TRACK: Posey doesn't mosey

West sprinter keeps composure, wins girls 100

NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Bentonville West's Grace Posey wins the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.09 Thursday April 26, 2018 at the 7A-West Conference track meet at War Eagle Stadium at Rogers Heritage High School.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Bentonville West's Grace Posey wins the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.09 Thursday April 26, 2018 at the 7A-West Conference track meet at War Eagle Stadium at Rogers Heritage High School.

BRYANT -- Grace Posey was already halfway finished with the girls 100-meter final and had the lead when a second blast from the starter's gun caused a premature end to her race, then lightning caused the Class 7A state track and field championships to be halted a second time.

It made the Bentonville West sophomore sprinter even more determined when action resumed following a 54-minute delay. Posey bounced back in strong fashion and won that race Thursday night at Hornet Stadium.

At A Glance

Class 7A State Track and Field Championships

at Bryant

Thursday’s results

BOYS

Team Scores 1. Bentonville High 122; 2. Springdale Har-Ber 107.5; 3. Fayetteville 82; 4. Conway 63; 5. Little Rock Central 56; 6. Bentonville West 55; 7. North Little Rock 34; 8. (tie) Rogers Heritage and Fort Smith Southside 26; 10. Bryant 25; 11. Rogers High 22; 12. Springdale High 14; 13. Fort Smith Northside 12.5; 14. Cabot 11; 15. Little Rock Catholic 6

GIRLS

Team Scores 1. Bentonville High 145; 2. Rogers High 99; 3. Fayetteville 94.16; 4. Conway 69.16; 5. Bryant 59; 6. Bentonville West 48; 7. Springdale Har-Ber 42; 8. Little Rock Central 30; 9. Cabot 22.16; 10. North Little Rock 22; 11. Rogers Heritage 13.16; 12. Fort Smith Southside 8; 13. Springdale High 6.16; 14. Mount St. Mary 4; 15. Van Buren 1; 16. Fort Smith Northside 0.16

"It was frustrating at first, but I didn't let that affect me," Posey said. "I was trying to act like it didn't happen. I was just trying to think about getting that same block start I had because it was a pretty good one."

"I thought it was a pretty good race. I had another good start again, even though the weather was gross. I would have put that race at a eight or nine because I think I could have done better under better circumstances."

Posey was clocked at 12.16 seconds in the final -- compared to the 12.52 she ran during the afternoon preliminary round on a dry surface -- while Kamaria Russell of Little Rock Central was second at 12.28. Posey's day, however, was far from over at that point.

She joined Lady Wolverine teammates Bailye Pratt, Chloe Mahone and Winnie Spurlock to win the girls 4x100 relay with a time of 49.11 seconds. Posey then finished second in the 200 to Russell, who ran a 25.20 to Posey's 25.53.

The rest of the day, however, belonged to Bentonville High as it swept the team titles for the second time in five years. Bentonville's girls were dominant as they compiled 145 points to 99 for second-place Rogers High, which needed a win in the 4x400 relay to edge Fayetteville for the runnerup spot, while Bentonville defeated Springdale Har-Ber in the boys' division by a 121-107.5 margin.

Bentonville never trailed in the girls' team totals once Sydney Suggs won the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 5 inches, but it was Lainey Quandt who came through with two gutsy performances after helping the Lady Tigers win the 4x800 relay early in the meet. The junior followed that with gutsy performances to win the 800 (2:21.55) and the 1,600 (5:09.60) -- winning both by .02 seconds over Fayetteville's Rebecca Boushelle and Cabot's Lauren Turner, respectively.

"The 1,600 was an epic race," Bentonville coach Randy Ramaker said. "Rebecca is a good runner that won the 3,200, and Lainey ran the race perfectly as far as being strategic. She put herself in a position to win it, then used her speed to do it.

"In the 800, the Turner girl is pretty good. Lainey just has a lot of guts and won both of them by an eyelash. That's the type of girl she is."

Bentonville's boys trailed Har-Ber before the second weather delay but took the lead for good when Cole Joyce and Jadyn Loudermilk took fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 100 for nine points. The Tigers then used the distance races to pull away as Coleman Wilson led a 2-4-5-6 finish in the 1,600 for 20 points, then added 14 more in the 800 and 10 in the 3,200.

Fayetteville junior Camren Fischer came away with a trio of victories in the distance events, although he was pushed in every one. He edged Wilson by 1.5 seconds in the 1,600, winning in 4:25.10, then he won the 800 in 1:58.90 and the 3,200 in 9:45.19 -- winning both races by less than a second over Bentonville runners Zerai Belai and Wilson, respectively.

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