BYRD'S EYE VIEW: Notes from Wednesday's Meet of Champs

My first Meet of Champs was fun.

A big thank you to Coach Tommy Parker at Russellville High School and his entire staff. Job well done, and in the heat.

Also, I'd like to thank the Arkansas HS coaches for getting their athletes to the Meet of Champs. I know the talk this year involved athletes who are not competing, but the athletes who were there provided the fans with some outstanding performances.

North Little Rock's Kynnedi Neal for example.

Neal won her first state championship the week before in Jonesboro. She won the 100 meters with an 11.99 and the 200 meters with a 24.67. She took it to another level on Wednesday, running personal records in both the 100 (11.83) where she beat Magnolia's Aubrey Stuart to the line. Then, in the 200 meters, she put on a show going should-to-shoulder with Fayetteville's Izzy Sategna. Neal's time of 24.02 broke the Meet of Champions record.

And had it not been for Neal's incredible performance, Satenga would be the new owner or of the Meet of Champs 200 meter record. 

Like Neal, Stuart, who won the 110 meter hurdles before the 100 meters, is a sophomore. It's going to be fun watching the Super Sophomore Sprinters compete for the next two years and-if they can stay healthy-do some really special things. 

There were some great moments in the field events as well. Heber Springs Emmit Dwyer yelling and celebrating before he hit the pole vault mat was pretty cool. After missing 16-4.25 on his first attempt, Dwyer, who set the Class 4A state record the week before in ____, broke the Heber Springs school record. 

Dwyer's attempts at 16-9 were solid efforts and I think he will be over the 17-0 barrier. How he has not been picked up yet by a college or university is beyond me. 

It was cool to see Dwyer run off the mat and go give his coach a huge hug. 

Speaking of Heber Springs, Eva Orr overcame some inconsistent efforts in the prelims to take the Meet of Champs girls shot put with a throw of. Arkansas High's Addison Girley (40-8.5) and DeQueen freshman Adalynn Johnson (40-4)both had farther throws in the prelims, but Orr never blinked and was able to come away with the win. 

It was Orr's second win of the day. Earlier in the meet she won the girls discus 151-6.

Orr will soon be heading to West Point. She leaves the Natural State with the No. 2 ranking in the MileSplit database in the discus (156-4.5). In the shot put (45-4), she is ranked No. 3 all-time. 

Girley, who would graduate from Arkansas High on the following night, finished second in both throwing events. Not only did she leave Russellville with two silver medals, but she also left with two personal records. Girley is headed to Arkansas State University, where she is excited to pick up a new event--the Hammer. 

When Maggie Bishop hugged her older sister, Gabbie, after the pair went 1-2 in the 3200 meters at the Class 3A State Championship last week, it was more than a hug--it was a passing of the torch. Gabbie, who won the 400, 800, 1600, and 3200 state championships, is headed to the University of Arkansas. Maggie Bishop, the sophomore, won both the 1600 meters (4:58.15) and 3200 meters (11:00.94) at the Meet of Champions. 

I mentioned Dwyer's hug his with his coach, Van Buren's Grant Olds got a big one from his coach Hays Lemley after running a 21. 54 to win the 200 meters. The Pointers are coming off a Class 5A state championship which was made even more special by the fact that Pointers hosted the meet. Olds was a big part of that championship effort. He won the 200 meters (21.84), finished third in the pole vault (13-2), and finished sixth in the 110 meter hurdles with a wind aided time of 15.15. 

I've seen some Division I college athletes who would do well to follow the example of sportsmanship seen in the boys discus and girls shot put. It's a tight knit community in the Arkansas high school throws group. That was especially evident in the boys' discus where Bentonville's Will Neumann and Ft. Smith Southside's Ethan Dunn had one final epic battle. 

Dunn, who had the best series of his life with every throw in the 170s including a personal record 178-6 in the second round, led until the final throw of Neumann's high school career. The two-sport star who is headed to Colorado Springs to play football and compete on the track and field team had a throw of 180-0. It gave Neumann his only Meet of Champion win in a storied high school career. 

In the shot put, the results were reversed. Dunn won with a throw of 58-4.5. Neumann (58-2.5)was the runner-up.

Speed kills. And Jacksonville's Marc Davis was an assassin on Wednesday. First, he won the 100 meters with a time of 10.61. Pulaski Academy sophomore standout Chase Hancock was the runner-up with a time of 10.77 in the slow heat.  In the 200 meters, Hancock ran a personal record 22.17.

What Davis did in the 100 meters was impressive, but not as impressive as bringing his Jacksonville 4x100 relay from behind on the anchor leg. The Jacksonville 4x100 finished with a time of 41.38. 

The Bryant Hornets has a good day in the relays. Both the boys and girls teams won the Meet of Champions. The boys 4x200 won with a time of 1:27.06. The girls' winning time was. 1:41.85. 

What was your favorite moment of the Meet of Champions? Send me an email and let me know.

Contact Jerry Byrd at milesplitlaeditor@gmail.com