Five Greenwood High School athletes competed in the Class 5A state track and field meet last Friday at Van Buren High School. The event was originally slated for the day before, but potentially severe weather conditions forced the 24-hour postponement. Athletes from all parts of the state took part in the meet, with El Dorado winning both the boys and girls competition. Twenty-six girls teams participated in the event with 27 boys teams represented.
The El Dorado boys scored 112 total points, enough to edge second-place Mountain Home (105 points) for the championship. The El Dorado girls dominated the rest of the field, scoring 116 points to 85½ points for second-place Lake Hamilton. The GHS boys finished 17th with 12 points while the Lady Bulldogs placed 13th with 16 points.
For the Bulldogs, only one athlete performed in last Friday’s spectacle. Junior Noah Embrey, one of the state premier long-distance runners, competed in both the 1600 meter and 3200 meter runs, placing third in each event. His time in the shorter race was 4:25.07 and he finished less than five seconds behind the top two runners. In the longer event his time was 9:41.51 or about nine seconds out of first place and less than two seconds behind the second-place finisher.
A quartet of GHS ladies competed in four different individual events, led by junior Taylor Hankins who placed second in the pole vault. She cleared the bar at a height of 11’4” to earn second place points. Her performance was listed with 40 others who were labeled as “elite.” As a sophomore last spring, Hankins won her event in the prestigious Meet of Champs and qualified to compete there again this year against the top pole vaulters from all other classifications.
The next best finish by a Lady Bulldog was junior Kaitlynne Elmore’s performance in the 800 meter run with a fifth-place time of 2:31.24. In the 1600 meter run, GHS freshman Carole Werner placed sixth with a time of 5:38.21. Sophomore Paige Andrews finished eighth in the 3200 meter run with a time of 12:43.86. She is the daughter of GHS cross country coach Jim Andrews, who heads one of the best cross country girls teams in Class 5A.
Congratulations to GHS Head Coach Brian Sims and his staff, along with this group of high-performing athletes for their dedication and hard work in representing their school and community on a state level.