This past Sunday was the spring equinox, or the first day of spring, but the 2022 outdoor track and field season has been underway for a couple weeks, albeit dodging some late winter weather conditions. The Greenwood High School girls and boys teams have participated in two meets so far, including the annual Bulldog Relays held last Thursday before the start of spring break. Two weeks earlier they opened their season at Van Buren. Prior to that, several GHS thinclads competed in two indoor events in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Brian Simms is the head coach for both GHS squads.
Oklahoma Indoor
On February 19th Coach Sims escorted his Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs to Norman, Oklahoma, for a big indoor meet. A total of 17 GHS athletes made the trip, eight girls and nine boys, to compete against hundreds of other thinclads from Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas. Altogether, a whopping 78 teams took part in the annual track spectacle held at the University of Oklahoma Mosier indoor facility.
Among the Lady Bulldogs, junior Kaitlynne Elmore along with freshmen Haylee Young and Elizabeth Moy had the three best finishes in their individual heats. Elmore ran second (2:35.17) in her heat for the 800-meter run, good for 16th overall among 75 runners, while Young (1:15.65) and Moy (1:15.84) placed third in their respective heats in the 400-meter dash. Also in the 800-meter run, sophomore Maddie Cash placed 13th (3:04.79) in her heat.
Four other GHS ladies competed as well. Ninth-grader Carole Werner placed 10th in the one mile run with a time of 4:49.40, followed by sophomore Paige Andrews, who placed 14th in the same heat, crossing the finish line in 5:56.48. Also in the mile run, senior Abi Coston ran 14th in her heat (7:14.59), while junior Ashley Koeth finished 15th (6:38.36) in her heat.
For the Bulldogs, sophomore Noah Chaser turned in the best performance of the day, finishing first in his finals heat in the 200-meter dash with a winning time of 24.82 seconds, finishing 64th overall out of 173 runners. He also placed sixth in his heat for the 60-meter dash (7.96 seconds). Senior Rhett Clements ran third in his heat of the 400-meter run with a time of 1:14.15.
In the 800-meter run three Bulldogs competed with junior Joshua Johnson placing fifth (2:14.68) in his heat, freshman Raden Rosa finishing sixth (2:30.75) in his heat, and junior Hudson Trice placing 15th (2:29.29) in his heat.
Junior Noah Embrey finished fourth in his heat of the finals for the one mile run with a time of 4:38.75. Freshman Westin Rushing ran 11th (5:45.45) and junior David Ambriz placed 16th (6:03.78) in their heats for the same event. The Bulldogs also had one athlete competing in the field events. Sophomore Ryan Franks placed ninth in his heat in the shot put competition.
Arkansas Indoor
A week later, on February 26th, the GHS girls and boys attended the annual Arkansas Indoor Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. The event welcomed both 5A and 6A teams, which competed only within their own classification. Eight Lady Bulldogs participated along with 10 GHS boys.
For the GHS ladies, Taylor Hankins, Kaitlynne Elmore, and Paige Andrews had the best performances among their teammates in their respective heats and events. Hankins, a junior, finished second overall in the pole vault competition, clearing the bar at 11 feet even. Elmore ran third overall (2:37.96) in the 800-meter run while Andrews finished third overall (13:03.98) in the 3200-meter run. Andrews also competed in the 1600-meter run, finishing 11th with a time of 6:10.99.
The GHS girls 4x400 meter relay team placed fourth in their finals heat with a time of 4:46.04. Ashley Koeth finished sixth overall in the 3200-meter run with a time of 14:03.37 and placed 18th (6:37.30) in the 1600-meter run. Paige Andrews ran 11th (6:10.99) in the 1600-meter event and Abi Coston finished 23rd (7:09.71).
Rounding out the field for the Lady Bulldogs, Elizabeth Moy was 12th (1:11.12) in the 400-meter dash and Haylee Young was 14th (1:14.33). In the 800-meter run, Maddie Cash placed 18th with a time of 3:07.69.
For the GHS boys, Noah Embrey had the two best finishes, including first place (4:33.24) in Class 5A in the 1600-meter run and fourth (10:31.61) in 5A in the 3200-meter run. The next highest finish for the Bulldogs was the 4x400 meter relay team with a seventh-place time of 4:04.32.
In the 400-meter dash Greenwood’s Joshua Johnson was 13th (56.34) and Rhett Clements was 24th (1:13.37). Johnson also competed in the 800-meter run, finishing 10th with a time of 2:13.89, followed by teammates Raden Rosa (17th, 2:27.43) and Hudson Trice (20th, 2:32.95). David Ambriz ran 24th in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:49.55.
Bulldogs’ sophomore Braxton Patterson placed 13th (10.59) in the 60-meter dash. Greenwood also had three athletes who participated in the field events. Sophomore Josh Allen placed tenth in the pole vault at 9’6”, while junior Hayden Webb (13th, 35’7”) and Ryan Franks (19th, 29’2”) competed in the shot put.
Van Buren Festival
On March 4th both GHS teams took part in the Van Buren Running Festival that featured 21 teams. A limited number of Lady Bulldogs were available to compete that day, but the GHS girls still managed to earn three top five finishes. Paige Andrews headed that list with a second-place finish in the 3200-meter run with a time of 12:27.85.
Kaitlynne Elmore placed fifth overall in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:34.91, while the members of the 4x800 meter relay team also clocked a fifth-place time of 12:04.80. Ashley Koeth (6:38.53) and Abi Coston (6:59.61) both competed in the 1600-meter run, finishing 18th and 27th, respectively.
For the GHS boys, Noah Embrey won first place in both the 1600 and 3200-meter runs. His winning time in the shorter race was 4:38.02 and for the longer event 9:57.37. The Bulldogs’ next best finish was 8th place in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 4:07.26. Noah Chaser competed in both the 100-meter dash (24th) and 200-meter dash (13th) with times of 12.02 and 24.68 seconds.
Senior Michael Hurt also ran in the 200-meter event, finishing 66th overall with a time of 27.86 seconds, and competed in the 400-meter dash, placing 32nd with a time of 1:00.94. Rhett Clements turned in a time of 1:12.27 in the 400-meter dash for 40th place. Hudson Trice ran 20th (2:24.21) in the 800-meter run.
Two other Bulldogs also competed that day, David Ambriz and junior Lucas Wittig. Ambriz was 39th (5:37.45) in the 1600-meter run while Wittig competed in two events. He placed 55th in the 1600-meter run (6:15.18) and 25th in the 3200-meter run with a time of 12:56.50.
In team scoring, the Greenwood boys finished seventh overall with 21 points, while the Lady Bulldogs placed 11th with 16 points. Mountain Home ran away with the boys’ competition, scoring 121 points to second place Van Buren with 56 points. The Lady Bombers (72 points) also won the girls’ half of the meet, although the top two scores were much closer.
Bulldog Relays
It was nearly two weeks before the GHS thinclads saw action again due to cancellation of the annual James Lemley Quad City Meet at Alma on March 11th because of bad weather. Greenwood next played host to 10 other area teams in the yearly Bulldog Relays last Thursday at Smith-Robinson Stadium. The Lady Bulldogs placed seventh overall with 45 points, while the GHS boys placed ninth, also with 45 points. Van Buren won the girls’ competition and finished second behind Pea Ridge in the boys’ scoring.
For the GHS girls, Kaitlynne Elmore and Taylor Hankins turned in first place performances, Elmore in the 800-meter run (2:35.11) and Hankins in the pole vault (10’8”). Paige Andrews was close behind with a second-place finish (5:50.54) in the 1600-meter run and the #2 slot in the 3200-meter run (12:18.06).
Ashley Koeth finished third (14:17.36) in the 3200-meter run and sixth (6:36.45) in the 1600-meter run. Abi Coston also ran in the 1600-meter event with a 10th place time of 7:15.53. Maddie Cash was ninth (3:06.72) and sophomore Amiela Morgan (3:10.37) was 11th in the 800-meter run.
The Bulldogs got a pair of first place finishes from Noah Embrey in the 1600 and 3200-meter events to pace the GHS team scoring. His winning times were 4:35.91 and 9:52.14, respectively. David Ambriz (6:01.18) and Lucas Wittig (6:21.32) finished 19th and 21st respectively in the 1600-meter run.
Greenwood also nabbed two fifth-place finishes in the 200-meter dash and the 4x400 meter relay. Noah Chaser competed in two events, placing fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.17 seconds, and in the 100-meter dash, finishing 14th with a time of 12.72 seconds. The GHS relay team had a fifth-place performance of 4:00.58. The 4x800 meter relay team came in sixth place with a time of 10:08.98.
Greenwood senior Shane Debar turned in a time of 13.92 seconds to finish 19th in the 100-meter dash, and Michael Hurt placed 10th in the 400-meter dash (1:01.79). In the 800-meter run, Joshua Johnson crossed the finish line in fifth place in the 800-meter run (2:14.52). In the same event, Hudson Trice had a time of 2:31.31 to finish in 18th place.
In the 110-meter hurdles, the Bulldogs’ Braxton Patterson finished seventh (20.89). Josh Allen placed fifth in the pole vault at 11 feet even, while Ryan Franks and Hayden Webb competed in both the discus throw and the shot put. Franks was 10th in the discus throw with a heave of 84’11” and 11th in the shot put (32’7”). Webb was fifth (38’1”) in the shot put and 11th in the discus (81’2”).
After returning from spring break, both GHS teams will compete in the Tiger Relays at Mansfield on Tuesday, March 29th. Three days later they will travel to Russellville for the annual Cyclone Relays on April Fool’s Day. They will later compete at Alma, Van Buren, and at Fort Smith Southside in the McDonald’s Relays before going to the 5A West conference meet in Siloam Springs on April 26th. The state meet will be held at Van Buren on May 5th.