Boys Runner of the Year
CAMREN FISCHER
SCHOOL Fayetteville
CLASS Senior
NOTABLE Has definitely left his mark as one of the premier distance runners in state high school history. ... For the second consecutive year, Fischer earned victories in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters in the state meet as he pulled off the feat last month at Lake Hamilton High School in Pearcy. ... Ran the 3,200 in the rain finished in 9 minutes, 23.58 seconds, breaking the state Class 6A mark of 9:25.04 set by David Carroll of Rogers in 1997. ... In his final high school race in the state, he broke the Meet of Champs record in the 1,600 with his time of 4:11.61, also at Lake Hamilton. The previous mark was 4:14.78 set by Carlton Efurd of Rogers in 2010. ... His best 3,200 time was 8:55.04 when he ran in the Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational in early April. ... Has signed a letter of intent to run track and cross country at Princeton.
DID YOU KNOW Ran the mile in a personal-best 4:09.62 during the Festival of Miles in St. Louis in a race where he had the lead with one lap to go. That translates to a 4:08.29 for the 1,600, surpassing the Class 6A and state overall record of 4:10.45 set by Eric Gross of Mountain Home in 2001.
QUOTABLE "Coming into this senior season, I wanted to go off on a really good note. I wanted to put my foot out there and compete well, and I think that's what I have done so far. I went to races in Texas and California and performed well. I ran some fast times here, and overall I'm very content with everything so far. Closing things out with two state records was icing on the cake.
"On my final race, I was content with the 8:55 at Arcadia, and I felt like I still had something to prove in the 1,600. So I wanted to give that a shot. What I might remember most is this state title and doing it with my team. My freshman year, the team was successful and won the triple crown. After that, we didn't have much success in winning a state title, and ending my career with a state title is something I love."
Boys Athlete of the Year
BRYANT PARLIN
SCHOOL Bentonville High
CLASS Senior
NOTABLE Nobody has seriously threatened to break the state overall record in both the shot put and the discus for a number of years until Parlin did this year as he constantly rewrote the school record in both events this spring. ... In the shot put, Parlin threw the shot put 59 feet, 9 inches in his first meet at Springdale in March and went on to throw the shot 64-9 at the Class 6A state meet last month, missing Paul White's state record set in 1974 by a mere 13.75 inches and winning the event by almost 13 feet. ... If the Arkansas Activities Association allowed state records to be set during invitational meets, Parlin would be the current owner of the state overall record in the discus with his throw of 189-10.75 last month at the Kansas Relays, surpassing the Class 6A state record of 185-0 set by Jessie Williams of Cabot in 2005 and the overall mark of 187-11 set by Bobby McDaniels of Crossett in 1985. ... Did win the boys discus at the Class 6A state meet and Meet of Champs for the second straight year. ... Has signed a letter of intent with Oklahoma.
DID YOU KNOW Parlin elected to step away from football, where he was a starting offensive lineman for Bentonville his junior year, so he could focus on throwing the shot put and discus.
QUOTABLE "At the beginning of the season, I had set a couple of goals for myself -- to throw 60 feet in the shot put and break that by the end of the season, and to throw the discus 190 or 190-plus. I am super excited to get 64-9 and exceed that goal, with the 189 in the discus, I am happy with that. Overall, I just had an awesome year with a great team and great memories.
"During indoor track, I threw 57 feet and made some technical changes, and those changes obviously helped me. I just kept getting better, and it pushed me even harder. I was excited to get close to the state record, and I never thought I would be that close. I was consistent with my discus, throwing in the upper 160s until Kansas, and I just love it there. I just hit my technique perfectly."
Boys Newcomer of the Year
ISAIAH SATEGNA
SCHOOL Fayetteville
CLASS Freshman
NOTABLE Accounted for 54 out of the 158.5 points Fayetteville compiled to win the Class 6A state track title. ... Won three events in the Class 6A state meet -- the long jump (23 feet, 3.25 inches), the 110-meter hurdles (14.61 seconds) and the 300 hurdles (37.67 seconds, missing the state record by .34 seconds). ... He also finished second in the 100 and 200, where it took state-record performances by North Little Rock senior Kennedy Lightner to defeat him. ... Also finished second in the high jump out of four athletes that cleared 6-6, including his teammate Sam Hurley. ... Broke the 6A-West Conference record in the long jump with a season-best performance of 23-11. ... Won the long jump, then finished second behind Lightner again in the 200 and third in the high jump during the Meet of Champs. ... Won the long jump by going 24-1.5 during the state indoor meet, where he also finished second to Lightner in another record-breaking performance in the 200.
DID YOU KNOW Sategna is the son of Arkansas assistant track coach Mario Sategna and moved to Fayetteville in January, just before the indoor track season began. He said he had just two workouts with his father before competing in the Arkansas Invitational indoor meet that month.
QUOTABLE "When I moved here, I didn't know how Arkansas track compared to Texas. This allowed me to be able to compete in all six events in state, where I wouldn't have done that in Texas. I was in football in Texas, so I only had about two weeks to train before the Arkansas Invitational indoor meet.
"It was a fun season and helping out the team, with me pushing them and them pushing me. I never thought I would be able to score so many points with me being a freshman. I was most happy with the 300 hurdles and the long jump this year. In the 110 hurdles, I know I will get better as I continue to go. My 300 hurdles race at state has to be my favorite. I was so happy to get to run a 37 because I had been trying so hard to do that."
Girls Runner of the Year
LAINEY QUANDT
SCHOOL Bentonville High
CLASS Senior
NOTABLE Accounted for 32.5 of the 144.75 points the Lady Tigers scored to win the Class 6A state title last month at Lake Hamilton High School in Pearcy, and she did it by breaking two meet records and helping her team break another. ... Opened the state meet by teaming with Tori Willis, Emily Robinson and Elizabeth Heffernan to break the state record in the 4x800-meter relay. Bentonville's time was 9 minutes, 41.74 seconds, passing the previous mark of 9:45.81 set by Bentonville in 2006. ... Became the fourth Arkansas high school girl to break the 5-minute mark in the 1,600, and her time of 4:59.58 broke the 6A state meet record of 5:02.04 set by Julie Jiskra of Conway in 1986. ... Broke the 6A state record in the 800 with her time of 2:12.88, passing the previous mark of 2:15.33 set by Katya Kostetskya of Jonesboro in 2003. ... Completed the distance "hat trick" by winning the 3,200 in 11:14.70. ... Surpassed the Class 6A state record in the 3,200 when she had a time of 10:56.60 during the Pointer Relays in Van Buren. ... Has signed a letter of intent to run track and cross country, along with Willis, at Arkansas.
DID YOU KNOW Quandt won the 3,200 while running the race in a decent rain shower, but that was something she didn't mind at all. "For me personally, I like running in the rain," she said. "I feel like it makes the race more interesting, and it makes the race cooler, which is nice."
QUOTABLE "Going into the season, I really didn't know what kind of shape I was in or anything like that. I had goals, but I really didn't know what would be attainable or not. I just had an open mindset of going out there and having the best season possible. In the end, I was able to accomplish most of my goals, so I would say it was a pretty good season.
"Being the fourth girl in Arkansas to break the 5-minute mark in the 1,600 is pretty special to me. I think it's cool to know you've worked so hard for something and finally achieve it. Running in those sub-5 times was something my body became used to doing because it became a matter of watching my watch and watching my paces. I'd probably say the 800 I ran in state will stand out because I didn't know what was going to happen, then I didn't know what got into me."
Girls Athlete of the Year
CASSIDY MOONEYHAN
SCHOOL Pea Ridge
CLASS Junior
NOTABLE Broke the Class 4A state record at Batesville when she cleared a personal-best and state-best 12 feet, 7 inches. The previous mark was 11-6 set by Staci Yahn of Mena in 2006. ... Cleared 12-6 to win the girls pole vault during the Meet of Champs last month at Lake Hamilton High School in Pearcy. ... Finished second in the 100 and the 200 during the Class 4A state meet, and she ran a leg in Pea Ridge's 4x100-meter relay that finished second in the state meet as the Lady Blackhawks won the state 4A title for the second straight year. ... Broke the state indoor meet record for Class 4A schools when she cleared 12-6 in February. The previous mark was 12-1 set by Stephanie Irwin of Mount Ida in 2004.
DID YOU KNOW Mooneyhan is the daughter of Walter Mooneyhan, a former pole vaulter at Heber Springs and Arkansas State.
QUOTABLE "I think the indoor meet set the tone for the whole season. I cleared 12-6 and set my PR by a foot and broke a state record. It was probably my most memorable meet by far. It was just so fun, and I loved that meet. Then came the outdoor season, and I had a couple of meets before I cleared 12-6 again at Fayetteville. I had been pretty consistent and cleared 12 feet before that.
"Clearing 12-7 and breaking the state outdoor record is what I had been preparing for all season, then winning the Meet of Champs was just icing on the cake. Coach Wade let us have the pit inside, and we really practiced in our indoor facility. My dad is my coach, and we just worked together so well. We worked on so many things, and everything just came together."
Girls Newcomer of the Year
KESSIAH BEMIS
SCHOOL Fayetteville
CLASS Freshman
NOTABLE She accounted for 34 of Fayetteville's 99 points during the Class 6A state meet last month at Lake Hamilton High School in Pearcy as the Lady Bulldogs finished third behind 6A-West Conference rivals Bentonville and Rogers. ... She won the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 45.66 seconds, finished second in the 200 (25.95 seconds) and the 400 (58.89 seconds), took third in the triple jump with a personal-best 36 feet, 4 inches and finished the meet by helping Fayetteville take second in the 4x400 relay. ... Also competed in the long jump, with a personal-best performance of 16-2.75.
DID YOU KNOW With the points she compiled during the state meet, Bemis would have finished seventh in the team rankings by herself.
QUOTABLE "This was a really good season, and it was fun to be a freshman and do what I could with anybody else. It was fun to be able to improve throughout the season and peak when it really counted. It was cool to know I could do so much in the state meet as a freshman. I was a little nervous at first because I didn't know what to expect, but it was cool knowing I could do that.
"I have really good endurance and pretty good speed, but I had to work on technique a lot in the hurdles and the jumps. My 300 hurdles race at the state meet was probably my best because I had just run the 400. I was not expected to do as well as I did, and I almost broke the school record, which was really nice."
Sports on 06/09/2019