CLASS 1A/2A/3A
Site of the 2001
NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships (3/9-3/10)
Team Results:
1. Heber Springs
80; 2. Nashville 62; 3. Beebe 50; 4. Dover 41; 5. Mt.Ida 36; 6. DeQueen 30; 7.
Berryville 27; 8. Danville 26; 9. Centerpoint 25; 10. Pea Ridge 20; 11.
Jessieville 10; 12T. Southside Batesville 8; Atkins 8; 14T. Oark 4; Acorn 4;
16. Waldron 2; 17. Alpena 1
The
Girls 123A combined meet saw two new state meet records (pole vault and 800m),
a three-event champion (Stephanie Irwin of Mt. Ida in the LJ, 200m an 400m) and
a dual winner (Dianne Miller of Pea Ridge, 1660m/3200m). The table below shows the team scoring by
event as the meet progressed.
After
four events, the Scrapperettes of Nashville had taken a 26-24 lead over Beebe
based on 13 HJ points behind state champion Mandi Tollett, Regan Steel’s 5th
and Alisha Whitmore’s 6th.
With all eyes tuned to Centerpoint’s Brandi Plyler in the pole vault,
Heber Springs made a big move grabbing 14 points with Kayla Schlicker taking 2nd
and Courtney Clark taking 3rd.
Plyler set a new state meet record staying on top in the 2001 pole vault
all-classifications best performances at 11’6” (tied with Fayetteville’s Robin
Rahat).
With
the meet now a three-way race at 26-24-23, Heber continued took over the lead
with another 14 points in the TJ boosted by Molley Moody’s 2nd place
leap and Schlicker’s 3rd.
Nashville grabbed two 5th place points by Alisha
Whitmore. None of the three leading
teams scored in the 1600m as Pea Ridge freshman Dianne Miller glided to a seven
second victory over Dover’s Sheena Metz.
The
Scrapperettes closed the gap slightly in the 55m hurdles even though Heber’s
Molley Moody claimed the only individual title of the evening for the Lady Panthers. Moody lowered her time from her 1st
heat winning mark of 9.24 to 9.01 for a .54 win over Nashville’s Mandi Tollett.
Tabitha Westfall gave Nashville four much-needed 4th place points to
outscore Heber 12-10.
The
55m dash saw Nashville continue to move as they cut Heber’s lead to 49-48 as
Alisha Whitmore took 2nd in a photo-finish over Lady Littlejohn Cara
Jean Wilson of Danville as both runners clocked 7.92. Courtney Clark of Heber took away two 5th place points
as she finished in a dead heat at 8.00 with 4th place finisher
Lindsey Richie of Danville. The
diminutive junior from Beebe, Brandi Helfer, won in a convincing 7.74 after
mastering the field in her heat with 7.71.
With
five events remaining, any of the three top teams still had a chance to take
the team trophy but Beebe had to move fast to stay in contention. However, that was not to be.
The
400m saw Heber and Nashville all but eliminate Beebe from the hunt as Molley
Moody took 2nd for the Lady Panthers in 1:04.87 for eight points
while Kandi Parrish of Nashville finished .47 behind for six 3rd
place points. Stephanie Irwin of Mt.
Ida took the second of her three titles win a 1:04.03 clocking. Heber edged their lead out gently to 57-54.
Now
was Nashville’s time to make a bid as Tabitha Westfall claimed 2nd
in the 800m for eight big points while Heber Springs watched from far back in
the field. The real crowd was treated to a spectacular one runner race as
Jessieville senior Chelsie Mock, who holds the state indoor record in the 400m,
burned the track with a first 400m in a blazing 61.59 (28.30-33.29
splits). Chelsie’s first 400 would have
been good enough to handily repeat as 400m champ. With such a quick first 400m and without anyone to run with, Mock
began to falter although still crossing the 600m mark at 1:39.60 (38.00) that
was a 2:12 pace. Would she sprint home
and smash the record? As many 800m
runners have discovered, the monkey in the back turn is always waiting for a
ride and Chelsie carried him home in 41.46 for the last 200m which was still
more than enough to set a new state meet record at 2:21.06. Chelsie’s time leads the state by nearly six
seconds. The 800m saw one of the most
courageous performances of the night from Ashley Hensen of Alpena who placed 6th
in 2:49.14. Hensen arrived at the Tyson
Track Center just five minutes before the start of the 800m and had to quickly
change clothes and race with no warm-up.
When all was said and done in the 800m, Nashville took over the lead at
62-57 putting pressure on Heber to fight back.
And
fight back is exactly what the Lady Panthers did in the 200m. While Stephanie Irwin of Mt. Ida was taking
her third title of the night, Heber Springs scored 13 huge points with 2nd
(Molley Moody), 4th (Elizabeth Jones) and 6th (Anna Moon).
Beebe’s Helfer was close for 3rd but it was too little and too late
for the Lady Badgers. Heber now led
70-62 with two events to go.
All
three top teams took another breather in the 3200m as Pea Ridge’s Miller nearly
let Sarabeth Bailey of DeQueen sneak by her in the last 30 meters. Miller and Sheena Metz of Dover shared the
early lead through the first 800m in 3:02 (85-97) as Bailey closed the gap to
join the leaders during Lap 5. The
front three ran easily together to cross the 1600m at 6:25 (1:41-1:42) and
Bailey began to fall back ever so slowly at the start of the last half of the
race. By the 2400m mark, Miller and
Bailey were edging away from Metz as the lead widened to six seconds with the
leaders passing at 9:48 (1:43-1:43 for 3:23).
The pace slowed slightly in Laps 13 and 14 to 1:43 before the charge to
the finish. Bailey at first dropped
back while Miller built a 5-yard then a 15-yard lead with 200m to go. The pace
quickened a little at the start of the bell lap but Bailey held back until the
last 100m when she noticeably began to accelerate. As Miller came out of the last turn the crowd began to shout and
she looked over her shoulder just in time to see Bailey pulling along beside.
Miller sprinted wildly for the last 30m as she and Bailey crossed the line
stride-for-stride. After some
deliberation by the judges, the results were announced that Miller had escaped
with a narrow .1 second win in 13:04.72.
Fitting
for a state track meet, the meet would be decided in the last event. To win, Nashville had to win the 4 x 400m
relay and hope that Heber Springs got no higher than 6th. For Heber to win, the Lady Panthers only had
to come in 5th to assure themselves of the title. But nothing is for sure in a relay where the
battle is sometimes with the baton which has a bad habit of being dropped at
the worst of times. But tonight would be Heber Springs’ night as they cruised
to a 5.05 second win over Beebe with a 4:25.91 clocking, just 1.8 seconds off
the state indoor meet record.
|
Event |
Heber Springs |
Nashville |
Beebe |
Individual Champion |
State Meet Record |
|
1. 4 x 800m relay |
1/1 |
0/0 |
10/10 |
Beebe 10:47.30 |
Jessieville 10:34.00 1996 |
|
2. Long Jump |
4/5 |
9/9 |
0/10 |
Stephanie Irwin, Mt. Ida 16’ 3.5” |
Cherri Boykins, Oak Grove 16’ 10” 1998 |
|
3. High Jump |
4/9 |
13/22 |
6/16 |
Mandi Tollett, Nashville 5’0” |
Antisha Anderson, Robinson 5’6” 2000 |
|
4. Shot Put |
0/9 |
4/26 |
8/24 |
Sandra Davis, Centerpoint 32’5” |
Jessie Lovan, Paris 35’4” 1998 |
|
5. Pole Vault |
14/23 |
0/26 |
0/24 |
Brandie Plyler, Centerpoint 11’0” NEW RECORD |
Brandi Plyler, Centerpoint 10’6” 2000 |
|
6. Triple Jump |
14/37 |
2/28 |
0/24 |
Jennie Baumberger, Dover 32’4” |
Latisha Anderson, Nashville 34’4” 1999 |
|
7. 1600m |
0/37 |
0/28 |
0/24 |
Dianne Miller, Pea Ridge 6:04.25 |
Johanna Runyan, Winslow 5:31.61 1997 |
|
8. 55m hurdle |
10/47 |
12/40 |
0/24 |
Molley Moody, Heber Springs 9.01 |
Antisha Anderson, Robinson 8.62 2000 |
|
9. 55m |
2/49 |
8/48 |
10/34 |
Brandi Helfer, Beebe 7.74 |
Christy Commick, Warren 7.41 1999 |
|
10. 400m |
8/57 |
6/54 |
0/34 |
Stephanie Irwin, Mt. Ida
1:04.03 |
Chelsie Mock, Jessieville 1:00.83 2000 |
|
11. 800m |
0/57 |
8/62 |
2/36 |
Chelsie Mock, Jessieville 2:21.06 NEW RECORD |
Dawn Fletcher, Atkins 2:23.37 2000 |
|
12. 200m |
13/70 |
0/62 |
6/42 |
Stephanie Irwin, Mt. Ida
28.13 |
Antisha Anderson, Robinson 26.10 2000 |
|
13. 3200m |
0/70 |
0/62 |
0/42 |
Dianne Miller, Pea Ridge 13:04.72 |
Casey Calder, Clarksville 11:47.89 1997 |
|
14. 4x400m relay |
10/80 |
0/62 |
8/50 |
Heber Springs 4:25.91 |
Nashville 4:23.74 2000 |
© ArkansasTrackStats.com 2001