STATE HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD MEETS

Weeks sisters get most out of drive

Cabot seniors Tori Weeks (left) and her twin sister Lexi will compete in their final Class 7A state track and field meet today at Fayetteville. Lexi is the two-time defending state champion in the pole vault, while Tori finished second each of the past two years. Both have signed with the University of Arkansas.
Cabot seniors Tori Weeks (left) and her twin sister Lexi will compete in their final Class 7A state track and field meet today at Fayetteville. Lexi is the two-time defending state champion in the pole vault, while Tori finished second each of the past two years. Both have signed with the University of Arkansas.

CABOT -- Lexi and Tori Weeks' drive to succeed can be traced back to one person.

Their grandpa.

Today’s state meet schedule

CLASS 7A

At Fayetteville High School

CLASS 6A

At Lake Hamilton High School

CLASS 5A

At Morrilton High School

CLASS 3A

At Prescott High School

NOTE All meets start at 10:30 a.m.

If you know anything about the high school track and field scene in Arkansas, you know all about Lexi and Tori Weeks. The twins from Cabot are two of the top high school female pole vaulters in the nation -- their track and field exploits have even been featured in the New York Times -- and it doesn't look like their stranglehold on Arkansas girls pole vaulting will end anytime soon.

According to milesplit.com, a website devoted to high school track and field, Lexi has the nation's best pole vault mark by a female this season with a vault of 14 feet, 1 1/4 inches April 11 at the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville.

Lexi will go into today's Class 7A state championship meet in Fayetteville as the favorite to win the event, with Tori expected to be her main competition again, just as it has been for the past two seasons.

Everyone recognizes the girls' ability these days, but Johnny Benefield saw something in his granddaughters way back when they first started pole vaulting in the seventh grade, long before the New York Times or anyone else had taken notice of Lexi and Tori.

By the eighth grade, they had begun working out at the Arkansas Vault Club. The facility is run by Morry Sanders, an accomplished pole vaulter at Lake Hamilton in the late 1980s and a former Arkansas State pole vaulter who specializes in the event.

At least once a week for the past five years, Benefield and his granddaughters have made the more than two-hour drive from Cabot to the Arkansas Vault Club, located in the Montgomery County community of Black Springs, to develop their pole vaulting skills.

"I don't know if Tori and I realized how naturally gifted we were at it, but our grandfather is the one who started taking us down to Morry's," said Lexi Weeks, who along with her sister has signed to compete for the Arkansas Razorbacks in college. "He's the one who realized we had a lot of potential."

There is no escaping that now as they head into the home stretch of the high school career.

Lexi is the two-time Class 7A outdoor state champion in the pole vault. She won the 2013 title with a vault of 13-0 1/2 and followed that up the last season with a winning vault of 13-6 1/2. Tori finished runner-up to her sister both years, clearing 12-8 as a sophomore and 13-0 3/4 as a junior, and won the state indoor title this season with a vault of 13-6 that edged -- who else? -- Lexi, who also cleared 13-6 but had more misses at the height.

"Those are the best two we've had come through here," Cabot Coach Leon White said.

The goal has moved beyond just winning a state championship as the girls head into today's state meet. Now it's winning another state championship and clearing 14 feet. Or even going higher.

"That's always on our mind," said Lexi, who has won five pole vaulting events this season with her highest mark 13-8 on April 2 at the Cyclone Relays in Russellville. "The 14-foot barrier is what we aim for every meet. Then after that, yeah, we definitely shoot for the national record."

The national outdoor high school record is 14-7 1/4, set by Desiree Freier last July at Eugene, Ore. Freier is now a freshman at Arkansas, and there may not be a more fitting place for the Weeks sisters to try to eclipse her mark than today in Fayetteville.

"There's nothing to lose," said Lexi, who broke Freier's national indoor record earlier this year when she cleared 14-3 1/4 in Black Springs. "It's in the morning. It's the first thing of the day, and it's our first priority."

White said the sisters have managed to remain motivated throughout their final high school season, an accomplishment in itself considering they type of success they've experienced the past few years.

"They've constantly tried to set goals for each thing they want to do," White said. "Each week they're hitting those goals. Their pole vault is a big deal. It was a big deal when Lexi set the indoor record.

"They're right on target for what they're trying to do."

The impact they have on Cabot's team success isn't just limited to the pole vault either. Lexi also competes in the 100-meter hurdles, the 200 and the long jump, while Tori competes in the 300 hurdles and triple jump.

In fact, Lexi is trying to top the state record set by her mother in the 400. Amy Weeks set the 400 state record of 57.24 seconds in 1985 while running for Lake Hamilton. The closest Lexi has come to eclipsing that mark was 57.48 on April 17 at the Lake Hamilton Invitational.

"I know she wants me to break her record, but I know at the same time she doesn't," Lexi Weeks said. "I think if anyone were to break it, she'd rather it be her own daughter."

Amy Weeks admits that she would like to see Lexi do it.

"It would be great if she did it," Amy Weeks said. "When she was running in the 10th grade I didn't think she had a chance, but she's getting real close. It's fun to watch. I hope she does."

Cabot's girls team finished second to Bentonville at the Class 7A state indoor championship earlier this season, but it won the 7A Central/East championship last month and Tori said she likes Cabot's chances going into today's meet.

"We're right up there with Bentonville and Fayetteville," she said. "I'm nervous, but at the same time I'm going to take it event by event.

"Whatever happens, happens. I'll be happy either way."

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Sports on 05/07/2015

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