ROGERS — Rogers High junior Maggie Montoya won the 1,600-meter run at the 48th annual Jesuit-Sheaner Relays in Dallas on Saturday.
Montoya finished with a 4:53 and Lady Mounties track coach Becky Efurd said that is the fastest time ever recorded by a Arkansas high school female runner in the 1,600. The meet was by invitation only and featured some of the best athletes from the Southwest
Montoya was named the Arkansas Gatorade Cross Country Runner of the Year and she has not let up this track season. She posted a 5:05 in the 1,600 before making history Saturday and she also has a 2:16 in the 800 and a 1:01.10 in the 400.
Montoya’s effort in the 400 at a recent meet will be her last.
“She did it just for fun,” Efurd said.
Montoya will compete in the Texas Relays this weekend in Austin and will later run in the Kansas Relays.
Efurd said Alex Dorch is off to a good start this spring after a personal best 18-1 in the long jump.
“Alex is jumping great,” Efurd said.
Conley Leaps To Win From Boys Board
BENTONVILLE — The Tiger Relays gave Sydney Conley an opportunity to do something she had never done before in her career.
The Fayetteville senior and Alabama signee chose to perform the girls long jump last week, but she did it from the boys board at the Tiger Athletic Complex. She did it to keep from jumping out of the sand pit — something she almost did during last year’s meet.
“I didn’t want to risk getting hurt,” Conley said. “So I would rather jump for the boys board. It was just going back 100 feet, so it wasn’t that big of an adjustment at all.
“I feel jumping from the boys board would make me jump farther. Technically, it didn’t, but in my head it made me feel like I needed to jump farther since the girls board is only 3 feet from the sand.”
Conley stutter-stepped on her first attempt but came back strong to win the event with a leap of 19 feet 7.5 inches. It broke the meet record of
19-4.5 that she set in last year’s Tiger Relays.
It was also her first outdoor meet of the season. When most area athletes were participating in the Bulldog Relays in Fayetteville, she was in New York to compete in the New Balance Indoor Nationals, where she won the girls long jump with a leap of 20-5 on her last attempt.
“That’s average,” Conley said. “I wanted to get 20 (feet). My last jump was 20, but I had my elbow back. I just need to work on landing, and it will be all right.
“I’m excited about the start of the outdoor season. I really want to get 20 feet, maybe 21.”
Aenchbacher Out for Five Weeks
Bentonville’s boys will go through a portion of the outdoor season without one of its top weapons in the distance categories.
Senior Will Aenchbacher has been forced to sit out after he suffered an injury during the indoor track season. It’s a similar injury to the one he suffered in cross country during his junior season and had to sit out a portion of the season in that sport.
“He has a hot spot on his leg, so he is being held out of action for five weeks,” Bentonville boys coach Mike Power said. “That would put him out until about mid-April, which doesn’t give him a lot of time. While he’s not been running, he’s been putting in some bike work and swim work.”
Power said he hopes Aenchbacher will be ready to go for the Lake Hamilton Invitational, which is scheduled for April 13 in Pearcy. That would give him two meets to race before the
7A-West Conference meet and three before the Class 7A State meet, both of which will be held in Rogers.
Bentonville’s boys won the Tiger Relays and finished second in the Bulldog Relays in Aenchbacher’s absence. Dalton Davis has become the Tigers’ top distance runner so far and is among the area leaders in the 1,600 (4 minutes, 40.72 seconds) and the 3,200 (10:15.14).
“Dalton is having a great year,” Power said. “He’s improved a lot, and I’m sure he will show those kind of performances the rest of the season.
“We haven’t had our full teams perform in the first two meets. They’ve been on break, but I’m hoping they will come back ready to compete and do well.”
— Henry Apple
Area Contingent Qualifies For Relays
While most area athletes are preparing for this week’s Whitey Smith Relays Carnival in Rogers, a group could be headed for Austin, Texas, after qualifying for the 85th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
Fayetteville’s Brad Culp, who hasn’t participated in the first two outdoor meets, is one of 18 boys that have qualified for the boys pole vault. Meanwhile, Springdale Har-Ber’s Jarred Sanders is among the 24 that have qualified for the boys discus.
On the girls side, Fayetteville has qualified its 4x100-meter relay team of Cornisha Anderson, Anna Nastasi, Macy Manning and Sydney Conley to the meet. Conley has also met the standards for the long jump and the 100, as did Anderson in the long jump and Manning in the 100 hurdles.
Har-Ber had three girls qualify for events, including Summer Morgan in the high jump and Valerie Reina in the 1,600. Sophomore Payton Stumbaugh could be in three events as she has qualified for the 100, the 100 hurdles and the pole vault.
Rogers High has two people that have qualified. Maggie Montoya will set her sights on the 3,200, while Lauren Bedrich is set to run in the 100 hurdles.
With the exception of the 2,000 steeplechase — an event not run in Arkansas — the high school events will be held Friday and Saturday at the Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
War Eagles Getting Many Contributions
ROGERS — Rogers Heritage’s Thomas Tran has the top discus throw in the area and is among the top performers in the shot put.
Tran is one of Heritage’s anchors on a strong field events crew.
“He’s a kid you see during the summer working in the discus ring on his own,” Heritage coach Jay Miles said. “Tran’s just solid.”
But he’s far from alone.
Isai Carranza, a distance specialist, has had some early season success running shorter distances, Miles said. Carranza currently ranks fourth in the area at 1,600 meters.
“He’s run pretty good in the mile and 800 and if that continues to build, that could give us lots of options,” Miles said.
Sophomore Daniel Spickes has made a big splash already outdoors, clearing 14 feet 1 inch in the pole vault. That clearance is good enough to already qualify him for the Class 7A state track meet.
“He’s been impressive,” Miles said. “Now we’ll try to see if we can’t get him prequalified for state in the long jump.”
Jason Alderson and Tanner O’Brien have also shown well.
The Lady War Eagles track team is thin on numbers, but sophomore Dierdre Sheets has a strong performer in distance races. Sophomore Courtney McClain is Heritage’s top point scorer excelling in multiple events. She is among the top high jumpers in the area.
— PAUL BOYD