BENTONVILLE — If Taylor Mahone and Alexis Rolle used their track and field accomplishments to determine who is the better runner, the final result would be just as close as if the two Bentonville sophomores were in a race against each other.
Mahone had the better time in the 100 meters this spring, but Rolle countered it with a better performance in the 200. Both of them performed beyond the call of duty when they were needed this season, and they made up one-half of a 4x100 relay team that broke a 29-year-old state record during the Meet of Champs.
Profiles
Taylor Mahone
SCHOOL: Bentonville
CLASS: Sophomore
HEIGHT: 5-9
NOTABLE: An all-state performer who ran the second leg of the Lady Tigers’ 4x100-meter relay and helped set a state record at the Meet of Champs. … Finished third in the 100, fifth in the long jump and sixth in the 200 during the Class 7A State Track and Field Championships in Bentonville.
Alexis Rolle
SCHOOL: Bentonville
CLASS: Sophomore
HEIGHT: 5-9
NOTABLE: An all-state performer who ran the opening leg of the Lady Tigers’ 4x100-meter relay and helped set a state record at the Meet of Champs. … Finished fourth in the 200 and sixth in the 100 during the Class 7A State Meet in Bentonville … Was a last-minute replacement runner in the 4x400 relay and helped Bentonville’s girls take second in a close race at the Meet of Champs.
Both were vital in the Lady Tigers’ winning the 7A-West Conference and Class 7A state track titles, and that’s why they share the honor of being named the NWA Media Newcomer of the Year for girls track.
“If you start looking at those two girls, you can go back to what they were doing even in the eighth and ninth grades,” Bentonville girls track coach Randy Ramaker said. “It seemed like in every junior high they meet, they were one-two in the 100 and 200. They were together the whole time.
“They have got to know each other pretty well, and that’s a good thing when it comes to relays. It’s nice to have two girls that run mid-12s or better in the 100, and they have certainly proven the ability to do that. They will get better because they’re still young to the sport and learning some things here and there.”
Both of them emerged on the scene from the start of the outdoor season, when Mahone won the 100 and Rolle finished second in the 200 during the Joe Roberts Invitational in Springdale. That trend continued throughout the season, as Mahone finished third in the 100 and Rolle took fourth in the 400 during the Class 7A State Meet, finishing behind junior teammate Jody Knight in both events.
Their biggest accomplishment came when they were teamed with Knight and junior Logan Morton and broke a state record in the 4x100 relay. Their time — which came after they switched what parts of the race they ran — was 47.09 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 47.24 set by Pine Bluff in 1984.
“For us to go out and break that record, it didn’t seem real,” said Mahone, who ran the second leg. “We weren’t as developed as other teams and only been racing for a year. Other teams had probably been together longer than us.
“We just gave it all we had. We knew this was going to be our last meet together for a while.”
Both runners even did their part when they were called to do something that they didn’t normally do during the season. Mahone was asked to do the long jump during the week of the 7A-West Conference meet, and she finished fifth in that meet, as well as the Class 7A state meet the following week.
Rolle, on the other hand, didn’t have as much time to prepare. She became a last-second replacement runner in Bentonville’s 4x400 relay team during the Meet of Champs and ran a 62-second split, helping the Lady Tigers finish second in a close race behind Little Rock Parkview.
“I cried, but then I had to toughen up and run it,” Rolle said. “I didn’t feel good, but I knew I had to do it.
“That was so hard. I hate the 400 because it’s not my race, but I had to do it.”