After another exciting week of racing, we are here to look back at some of the top meets and performances throughout the Natural State.
Leon White Invite
The Leon White Invite had exciting action across the board at Tuesday's event.
Raghan Allen from Conway High School set a new Arkansas #1 in the 100m dash, running away from her competition and finishing with an 11.71 (+4.0) mark, winning the event by 0.58 seconds. The senior also finished second in the 200m dash, running a 24.82, finishing only behind her teammate RaNayla Morton.
Kirstic Rowland from Conway had a great showing on Tuesday, winning the triple jump with a jump of 36-1.5. Rowland also finished second in the long jump, coming up short of Samantha Taylor from Cabot High School, who jumped an 18-6, which now ranks 3rd in the state.
Brenlee Leonard from Cabot won the shot put, throwing an Arkansas #4 and a new personal best of 37-3. Leonard also finished 8th in the incredibly competitive discus event, which her teammate Laylah Reese won, throwing a 97-03.
The boy's pole vault was incredibly competitive at this Tuesday's Invitational, which saw two athletes reach 14-00. Despite jumping the same height, Gavin McDowell from Jonesboro High School was awarded the victory, while Quinn Hawkins from Cabot finished second. The two vaulters are both now ranked inside the Top 8 in the state in the event.
AANG/LRS Cyclone Relays
In the most competitive meet of the week, the Cyclone Relays had 22 performances that met Milesplit US Second Team standards.
Anna Woolsey from Ozark High School had another impressive week, continuing her dominant outdoor season, winning the AANG/LRS Cyclone Relays 200m and 400m dash events, while also finishing second in the 100m dash. The senior set another Arkansas #1, this weekend in the 200m, running an impressive 24.62. Woolsey is currently ranked 1st in the state in the 200m and 400m dash events and 2nd in the 100m dash.
Raghan Allen from Conway, who competed at the Leon Invite earlier this week, also competed at the AANG/LRS Cyclone Relays and took down Anna Woolsey, who was previously ranked #1 in the 100m dash, to extend her winning streak to three races in the new season.
Arkansas #1 Solara Koser from Fayetteville High School put on a show in the 300m hurdles, running a 45.05 and beating the competition by 2.45 seconds.
Hannah Estes from Fayetteville and Taylor Hankins from Greenwood High School dueled in the pole vault for a second straight week. Estes won by a wide margin this week, but only narrowly escaped Hankins on Thursday. The two tied one another with a jump of 12-0, which awarded Estes the victory on attempts.
Some of the best distance runners in the state met in Russellville this week for the 1600m and 3200m races at the Cyclone Relays. Noah Embrey from Greenwood had a busy day, pulling off an impressive double in the two races. Embrey won the 3200m race, running a 9:29.32, holding off Brandon Avila from Bryant High School. In the 1600m, Embrey finished second behind River Hardman from Russellville High School who ran a quick 4:15.62.
While Embrey's double was impressive, Hardman was able to complete his, winning the 800m race as well, running a 1:55.19, holding off Ky Bickford from Mountain Home High School, who ran a personal best 1:56.67 to finish second.
In the boy's discus, Robert Dover from Mountain Home edged out Devyn Steingisser from Bryant, throwing a 161-3 to win the event.
Mountain Home teammates Michael Davis and Adam Jones finished first and second respectively in the pole vault. Davis cleared the 14-7 height, while Jones cleared 14-0 en route to a new personal best.
Whitey Smith Relay Carnival 2023
The Whitey Smith Relay Carnival had 8 performances that met Milesplit US Second Team standards.
In the girls' meet, the high jump was one of the most competitive events. Paisley Hight from Bentonville High School and her teammate Hannah Hanson finished first and second in a great duel, which saw both athletes jump 5-04. The pair is now tied for the second-best mark in the state in the event.
Kayla Ryan from Rogers High School had a great day in the pole vault, jumping an 11-06. The junior is currently tied for the best mark in the state in the event.
Many relays produced terrific outcomes too. In the Sprint Medley Relay, Bentonville took home the victory, running a 4:21.52, followed closely by Rogers in second, running a 4:26.47. Bentonville also took home the win in the 4x800m relay, running a very quick 9:28.33, which is the 16th fastest time in the country to this point of the season.
Zach Harrell from Bentonville extended his winning streak in the pole vault on Thursday. After finishing second in his first two competitions of the season, the junior has been unbeaten in his next three outings in the event, including this week's 14-6 win at the Whitney Smith Relay Carnival. Harrell is currently ranked as the Arkansas #2 in the event.
Rogers Heritage High School put on a show in the Sprint Medley Relays, running a 3:36.81, which beat second place by over 11 seconds.
Other Notable Performances:
Donna Douglas from Nettleton High School threw for an Arkansas #1 on Thursday at the Sara Low Relays, recording a throw of 42-10 in the shot put, while also winning the discus event, throwing a personal best of 120-11. Douglas is undefeated in the discus and shot put competitions this season.
Rocco Patrick from Prescott High School had another impressive week, winning the discus and shot put competitions at the Nashville Scrapper Relays. The junior threw for two new personal bests in the event and remained #1 in the state in the discus.