Dillon Hopes To Pick Up Slack For Lady Wildcats

Amanda Dillon will participate in at least four events for Springdale Har-Ber on Saturday at the Arkansas Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville.
RUNNING DOWN A DREAM
Amanda Dillon will participate in at least four events for Springdale Har-Ber on Saturday at the Arkansas Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville. RUNNING DOWN A DREAM

— Someone other than Payton Stumbaugh will have to emerge for Springdale Har-Ber at the Arkansas Indoor Track and Field Championships.

PROFILE

Amanda Dillon

SCHOOL: Springdale Har-Ber

CLASS: Sophomore

HEIGHT: 5-6

NOTEWORTHY: Competes in the 60 meters, 200, 400, and 4X4 meter relay for Lady Wildcats. ... Ran 57.52 seconds to finish third in the 400 meter during a meet at Fayetteville three weeks ago. ... Transferred last fall from Providence Academy in Rogers.

Stumbaugh has been battling a sore back and is questionable for state meet, which will be held Saturday at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville.

The Har-Ber girls finished seventh at last year’s state indoor meet behind Stumbaugh, who was selected as the Gatorade Athlete of the Year in track and field after winning five individual state championships last spring.

But the junior hurt her back recently while competing in the pole vault.

“Payton has been in some pain after hurting her lower back, so we’re taking a cautionary approach with her,” Har-Ber coach Brett Unger. “We’re not sure yet whether she’ll compete on Saturday.”

Har-Ber will likely have to look to others for points, including sophomore Amanda Dillon, who transferred last fall from Providence Academy in Rogers.

Dillon’s best event is the 400-meter run, where she ran a time of 57.52 seconds to finish third at a meet in Fayetteville three weeks ago. She’ll also compete in the 60-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and 4X400 relay team.

The Lady Wildcats also hope to pick up points from performers such as Gracie Bogle in the discuss, Marleeya Montgomery in the shot put, Emily Coats in the pole vault and freshman Elise Reina in the distance events.

“Amanda is good at everything, but the 400 is her forte,” Unger said. “She’s very focused, very determined, and she trains hard. No one puts more pressure on Amanda than Amanda puts on herself.

“She’s going to run well, I’m sure.”

Dillon said she’s had a smooth transition after transferring from a small private school in Rogers to Har-Ber, which is one of the largest public schools in the state. She’s decided against competing in other sports to concentrate on track and field.

“It was really different and something I had to get used to,” Dillon said on her transfer to Har-Ber. “It just took a couple of weeks, and I really like it here now. The girls made it easy for me, and we have a lot of fun.”

Dillon won first place in the 400 (58.27) while competing last weekend at the Jayhawk Open in Lawrence, Kan. She also took second while competing in the 60 meter (8.06) run for the first time.

“I love to win and I just love racing in general,” said Dillon, who began competing in the seventh grade.

Dillon is confident Har-Ber can make a good showing at Saturday’s indoor meet even without Stumbaugh, who holds almost a dozen school records in track and field.

Fayetteville won last year’s state indoor meet behind a dominating performance by Sydney Conley, who set four state records. Conley is now a freshman at Kansas.

“Fayetteville, Bentonville, and Bryant are all really good, but I think we’ll do well,” Dillon said. “It hurts our team that we lost (Stumbaugh), but we’ll find ways to make up for it.”

PROFILE

Amanda Dillon

SCHOOL: Springdale Har-Ber

CLASS: Sophomore

HEIGHT: 5-6

NOTEWORTHY: Competes in the 60 meters, 200, 400, and 4X4 meter relay for Lady Wildcats. ... Ran 57.52 seconds to finish third in the 400 meter during a meet at Fayetteville three weeks ago. ... Transferred last fall from Providence Academy in Rogers.

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