LITTLE ROCK — Many schools from the River Valley and Ozark area participated in the state track and field championships last week, but few had as much success as Guy-Perkins High School.
On the girls side of the events, the Lady Thunderbirds finished second overall in the 1A meet, just four points behind eventual champion Trinity Christian. In addition, Guy-Perkins had many athletes finish at the top or near the top of almost every event.
The Lady Thunderbirds had a 95-77 lead heading into the final few events, but did not have anyone qualified to run the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter events and had to sit and wait to see if Trinity Christian would catch them.
"We didn't perform as well as we should have," head coach Bill Ward said. "Not to take anything away from them [Trinity Christian], they did an excellent job coming up on us."
As a team, the Lady Thunderbirds won the 400-meter relay with a time of 55.59 and as far as individuals go, no one could match Denesha Henderson on the field Wednesday.
"It was actually a sub-par day for her," Ward said. "But if we hadn't had her, we wouldn't have been in the running. I'm so proud of her for getting the high point, and she defended her crown in the triple jump."
Henderson won the triple jump with a distance of 33-7, finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.58, second in the 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 17.66, fourth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.71 and sixth in the long jump with a distance of 14-11.
She was not alone in her feats - teammates Amy Smith, Christian Ward, Lainie Lagassee and Nakeia Guiden all had strong showings at the meet.
Smith finished second in the pole vault with a height of 7-4 and placed in three other events. Ward finished first in the pole vault with a height of 8-0 and placed fifth in the long jump. Lagassee placed fourth and fifth in the discus and shot put competitions. Guiden finished second in the triple jump and tied for third in the high jump.
"Christian did well in the pole vault," Ward said. "She made three valiant attempts at the state record.I'm proud of the rest, too. All five girls put their hearts on the line and did the best they could."
The boys of Guy-Perkins did not do a shabby job at the 1A meet, either. They finished first in the 400-meter relay with a time of 48.72, more than two seconds ahead of the next team. The Thunderbirds also finished sixth in the 3,200-meter relay.
Individually, Guy-Perkins placed in the top eight in nine events. Brian Hooten finished second in the 3,200-meter run and also placed sixth in the 800-meter and sixth in the 1,600-meter runs.
Brandon Rooney finished third in the pole vault. Alex Davis put in two eighth-place finishes in the shot put and discus events. Aaron Rimmer put in eighth-place finishes in the high jump, long jump and triple jump competitions.
It was not only Guy-Perkins competing at the 1A meet, many other schools found success Wednesday as well.
On the girls side, South Side Bee Branch finished fifth in the 1,600-meter relay and eighth in the 3,200-meter relay.
Individually, athletes from the area were honored.
Miranda Oliver of South Side Bee Branch finished first in the high jump with a height of 4-10. Angie Snyder of South Side Bee Branch finished second in the shot put; Nikki Cogan of Academics Plus finished third in the 400-meter run; Nina Lambert of Academics Plus finished sixth in the 800-meter run; Megan Strickland of Nemo Vista finished seventh in the 200-meter dash; and Hannah Dollar of South Side Bee Branch finished eighth in the 100-meter dash.
On the boys side, Academics Plus finished sixth in the 400-meter relay, seventh in the 1,600-meter relay and fourth in the 3,200-meter relay.
Individual standouts Wednesday included Clay Beggs of Fourche Valley who won the discus event and finished third in the shot put. Kevin Sys of South Side Bee Branch finished fifth in the 800-meter run; Byron Johnson of Academics Plus finished fifth in the triple jump; Emil Noerhave of Fourche Valley finished seventh in the 200-meter dash, as well as the high jump and Jason Kelley of South Side Bee Branch finished eighth in the discus.
In the 3A state meet, some records were broken, thanks to Barrett Kerth of Perryville. His performances helped the Mustangs finish third overall at the event. Perryville also finished second in the 1,600-meter relay.
Kerth broke his own state records in the 1,600-meter run (4:30.61) and the 3,200-meter run (10:09.24). His teammate Tyler Blackmon managed a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash and third-place finishes in the 200-meter and 400-meter events. Tim Stivers and Greg Stivers also had strong performances in the 3,200-meter run and the long jump, respectively.
Mayflower High School placed second in the 400-meter relay and had some individual performers do well. DeShawn Bagby finished fourth in the triple jump and sixth in the 100-meter dash, and teammate John Dale Willis finished fifth in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.
Atkins finished seventh in the 3,200-meter relay and had three athletes place in various events. Terence Bobo finished third in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and fourth in the 400-meter run. Kevin Stokes finished fourth in the 400-meter run and D.J. Brinkley finished fifth in the high jump.
Pottsville's Jonathan Huffman finished in a tie for fourth place in the 100-meter dash.
In the girls 3A meet, Perryville High School finished eighth in the 3,200-meter relay and Atkins finished eighth in the 400-meter relay.
Individually, Perryville's Nikki Taylor finished fifth in the 1,600-meter run and Karissa Musser of Pottsville finished third in the 800-meter run.
River Valley Ozark, Pages 159 on 05/18/2008