Finishing third at the state high school heptathlon last May didn't sit well with Little Rock Parkview track and field athlete Jada Baylark.
Pulaski Robinson's Asia Anderson led Baylark going into the final event, the 800-meter run.
At a glance
WHEN Today and Thursday (Heptathlon begins at 11:30 a.m. today; decathlon begins at noon. Both competitions resume at noon Thursday.)
WHERE Panther Stadium, Cabot
ADMISSION $6 adults and students
DECATHLON EVENTS Today: 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400-meter dash; Thursday: 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, triple jump and 1600-meter run.
HEPTATHLON EVENTS Today: 100-meter hurdles, long jump, discus throw, 200-meter dash; Thursday: High jump, shot put, 800-meter run.
Neither Baylark nor Anderson ended up winning.
Third was the best Baylark could do, behind twin sisters Tori and Lexi Weeks of Cabot, wh0 are now competing for the Arkansas track team.
Lexi and Tori finished 1-2 in the 800, and Lexi beat Tori by one point, 4,481 to 4,480. Baylark finished third with 4,334 points.
"She went into the thing to win it," Parkview Coach William Hardiman said of Baylark. "Then the Weeks girls, who are outstanding, came back in the 800 and beat her. That really crushed her.
"We've been preparing all year long."
Baylark, who will join the Weeks sisters next fall after signing with the University of Arkansas track team, has another opportunity to win the heptathlon, which begins today with four events and concludes with three on Thursday at Cabot High School.
The decathlon for boys, held in concert with the heptathlon, has five events scheduled each day.
Baylark, a senior,m comes into the heptathlon with an impressive resume.
She won five individual Class 6A state titles on May 5 in Benton and three events last Saturday at the meet of champs in Russellville.
Baylark won the 100 (11.86), 200 (25.31), 100 hurdles (14.34), long jump (18 feet, 11¼ inches) and triple jump (39 feet) against 6A competition, the 100 (11.73), 100 hurdles (14.22) and triple jump (39-9) at the meet of champs.
"I've had a really good season," Baylark said. "I'm proud of myself and my teammates. They kept pushing me and I kept pushing them as well."
Baylark, competing in her third heptathlon, finished 10th as a sophomore in 2014 before her third-place finish last year.
"I want to stay confident," Baylark said. "I want to stay warm and stay loose. I'll be ready to compete for those two days."
"She's excelling at high level," Hardiman said of Baylark, who holds two Class 6A records and one meet of champs mark. "The Razorbacks are getting an outstanding young lady."
Hardiman said he is proud that Baylark is the third Parkview track and field athlete to sign with Arkansas, joining Eric Nathaniel and Brianna Swinton in 2013.
"Every now and then, you have to toot your own horn," Hardiman said. "A lot of people don't want to give Little Rock credit for doing anything. But we're quietly building a stable track program in Little Rock. I'm proud of that. I'm proud of our young men and women who have established that."
Sports on 05/18/2016