Bly Takes The Lead

Miles Has Work Left In Order To Win Title

Alex Miles, left, and Daniel Spickes, both of Rogers Heritage, race side-by-side Wednesday during the 100-meter dash at Ramay Junior High in Fayetteville during Day 1 of the decathlon and heptathlon state meets.
Alex Miles, left, and Daniel Spickes, both of Rogers Heritage, race side-by-side Wednesday during the 100-meter dash at Ramay Junior High in Fayetteville during Day 1 of the decathlon and heptathlon state meets.

FAYETTEVILLE — Rogers Heritage’s Alex Miles looked to be a favorite to win the 50th annual Arkansas High School Decathlon, after finishing second a year ago.

But if Miles is going to claim the title, he’s still got work left to do.

The senior Central Arkansas track signee sits second and trails Ethan Bly of Hot Springs by 57 points after Wednesday’s action at Ramay Junior High.

Bly was buoyed by strong performances in the shot put (46 feet, 7 3/4 inches), 100-meter hurdles (11.18) and 400 (50.41). The junior had the top performance in the shot and was second in the 400 and 100 hurdles.

Springdale Har-Ber’s Sain Mathew is third aided by a record-setting 49.26 in the 400. Two of Miles’ Heritage teammates are fifth and sixth, respectively in a very tight field. The top six athletes are separated by 258 points after the first day.

Miles acknowledged he didn’t perform quite as well as he’d hoped, but said Bly did very well.

“In the long jump I barely got on the board and in the shot I threw 43-11 and I had thrown 46 in practice,” Miles said. “So that was kind of a letdown. But Ethan’s doing great. He had a heck of a day. I think he PR’d in the shot. He was really excited. And he was solid in the running events.”

Miles’ clearance of 6-2 3/4 in the high jump and shot put of 43-11 1/4 were both the third-best efforts in those event and he had the best long jump of 21-9 1/2.

Miles is excited about the second day since he usually does well in the pole vault, triple jump and discus.

“I think the pole vault will be a big deal tomorrow,” Miles said. “The hurdles, too. I feel like I can get some points there or mess up. I just need to stick to the plan. If I do what I’m capable of I think I can pull it off.”

Mathew is also only 73 points out of first after the first day. The junior broke the decathlon 400 meter record set by Tyrone McKnight of Pine Bluff in 1984 by .18.

Heritage boys track coach Jay Miles said the second day could be good for his son, Alex, along with teammate Daniel Spickes, who is currently sixth. Jay Miles agreed the pole vault could be a deciding factor in the competition, which should be good for Spickes, who won the Class 7A state title and the Meet of Champions in the event.

“The pole vault’s gonna hinder some folks,” Miles said. “The discus falls in there, too. Bly throws a good discus, but the pole vault may hurt him. But today we hit our marks and we didn’t stub our toe. That was the big thing.”

Chase Lamers of Rogers High also had the fastest time in the 100, clocking 11.01, and finished the first day in ninth.

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