SPRINGDALE HIGH
Goodsell Back In Form Quickly
It didn’t take Springdale High sophomore Ryann Goodsell long to get used to throwing the discus again after basketball season ended.
Goodsell won the event by a wide margin at the Tiger Relays in Bentonville on Thursday despite having only practiced for a week after playing a key role on a Springdale basketball team that went to the Class 7A state quarterfinals.
She finished first by throwing a 117-6.75 on Thursday.
It wasn’t close to besting the 123-9 she threw last year en route to winning the Meet of Champs after winning the 7A state championship and setting Springdale school records as a freshman. But it was almost 15 feet farther than the runner-up throw.
“Discus is just as much about form as it is power,” Springdale track assistant Ronnie Waid said. “So to come straight off the court and compete at such a high level is impressive. The thing I love about her, she is committed to everything she does 100 percent and hates to lose. She might be the most coachable athlete I have ever seen.”
— Jimmy Carter • @NWAJimmy
ROGERS HERITAGE
Spickes Off To Strong Start
Rogers Heritage boys track coach Jay Miles had several reasons to smile after the Tiger Relays in Bentonville this week, starting with senior Daniel Spickes.
Spickes, the defending Class 7A state champion in the pole vault, acknowledged he’s feeling good after recovering from a broken bone in his leg in the fall during football season. He cleared 15 feet, 6 inches to win the pole vault and got on a bigger pole, despiting not getting over 16 feet.
“He got on that new pole and made friends with it,” Miles said. “He cleared 15-6 by about six inches. He should clear 16 easily if he can get good conditions.”
But that was only a portion of Spickes’ day at Bentonville. He also finished second in the 100 meters (11.70), second in the triple jump (43-3.5) and third in the long jump (20-9).
In addition, junior Tim Cole won the 300 hurdles, topping the state meet’s qualifying standard, but Miles is also pleased with sophomore Brandon Shaw’s effort in that same race.
“That’s the first time Brandon ran that race and I think he may be pushing Tim pretty hard,” Miles said. “He’s already asking to run it again. He also was only two hundredths behind Daniel in the 100.”
Senior Woodrow Murray also won the mile run and was only a second off the state qualifying standard.
—Paul Boyd • @NWAPaulB
FAYETTEVILLE
Agana Not Alone For Fayetteville
Fayetteville senior Amanda Agana broke the Bentonville Tiger Relays record in the 800-meter run Thursday, with a time of 2:15.68. The previous mark of 2:16.39 was held by Maggie Montoya of Rogers.
Agana should be a top weapon for Fayetteville’s outdoor girls’ team all season long and was the big story at Thursday’s Tiger Relays. But she wasn’t the only Bulldog or Lady Bulldog to put up big marks. Blake Young, a sophomore making the quick move over from basketball, finished second in the discus with a throw of 139-1 and won the shot put with a throw of 50-feet, 10-inches. Young edged Springdale Har-Ber senior Josh Frazier in the shot put competition.
Olivia Thomas gave the Lady Bulldogs a first-place in the high jump with a 5-2 mark. Thomas also finished third in the triple jump at 33-10 and eighth in the long jump.
Fayetteville finished third at the Tiger Relays in the boys division and fourth in the girls. But the teams should see improvement in the near future as more athletes join up who were participating in basketball.
— VERNON TARVER • @NWAVernon
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER
Stumbaugh Shines For Har-Ber
Payton Stumbaugh set a meet record and won three individual events to lead Springdale Har-Ber to a second-place finish in the Tiger Relays at Bentonville.
Stumbaugh, an Oklahoma signee, broke the 100 hurdles mark with her time of 14.88 seconds. She also took first place in the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.60 and won the long jump with a leap of 17-0.75.
Har-Ber won the 4X400 Relay with a team consisting of Stumbaugh, Jenna Birkes, Laura Arnold and Amanda Dillon. Dillon finished third in the 100 with a time of 12:76 and second in the 800 with a time of 2:19.80.
“We got our 4X400 qualified for state and Staumbaugh qualified in the 100,” Har-Ber coach Brett Unger said. “Amanda did really well running the 800 for the first time. We experimented with some things in this meet, but I was pretty pleased overall with how we did.”
The Har-Ber boys finished sixth behind Bentonville, which swept both the boys and girls divisions. Kameron Camp finished second in the 800 with a time of 2:02.54 for the Wildcats.
— RICK FIRES • @NWARICK