LITTLE ROCK — Payton Stumbaugh was a freshman phenom at Springdale’s Central Junior High School.
Clearly, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Female Track and Field Athlete of the Year was a standout sophomore at Springdale Har-Ber.
“It was unbelievable what I was able to accomplish this year,” Stumbaugh said. “I can’t wait for the next two years.”
All Stumbaugh did this spring was break five school records, win five events at the Class 7A state meet, set a Meet of Champs record and win the state high school heptathlon.
“It was a long year, and we asked a lot of her,” said Brett Unger, who oversees Har-Ber’s track and field programs with his wife Jodi. “I feel bad for her, but what do you do when you’re that talented?”
Stumbaugh ranked ninth in the state in the 100 meters (12.29 seconds), seventh in the 200 (25.23), fourth in the 100 hurdles (14.75), first in the 300 hurdles (43.54) and tied for seventh in the pole vault (10 feet, 10 inches). She also cleared 5 feet, 3 inches to win the high jump at the Class 7A state meet May 3 at Rogers.
Stumbaugh’s other victories that day came in the 200, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and pole vault.
Stumbaugh then set a Meet of Champs record in the 300 hurdles (43.54) — among the fastest times in Arkansas high school history — May 12 at Lake Hamilton.
Russian Olympian Katya Kostetskaya set the overall record (41.57) as a sophomore at Jonesboro in 2003.
“That is definitely something that’s on our radar,” Brett Unger said, referring to an overall 300 record.
Stumbaugh capped her season by scoring 4,260 points to comfortably win the heptathlon by 351 points over defending champion Monisa Poole, a senior from Nashville.
Nashville Coach Ron Alexander said he quickly realized on Day 1 that Stumbaugh, a first-time entrant, was a threat to win the title.
“She’s tough,” Alexander said. “She’s going to get tougher.”
Stumbaugh already had a proven track record long before the heptathlon.
Unger said Stumbaugh “absolutely dominated” as a ninth-grader at Central, regularly scoring 50 points in meets and setting school records in the 100 (12.37), 200 (26.05), 100 hurdles (14.98), 300 hurdles (45.68) and pole vault (10-0). She already owns outdoor school records in the same five events for Har-Ber.
“We asked a lot out of her for a girl,” Unger said. “Every meet she did was basically one event shy of a heptathlon. She was used to it.”
Unger said Stumbaugh’s versatility makes the future exciting, adding she could concentrate on the 400 hurdles or heptathlon in college. The most intriguing long-range possibility, Unger said, is the pole vault because her height (5-10) and top-end speed are conducive to success in the event.
Unger said his wife, an All-America pole vaulter at Arkansas in 2006-2007, introduced Stumbaugh to the event when she was a seventh-grader, but Stumbaugh hasn’t had time to concentrate on the pole vault because she is pulled in so many directions during the spring.
“I know she’s just scratching the surface in the pole vault,” said Brett Unger, who describes Stumbaugh’s running style as tall and pretty. “If she can ever get her plant figured out, she’ll be dangerous in that.”
Morry Sanders agrees.
Sanders, an assistant coach at Lake Hamilton who tutors most of the state’s top prep vaulters, said he believes experience and technique are all that’s keeping Stumbaugh from jumping much higher.
“When you really get down to the technical part, she still has to think about everything,” Sanders said after Stumbaugh attended one of his camps in June. “Nothing really comes natural to her yet because she just hasn’t done enough of it. She’s got more athletic ability than any girl I’ve seen here in Arkansas, as far as pole vaulters go. She’s tall, she’s strong and she’s fast.
“She’s got all the right tools.”
Female Athlete of the Year PAYTON STUMBAUGH
SCHOOL Springdale Har-Ber CLASS Sophomore EVENTS Sprints/hurdles/jumps NOTEWORTHY Set school records this spring in the 100 meters (12.29 seconds), 200 (25.23), 100 hurdles (14.75), 300 hurdles (43.54) and pole vault (10 feet, 10 inches). … Won five events at the Class 7A state meet May 3 at Rogers: 200, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, high jump and pole vault. … Set a Meet of Champs record in the 300 hurdles (43.54). … Had bests of 5-3 in the high jump and 17-3 in the long jump. … Scored 4,260 points to win the Arkansas high school heptathlon.
Male Athlete of the Year ERIC NATHANIEL
SCHOOL Little Rock Parkview CLASS Junior EVENTS Sprints NOTEWORTHY Set an overall record in the 400 (47.31 seconds) at the Class 6A state meet May 4 at Lake Hamilton. … Recorded the fastest 400 time in Arkansas high school history (47.05) at the 6AEast meet April 27 at Russellville. Time was the 21st-fastest in the country, and fifth-fastest by a junior, this spring, according to DyeStat.com elite rankings. … Has won 17 consecutive meets against in-state competition. … Ranked fourth in the state in the 200 (21.76).
Sports, Pages 26 on 07/27/2012