PEARCY -- The Sylvan Hills girls track and field team is bringing a third consecutive Class 5A state championship back to the Hillside.
Sylvan Hills scored 115 points in a runaway Friday in the Class 5A state track and field meet at Lake Hamilton's Wolf Stadium.
Vilonia was second with 861/2 points. Jonesboro came in third with 701/2 points, while Sheridan and El Dorado tied for fourth at 41.
It was Sylvan Hills' fifth state championship overall. The Lady Bears also won Class 4A titles in 2003 and 2004, and Class 5A crowns in 2017 and 2018.
"It shows the amount of time and dedication these young ladies have put in for us to win three in a row," Sylvan Hills girls Coach Grover Garrison said. "I will give them all the credit."
Vilonia won the Class 5A boys championship for the second consecutive year and its fifth overall. The Eagles scored 121 points, besting Lake Hamilton (85), Texarkana (531/2), Pine Bluff (47) and Nettleton (45.5).
Eagles Coach Michael Stout said his squad had a team-first mentality, and it paid off Friday. In fact, Vilonia met at midfield and did 17 jumping jacks to represent the 17 events of the meet.
"There is never a time that we've bought an individual championship ring. We don't believe in individuals," Stout said. "We do 17 jumping jacks as a team every day to signify the importance of all 17 events. There are no events that are more important than another. Our kids have bought into it."
Aliya Hatton won two individual state championships for Sylvan Hills, picking up both hurdles titles in the 100 and the 300 with times of 14.68 and 45.39, respectively.
Mia Heard earned the long jump title with a leap of 19 feet.
Hatton and Heard, along with Ayana Harris and Alexis Lee, were part of Sylvan Hills' winning 400 relay team with a time of 47.96. Harris also finished second in the 100 hurdles behind Hatton.
Sylvan Hills capped its day with a victory in the 1,600 relay, clocking in at 4:07.68 thanks to Hatton, Skylar Payton, Paige Lambert and Felicity Watkins.
Draven Smith led Vilonia's boys, setting the Class 5A state record in the triple jump with a leap of 46 feet, 2 inches. Smith also won the 200 in 22.30.
Vilonia's Carson Lenser and Nick Lewis won the 400 and 800, respectively. Lenser clocked in at 49.20, and Lewis came in with a time of 1:56.74.
Lake Hamilton's Haze Farmer broke the overall and Class 5A state record in the boys pole vault with a clearance of 17 feet, 31/4 inches. The overall record was previously held by Nick Johnson of Lake Hamilton in 2016 (17-3), while the 5A mark was held by Morry Sanders of Lake Hamilton in 1988 (16-6).
The Wolves made it 1-2-3 in the pole vault, with Farmer, Michael Harris second (15-7 with fewer misses) and Hunter Johnson third (15-7).
Lake Hamilton's Edie Murray won the girls pole vault. Murray, who set the Class 6A state record in the pole vault last season with a clearance of 13-31/4, won this year with a clearance of 11 feet.
El Dorado's Breya Clark won the high jump and the triple jump. She set the Class 5A state record in the triple jump with a leap of 39 feet, and took the high jump at 5-7.
The six individual running races on the girls' side were won by two athletes -- Sheridan's Carly Strong and Jonesboro's Sara Steimel.
Strong won the 100, 200 and 400 races. She won the 100 in 12.10, the 200 in 25.08 and the 400 in 58.18.
Steimel earned titles in the 800 (2:23.97), 1,600 (5:21.27) and 3,200 (11:45.92).
Sports on 05/04/2019