HEBER SPRINGS -- Jonesboro is known for pole vaulters, and its most recent prodigy put on an exhibition at Panther Stadium.
Jonesboro Westside senior Michael Carr broke his own state record with a vault of 16 feet in the Class 4A State Track and Field Championships on Tuesday.
Pine Bluff Dollarway, led by senior Henri Murphy's victories in the 100- and 200-meter dash, won the boys title with 74 points. Heber Springs finished second with 66 points, and Crossett third with 54.
Ashdown's girls were led to 98 points and the girls championship by Shacoya Poole, who won the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles. Crossett finished second with 92 points, and Monticello third with 56.5.
Carr's personal coach is Sam Bell, who easily drew Carr's attention throughout the competition. Sam Bell is the son of Earl Bell, the athlete who put Jonesboro on the map as a mecca for pole vaulters.
Carr drew the attention of everybody else, but by the time he got started in the competition, the rest of the field was finished for the day.
Cole Cripps, a sophomore from Gentry, finished second at 13-8. Chance Wilson of Fountain Lake was third at 13-0.
Cripps stood by and said he hoped to see Carr clear 16 feet.
"He's put in years of practice," Cripps said. "That's why he's as good as he is. Pole vaulting's not something you can just pick up and automatically be good at. It takes years of dedication. I hope when I'm his age I can do what he's doing."
Earl Bell, raised in Jonesboro, competed for Arkansas State and qualified for three U.S. Olympic teams. He won the bronze medal at the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles, and set a world record of 18-7 1/4 in 1976.
His son Sam Bell has cleared 17-7 1/2, but seems as attracted to coaching as he is to competition. He advised Carr throughout the competition.
Carr opened with an easy clearance of 13-8. It appeared nearly effortless as he advanced through vaults of 14-6, 15-0, and 15-6.
His first miss came at 15-10.
"I thought you had a funny step at the start," Bell said. "It got you out of balance, but otherwise I'd go back and do everything the same. Go after it. Hit it hard."
Carr cleared the height seemingly with ease on his second attempt, and then cleared 16 to the thrill of several hundred fans and athletes gathered nearby.
Three misses at 16-1 ended the competition for Carr.
"I really was hoping to get 16-4 today," Carr said. "That was my goal, and I really thought I might have gotten 16-6. It was a perfect day for it."
The temperature was in the mid-80s, and a south wind of nearly 20 mph blew at the vaulters' backs.
"The wind definitely helps," Carr said.
Carr said he cleared 6 feet the first time he touched a vaulting pole as a 12-year-old. A year later, as a seventh grader, he said he finished second in a junior high meet with a vault of 10-3. By then he was hooked.
"I really want to clear 16-4," said Carr, who has signed a National Letter of Intent to vault for Arkansas State's track team. "That's what I have my sights set on."
CLASS 1A
Trinity Christian girls repeat
GENOA — Trinity Christian’s girls were crowned champions at the Class 1A state track and field meet for the third year in a row at Byron Bryant Field on Tuesday.
Trinity Christian’s girls scored 134.5 points, 64.5 points ahead of second-place Caddo Hills. The order was reversed in the boys final standings. Caddo Hills took the title with 130 points and Trinity Christian was second with 72. Elizabeth Gillette of Trinity Christian earned the most points for the girls with 36.5. She won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters, placed second in the high jump, took third in the 800 and was on the first place 3,200 relay team with Sydney Cowgill, Morgan Pearcy and Maddie Bowman.
Matthew Standridge of Caddo Hills broke a 32-year-old Class 1A record in the pole vault by clearing 14 feet, 2 inches.
— Texarkana Gazette
Sports on 05/06/2015