastic trash cans for Jasper and Josh to jump over into the sand (Evel Knievel style). They would start with one and go until the jumpers said enough. Just so you know, Jasper jumped over 21' as a PR with that as his practice area! Maybe the trash cans did the trick. Nonetheless, I put an end to it.
As I had mentioned, our school had an old incinerator (large cinder block structure for burning trash at schools back in the day! When I was in 6th grade, I got to take the trash out and burn it. Things have changed over the years.) We shoveled it good. Then power washed it. Then painted a circle in it. My throwers used it to practice aspects of throwing. Justin was a three-time state medalist in the discus and he utilized that old incinerator for practice purposes!
For about the first three years or so, we had basically no equipment, supplies, etc. We did have three broken hurdles. Monty was my first hurdler and he practiced much on those three hurdles. Then came Dustin. He took it to the next level, medaling at state....practicing with three broken hurdles and no track!
Jeremy was State Champion at high jump way back at the start of my career. We had no high jump pit, no high jump anything. So, Jeremy, Joe, and I would take down some old basketball safety mats that were hanging on the walls under each goal in our old gym. Joe and I would hold the jump rope while Jeremy would do a short run-up and practice technique and land on those "thin" mats. We would keep raising the jump rope until his landing was knocking the breath out of Jeremy. He ended up clearing 6'5" with impeccable technique. Still, one of my favorite stories to tell. You really had to be there to get the full gist of it.
I guess I had better not tell my crazy vault stories on this post... Those athletes have a lot of "energy" and "courage"... I sure am glad that we eventually got some pits donated/sold to us! Just YouTube some old footage of vault from pre-WWII and you will get the general idea.
I guess that will have to be enough for today. Lunch break is over.
Since we had to forego all of our spring sports and ceremonies, I felt that I should at least in some small way recognize a few seniors on this year's track team.
Caleb Hyatt. Caleb is the type of kid you build a team around and that is just what I did. Even in junior high, I could tell that he was special. Special in athletic ability, special in work ethic, special in desire to be excellent and win, special in everything he attempted. He was already part of a winning team by junior high but he set the tone for the team. At district, he went back and forth with another senior this year, Xeng Yang, in the discus. Caleb finished with a first place in shot put, second to Xeng in discus, 2nd in sprint relay, and first in mile relay to secure a close win at Conway that day! He was part of a relay team (Xeng, Tsim Neej, and Tatum Scott) that set the junior high record for the mile relay. I remember days that he and his friends would stay after having lifted, and worked in my practice from 2:20-5:00, and he would work on his throws until late suppertime. During summer, he would attend football practice, then track workouts, then throw until I ran him off sometimes. He was just determined to be the best. Then in senior high, he just kept getting better. He won district every year. At state, he took bronze in discus his sophomore year, then gold his junior year (was projected to win his senior year), took gold at indoor shot his junior and senior year making him a 3-time State Champion thrower topping John Williams (2X) and a host of one-time winners. His three All-State accolades in track and field place him in a tie with Travis Williams for second on the all-time Rattler list behind Roy Carey's four on the men's side. (He also was All-State and 2-time conference champion in football) As a leader he guided his teams to five District titles, a state third place, a state runner-up, and the 2019 State title!!! He now joins the elite athletes to have ever walked the hallowed halls of Magazine High School. He will forever be used as an example of the way to do things, the way to work hard, that hard work pays off, and that good leadership paves the way to success. Caleb Hyatt – Rattler Legend, Rattler Pride!!
Xeng Yang. Xeng is the embodiment of being a Rattler. I could just copy and paste the first section from Caleb Hyatt's paragraph and it would describe Xeng as well. The great work ethic. The great leadership. The desire to perfect his craft. By the way, his craft included hurdles and discus, two events in which he is not prototypical. Yet, he won. He won at the junior high level. He won at the senior high level. He was the school's second-ever hurdles State Champion! He has been district champion in discus. He was part of our District champion relay teams for years. He was either district champion or runner-up in every hurdle event. He was part of the sprint relay team that scored at state and part of the mile relay team that took silver at state one year and bronze the next season. He took 4th at state in the 300m hurdles as well. He was All-Conference every year. He was District MVP. He was All-State. He, too, was responsible for five District titles, 3rd place at state, State Runnerup, and a State Championship. Xeng will also join Caleb on the Wall of Champions as one of our all-time greats. He will be forever remembered as a Rattler all-time great. Rattler Pride!!
Next on our list of seniors to be recognized is Jacob Hall. Jacob was a jack of all trades. He could and would do whatever the team needed...and do it well! He has run distance races, mid-distance, sprints, relays of all kinds, jumps, throws, and was even working on hurdles when an injury derailed the plan. That is just who he is: team. His accolades include being named All-State, state silver medalist, state bronze medalist, All-Conference, District Champions four times, State Runnerup, and State Champion. Jacob Hall – Rattler Pride!!
Tsim Neej. Neej was instrumental in our team success. He was All-Conference and state bronze medalist. He was part of three district titles and a state runnerup. He was a sprinter and part of our sprint relay and mile relay teams. Tsim Neej – Rattler Pride!!
Bryce McDowell is our final senior to be recognized. He is a thrower and was part of our State Championship team and State Runnerup team along with four district titles. (He was also named to the State football All-Star team this year!) Bryce McDowell - Rattler Pride!!
Hannah Green is the first of our ladies to be honored. Hannah brought a one-track mind: I am going to be our best vaulter. I am going to do what it takes to be good at vault. I am going to win state at vault. I am going to break our school record in vault. She accomplished all of it. By the way, she scored at state in two relays as well as competing in the 400m. She has been All-Conference, All-State (2X), a district champion, a State Champion, has been parts of teams that won three district titles and finished 3rd at state. Hannah Green - Rattler Pride!!
Next is Sarai Parrish. Sarai is a 6-year starter as a thrower and also a 4-year cross country runner for our teams. Her teams finished either as District Champion or runner-up every year. She scored at indoor state in the shot put. She is part of a State third-place finish as well. Sarai Parrish - Rattler Pride!!
We finish up this incredible list with Taryn Leslie. Taryn is a State Champion and two-time All-State athlete. She joins Hannah in: She has been All-Conference, All-State twice, a district champion, state runnerup in the mile relay (Hannah, Becky, Lauren), and has been part of teams that won three district titles and finished 3rd at state. Taryn Leslie - Rattler Pride!!
Congratulations to all of these seniors for their success. We thank you for all the hard work. Good luck with your future endeavors and to happiness, health, and success going forward. May God richly bless your lives. Rattler Pride!!
Been watching some old-school videos. Man, those guys were tough! Pole vault and high jump landings were brutal. No Fosbury flop. Vaulting with bamboo poles. Sprinting in dirt and cinder even at Olympics; long jump approach in dirt or cinder as well. I truly wonder how fast Jesse Owens could have been and how far he could have jumped in today's track and field. Just more lunchtime thinking.
(https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2990529894297815&set=gm.2023341377734496&type=1&theater)
(https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2990529894297815&set=gm.2023341377734496&type=1&theater)
Our 2A-4 Conference Championships are this week. So are the SEC championships, I believe. Great time for distance runners.
In our conference, Mansfield looks to be the favorite in Jr. Girls and Sr. Girls. Coach Mackey has the girls ready to make a push to dominate the medal stand in each of those divisions with top runners, Laney Wood and Trinity Triska leading the charge in JG and Faith Rainwater, Jadelynn Wood, and Darby Jones in the SG division. Acorn and Magazine look like the stronger teams in Jr. Boys and Sr. Boys, with former State Champion Justice Neufield leading the charge for Acorn and Connor Ryan for Magazine in SB, and Caden Tarkinton/Noah Holland for Acorn JB and Dakotah Stafford for Magazine. Lavaca's Jaydon Jeffcoat leads the way for individual favorite among Jr. Boys. Should be some exciting races and some good times posted.
Indoor season canceled. Ugggghhhh. Rattlers return one of the strongest teams they've had:
Scott sprints and jumps
Droemer sprints, jumps, hurdles, vault
Ryan distance
Faughn and Cox throws
That is a nice core around which a strong team can be built. Hoping we get to have an outdoor season.
BASKETBALL
State Tournaments
Class 6A - Fayetteville
Class 5A - Hot Springs
Class 4A - Morrilton
Class 3A - Clinton
Class 2A - Melbourne
Class 1A - West Side Greers Ferry
Regional Tournaments
Class 4A
North - Ozark
East - Blytheville
South - Star City
Class 3A
Region 1 - Bergman
Region 2 - Manila
Region 3 - No bid
Region 4 - No bid
Class 2A
West - Magazine
Central - Melbourne
North - Rector
South - Caddo Hills
Class 1A
Region 1 - No bid
Region 2 - Izard County
Region 3 - Mount Vernon-Enola
Region 4 - Emerson
BASEBALL
State Tournaments
Class 6A State - FS Northside/Southside
Class 5A - Jonesboro
Class 4A - Morrilton
Class 3A - Ashdown
Class 2A - Carlisle
Class 1A - Izard County
Regional Tournaments
Class 4A
North - Harrison
East - Brookland
South - Nashville
Class 3A
Region 1 - Valley Springs
Region 2 - Clinton
Region 3 - No bid
Region 4 - Ashdown
Class 2A
West - No bid
Central - Tuckerman
North - Carlisle
South - Horatio
Class 1A
Region 1 - No bid
Region 2 - Izard County
Region 3 - No bid
Region 4 - Ouachita
SOFTBALL
State Tournaments
Class 6A - Cabot
Class 5A - No bid
Class 4A - Morrilton
Class 3A - Ashdown
Class 2A - Carlisle
Class 1A - Izard County
Regional Tournaments
Class 4A
North - Harrison
East - Brookland
South - Nashville
Class 3A
Region 1 - Valley Springs
Region 2 - No bid
Region 3 - No bid
Region 4 - Ashdown
Class 2A
West - No bid
Central - Tuckerman
North - Carlisle
South - Horatio
Class 1A
Region 1 - No bid
Region 2 - Izard County
Region 3 - No bid
Region 4 - Ouachita
SOCCER
State Tournaments
Class 6A - Springdale
Class 5A - Siloam Springs
Class 4A - Harrison
Class 3A - No bid
TRACK & FIELD
Class 6A - Rogers Heritage
Class 5A - No bid
Class 4A - No bid
Class 3A - Prescott
Class 2A - No bid
Class 1A - No bid
Meet of Champs
No bid
Decathlon/Heptathlon
Fayetteville
Cross Country
Lake Hamilton
VOLLEYBALL
Class 6A - FS Northside
Class 5A - Marion
Class 4A - Shiloh Christian
Class 3A - Paris
Class 2A - Quitman
Good on Heritage and Prescott...going to be interesting to see what happens with 4 classes with no bids.
Agreed. With all the expected protocols such as changing tarps and disinfecting for each high jumper on each jump and each vaulter on each attempt plus possibly only filling every other lane for runners makes it a tough call.
Razorback Indoor meets... No fans allowed.....
District Runners-up at yesterday's 2A-4 Championships. The kids gave A+ effort.
With all the conference championships completed for us, I want to congratulate Mansfield and Acorn for winning titles this season.
We brought home some runner-up hardware, but these two schools broke our 14 consecutive season streak of winning at least one conference title and for what it's worth had been 19 of 21 seasons. None of that includes the "covid year".
I have the utmost respect for legendary coaches Keith Willsey and John Mackey. Good luck to both at the State Championships.
Will be on to cross country for me after state. Got to get to work if we want to have a chance to knock them off!
It has been awhile since I have been on this page. Good to see the same people still keeping the sport fresh! I am doing contract work for Milesplit, and it reminded me of how much I miss coming on here. Reading your stories from high school, Alma, brings back a lot of great memories. I recently started running again.. Going after a sub 5 min mile! We shall see. Just switched from half marathon training to speed in this Austin, Tx heat. Maybe I will poke my head around here more often now!
Quote from: MHSGrad on May 25, 2021, 09:09:04 pm
It has been awhile since I have been on this page. Good to see the same people still keeping the sport fresh! I am doing contract work for Milesplit, and it reminded me of how much I miss coming on here. Reading your stories from high school, Alma, brings back a lot of great memories. I recently started running again.. Going after a sub 5 min mile! We shall see. Just switched from half marathon training to speed in this Austin, Tx heat. Maybe I will poke my head around here more often now!
Glad you are running again. Go get it!
Congratulations to my girls. District Champions!
Just arrived in Hot Springs for State!
Our conference performed well with Acorn boys, led by individual State Champion Justice Neufeld, being crowned State Champions while Mansfield Lady Tigers, led by individual District champion Darby Jones and Laney Wood, were State Runnersup.
Congratulations to all!
It is looking more and more like the Indoor State meet will happen this year. So excited!
Hoping we can get back to some type of normalcy within these covid times.
Quote from: RATTLER43 on March 21, 2020, 08:17:58 pmDiamonds in the Rough
Like I mentioned in a previous story, I always combed my classes and hallways looking for kids to tryout for track. Back in the 90s, I had some good teams with absolutely zero depth. We had won district with a lot of underclassmen one year. I envisioned us making our first true run at a state title the following year. After Christmas break, we really started building toward a great season with all athletes really committed to our goals and workouts. About late February, I ask a kid in my biology class if he might be interested. He said he'd think about it and ask his folks. He returned the next day with a yes. He had never been in sports so he was a true challenge. 6'3" and about 125 pounds. Super skinny and little muscle. At that time I ran with my kids. My plan was for him to be a distance runner. His first day at practice, I ran with him and the distance guys. We ran a route around town. After a few minutes, the guys noticed our new guy was nowhere to be found. They continued while I ran back to find him. When I got to him, he informed me that he ran for about one or two minutes and was so out of breath, he had to stop. I figured it would be his first and last day. But he continued to jog walk each day making regular progress. Fast forward to early March and our first meet. He had folks from out of state, parents, siblings, etc there to watch him. He was in the 3200m run. They ran girls and boys together and he finished dead last. After the meet, he walked up in his regular clothes and with his folks. I just knew he was turning in his uniform. But no. They were all excited that he was competing for our school!! The next day, he asked what more he could do to improve. Wow! I gave him a late evening workout to go with our afternoon training. Over the season, he drastically improved. One Sunday at church, a member asked me what training we were doing at 6:00 a.m. I said none. He told me that there were kids running every morning on his way to work. You guessed it. My rookie had added morning workouts on his own. At our last three invitational meets, he placed and got his first ribbons. We go to district where he helps us win the title and qualifies for state in the 3200m. At state, our 4x800m goes in ranked #4. One of my vaulters is on the team and in the final four competitors remaining so asks if I can replace him on the relay team. Yep, you got it. I put our rookie in who ran 8 seconds faster than my regular guy's PR and we win gold. New guy is named All State!! Team finished 3rd at state. He worked his tail end off the next two years ending up at 170 pounds and benching 225. Won multiple state golds. Great guy! Great family! Great commitment!
This would make a great movie. Gave me chills reading it.
Quote from: Jimbo Morphis on April 22, 2022, 08:38:53 amThis would make a great movie. Gave me chills reading it.
When I am telling it, my brain sees it that way: movie style. He went military after high school and then worked in Ft. Smith after that. We still keep in touch. Great guy! Just gave me chills thinking about it as I read it again. Part of the story that I left out is that
the extended family that drove in to watch him was from Wyoming and Montana .....and he came in dead last behind even every girl.......
Good luck to all at State!
We are at Quitman tomorrow.
Something that was proposed to me. Wanted to get other people thoughts. Currently to qualify for state you make the auto mark or advance out of your conference meet. Sometimes, if a conference is strong in an event, a good athlete is left out. With all qualifying meets being on milesplit, it would be very easy to run it like colleges. Take the auto qualifiers then fill out the field with the next best marks to get you to the number you want at the state meet. It would put more emphasis on regular season meets and less on the conference meet. Other than for a conference championship.
Quote from: Track_Fan41 on May 05, 2022, 10:25:59 amSomething that was proposed to me. Wanted to get other people thoughts. Currently to qualify for state you make the auto mark or advance out of your conference meet. Sometimes, if a conference is strong in an event, a good athlete is left out. With all qualifying meets being on milesplit, it would be very easy to run it like colleges. Take the auto qualifiers then fill out the field with the next best marks to get you to the number you want at the state meet. It would put more emphasis on regular season meets and less on the conference meet. Other than for a conference championship.
I think that is a great idea. You get more kids involved that deserve to be there. Prescott had 4 of the top 10 throwers in 3A and only 2 got to go. The other two were seniors and missed out because they had two teammates a little better than them. You have a 38' thrower there and a 44' thrower staying home. Prescott also had the 4th best 300 hurdler in the state and he stayed home as well. Something has to change.
Happened last year in our conference as well. A athlete that would have scored at the state meet was left out. If the goal is to get the best 24,21,16, etc, what ever number is agreed on, we aren't always doing that.
Congratulations to all the state champions. Meet of Champs this Wednesday at RussVegas!
The Meet of Champs was great! Olivia from Lake Hamilton was amazing in the 3200m run, Girls depth at distance running was awesome. 43' in girls shot put. A host of other great performances (wish I could have seen Isaiah in jumps and hurdles at MOC). Fayetteville girls 1-2-3 in hurdles. But for me, the highlight was the men's 4x800m relay where 4 teams went sub 8:00 and three of them broke the all-time record. Mt. Home went 7:46!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Razorback men and women competing first day right now. Going to be very tough for either of them to win, but they aren't out of it.
Women are just in a crazy conference...unbelievable depth on the women's side everywhere.
Same for the men, but Bucknam has found an SEC formula even with an almost completely turned over roster.
Mainly hits today. Women's 800 is my only sort of disappointment but I didn't have either of our girls making it.
Some good surprises for the Razorbacks right now. 10K late, late tonight after a lightning delay that lasted for 2 hours.
The Men and Women do well in the 10K. Women really rocked it against their projections. Great event for them.
The Men didn't kill it versus projections, but if I had done "smart" projections instead of just performance listing, they probably did. Alabama ran three guys, one with no mark, and I thought they were going to go 1-2-6 or something and instead they went 1-5-9. The Razorbacks went 2-3-7.
That Alabama girl in the 10K...holy cow. Her splits the last 2/3 of the race were insane.
Hard to tell anyone to go watch a 10K, but Randy if you can find the replay, you may watch that Alabama girl break away. She almost lapped the WHOLE FIELD
Will do!!
I love a great 10k.
Razorbacks are doing their best. May not be enough on both sides.
LSU for the women and Alabama for the men are incredible teams. Women have a few teams that can win.
I think the only team that could beat Bama are the Razorbacks. Will need a good last day with a few surprises.
Never want to rely on bad performances from another team to win but we might need it.
Etamar finishes 6th. Was expected to only score 1.5, so the extra 1.5 is helpful.
Alabama had a guy expected to score 4 and he didn't at all, so a good start to the final day of competition.
A&M, who I omitted beforehand, definitely has a chance to win it themselves, but they did themselves no help with pole vault...had them scoring around 15 and they scored 5.
We have a break before the running finals and last few field events.
Here are my projections:
Men:
1. Alabama - 116.5
2. Arkansas - 91
3. Texas A&M - 85
3. Florida - 85
5. Tennessee - 83
6. LSU - 79.5
Women:
1. LSU - 115.5
2. Arkansas - 102.5
3. Florida - 101
4. Kentucky - 95
5. Texas A&M - 89.5
Women are set up well to make a run at LSU, but Florida is too. Could pass them both. Maybe Kentucky as well. A&M isn't having a good day
Men aren't out of it. They have some running finals where they will have to exceed and it is possible. Might need an Alabama stumble or two along the way. A&M and Florida are going to push for the title, too.
Things are going well...I would say both teams have their own destiny in their hands at this point.
With 3-4 events left...projections:
Women:
1. LSU - 106.5
2. Arkansas - 105.5
3. Florida - 98
4. Kentucky - 85
5. Texas A&M - 79.5
Men:
1. Alabama - 113
2. Arkansas - 111
3. Tennessee - 85
4. Florida - 80
4. Georgia - 80
In a strange twist, Arkansas women will have to win the 4x4 and hope Florida finishes after 4th.
The men have almost wrapped it up.
A Florida 5K girl finished 2nd and our girls just weren't able to respond enough.
What gutsy performances!!
WPS!
A little summary of the season.
Fayetteville and El Dorado!!!!!!
Sategna was the real deal.
Olivia is a beast and just a junior.
But the highlight for me was the mens 4x800m relay at the MOC. Three teams breaking the record and Mountain Home winning with the "average" runner time of 1:56.5 or so. Just amazing to see.
After a 2-year hiatus, my rebuild project is beginning to show some results.
9th grader Jailynn Sims 99' in discus.
9th grader Elizabeth Merritt 5:40 1600m and 12:22 3200m.
Jr. High 4x800m squad in low 11s with only one freshman.
8th grader Phoebe Hopper 6:11 1600m.
7th graders Cecilia Mora and Raylee Bates hurdling in teens.
two junior high girls at 1:08 level 400m.
... and so much more....
In class 2A these are pretty decent numbers.
Future looks bright.
With two meets under our belts, I am feeling hopeful. Elizabeth ran at Shiloh Christian and placed 2nd in the small school division. Time was a little slow for her. She rebounded with a great run Tuesday for the gold at home! Phoebe led the Mora twins, Zoey, Dessi, and Emily to a 2nd place finish overall behind DeQueen. Next up at Acorn.
Quote from: RATTLER43 on September 08, 2022, 11:04:16 amWith two meets under our belts, I am feeling hopeful. Elizabeth ran at Shiloh Christian and placed 2nd in the small school division. Time was a little slow for her. She rebounded with a great run Tuesday for the gold at home! Phoebe led the Mora twins, Zoey, Dessi, and Emily to a 2nd place finish overall behind DeQueen. Next up at Acorn.
Phoebe 1st at Acorn in Jr. Girls division. Elizabeth 2nd in Sr. Girls division.
Elizabeth won the Tri-County meet at Waldron. Serenity and Cecilia medaled.
Moving into my last few years of coaching has me realizing that I am working with my last great group. Really taking time to enjoy this time with an awesome group of kids. Any long-time coaches out there probably understand what I am referring to. The older I have gotten, the more I have realized what I have always preached about enjoying the journey. More now than ever!
State Championships today and tomorrow!!
Greenwood just won the girls' 5A.
We are the first race tomorrow morning.
Elizabeth is ranked #1 going in for Magazine.
Mansfield girls #2.
Acorn boys ranked #2.
Elizabeth won State!!
Phoebe 9th!!
I believe 2A State is at Quitman again.
Indoor State is looming.....
So proud of my kids this season. Only had three girls. Two sophomores and a freshman. They each qualified for State and each medaled including 2 golds, a silver, and a bronze along with some lower places in other events. The trio led us to the final four overall. Looking forward to building around them for next year!!!