RUSSELLVILLE -- Lexi Weeks set the bar high Saturday at the 58th Meet Champions but came up just short in her bid for a national record.
Weeks set a state record Saturday by clearing 14 feet, 2 inches in the pole vault at the Meet of Champions in Russellville, one day after graduating from Cabot High School, but she wasn't satisfied with that.
She wanted the national record of 14-7 1/4 set last year by Desiree Freier of Fort Worth, Texas, who is now a freshman at the University of Arkansas.
Morry Sanders, who coaches Lexi and her twin sister Tori at the Arkansas Vault Club in Black Springs, said the sisters had turned in the best practices he's seen in the five years he's coached them leading up to Saturday's event, but he wasn't pleased with Lexi's 14-2 vault that set the state record.
"That was a bad jump," he told her immediately following the vault. "That wasn't even a good jump."
Weeks agreed.
"I wasn't proud of the quality of that one," said Weeks, who topped her state record of 14 feet set May 7 at the Class 7A state meet in Fayetteville on May 7 and her Meet of Champs mark of 13-6 1/2 from 2014.
So Sanders decided to challenge Lexi, choosing to go for the national record instead of attempting 14-6, which was the next mark in the event.
"I thought one of them was going to break the national mark today," Sanders said.
With her mother Amy and other athletes and fans cheering her on, Lexi Weeks made three attempts at breaking the national record but failed to clear the bar.
This time Sanders was quick to embrace her, saying that he had probably used the wrong pole for her first two attempts at the national record.
"She was mad at herself," Sanders said. "It was one of those deals."
Tori Weeks finished second to her sister, clearing 13-6 inches before missing three attempts at 14-2. She finished second to her sister Lexi while Nettleton sophomore Rachel Milnes set a personal best Saturday, clearing 12 feet, 6 inches.
Lexi and Tori Weeks were already assured of finishing no lower than second after Nettleton's Rachel Milnes missed three attempts at 12-10 inches. Both cleared 13-2 and 13-6 before going to 14-2.
Lightning delayed the field events by an hour Saturday, but that didn't deter the Weeks sisters.
"We're used to waiting a while," Lexi Weeks. "It didn't affect us."
Lexi and Tori Weeks will have another chance to break the national record this summer. They will compete in at least two events this summer, at the Great Southwest Track and Field Classic in Albuquerque, N.M., on June 6 and the New Balance Outdoor national meet in Greensboro, N.C. on June 20.
Sanders has watched the Weeks sisters turn themselve into two of the top girls pole vaulters in the nation, but he knows his time with them is running short. Both have signed scholarships with Arkansas, which has become one of the premier programs for women's pole vaulters.
"It's been a great experience," said Sanders, who has coached the girls since they were in the eighth grade. "They're just awesome girls. They're great technicians. They're very respectful. They're a coach's dream.
"When I know it's the last meet I coach them at, I'm probably going to cry."
The Weeks sisters weren't the only athletes who turned in impressive performances Saturday.
Little Rock Parkview junior Jada Baylark broke the state record in the triple jump with a leap of 40 feet, 7 1/2 inches, topping the mark of 39-0 1/4 set by Searcy's Whitney Jones at the 2007 Meet of Champions. Baylark also won in the 100-meter dash (12.25) and the 100-meter hurdles (14.67), beating out Lexi Weeks.
On the boys' side, Pine Bluff Dollarway's Henri Murphy cruised to victories in the 100 meters (10.66) and 200 meters races (21.47). Bryant's John Winn (48.75) won in the 400 meters, while Lake Hamilton's Nick Johnson won the pole vault title (15-10) and Fayetteville's Caleb Cooper leaped 45-10 1/4 to win the triple jump.
Sports on 05/17/2015