NASHVILLE — It came down to one stumble.
All day, Ashdown’s Sha-Coya Poole and Pulaski Robinson’s Asia Anderson matched speed and strength to keep their teams atop the leader board at the Class 4A state track meet at Scrapper Stadium.
“She’s a great athlete,” Poole said. “I knew she was going to be my competition today, and she was.”
Anderson pulled ahead at the midway point of the 100-meter hurdles, only to stumble 30 meters from the finish line for a last-place finish in the event.
That allowed Poole to be the top point scorer and opened the door for the Lady Panthers to bring home a second consecutive girls state track title, nipping Pulaski Robinson 60-59.
Pocahontas finished 3½ points behind Robinson with 55.5 to take third. Heber Springs was fourth with 47.5.
Heber Springs rode the backs of distance runners Jesse Applewhite and Parker Ables to pull away from Malvern, 78-70, to capture the boys championship.
Nashville took third in the boys competition with 53 points. Crossett was fourth with 48. Mena also tied for fourth at 48, thanks to 36 points from Zach Jewell.
Poole got Ashdown near the top of the leaderboard early, taking first in the high jump, jumping 5 feet, 4 inches to outduel Anderson by an inch.
Anderson took the triple jump, outleaping Poole by nearly 2 feet with a Class 4A record of 38-3¼.
Anderson took second in the 300-meter hurdles, and Poole took third.
“I’m proud of how well all our girls competed today,” Ashdown Coach Joseph Baker said. “ShaCoya came out and really showed what she can do.”
Heber Springs was strong in the boys distance runs, especially Applewhite, who won the 800 meters and led a 1-2-3 finish in the 1600 meters. Add in Lane Carter’s eighth-place finish in the 1,600 meters, and Heber Springs racked up 25 points in that event alone.
Ables, who finished second in the 1,600, won the 3,200 for Heber Springs.
Mena’s Jewell had a big day, taking firsts in the triple jump, 100 meters and 200-meter dash and a third in the long jump. His time in the 200 was 0.11 seconds off the state record, and his 100-meter time was 0.07 off the state 4A record.
Malvern’s Andre Jones took first in the 400 meters and in the high jump, clearing 6-1.
CLASS 5A
Relays lift Forrest City
HOT SPRINGS — Forrest City’s boys won the 400-meter relay by .31 seconds, which helped lead the Mustangs to the Class 5A title at Reese Memorial Stadium.
Forrest City’s first-place finish combined with a thirdplace finish in the 1,600-meter relay and a fourth-place finish in the 3,200-meter relay fueled the Mustangs to an overall state championship with 107 points.
Vilonia was the runner-up with 82 total points.
The Eagles finished first in the 3,200-meter relay with a time of 8:17, holding off Harrison and Magnolia at 8:25. Vilonia also captured a state championship in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:25, edging out Batesville at 3:26 and Forrest City at 3:27.
A second-place finish in the 400-meter relay combined with finishing seventh in both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays aided Magnolia’s girls to an overall state championship with 95 points. Maumelle with 65, Vilonia with 61, Little Rock Christian with 54, and Camden Fairview with 46 rounded out the top five.