FAYETTEVILLE -- Tai'sheka Porchia didn't look like the person who had just won the state high school girls heptathlon.
The Camden Fairview senior just wanted to lay down on the ground and try to regain her breath after her 800-meter run Thursday at Ramay Junior High. Porchia came from behind and finished with 4,463 points and defeated first-day leader Breya Clark of El Dorado by 153 points.
"I'm really tired," Porchia said. "I was 33 points behind Breya Clark, and it was the only race to win. I had to run my hardest."
Porchia didn't have the best time in her heat, but it was enough. Her time of 2:35.11 was good enough for 630 points, while Clark struggled with the distance and finished in 2:51.55 for 448 points.
Porchia, who hadn't run the 800 since last year's heptathlon in Cabot, didn't wait long to reveal her strategy. She pulled away from the pack after the first 150 meters and held the lead until Bryant's Megan Lee passed her just before the finish line.
"I did that because my coach was yelling at me to go," Porchia said. "So I had to speed up. After that, I was just hurting. I do a whole bunch of events, but I never do the 800 during the regular season. I just do the 200 and the hurdles."
Clark had a three-point lead over Porchia after the first day, and she appeared to be in a good position to pull away early with the high jump -- the event she won at the Class 5A state meet. Clark, however, was well off her mark and cleared 5 feet, 11/2 inches and scored 689 points.
That gave Porchia the opportunity to rally. Her throw of 35-01/2 in the shot put allowed her to make up almost 100 points on Clark before winning the title with her 800.
"I didn't get what I wanted in the high jump," Clark said. "That kind of set me back. It wasn't a good day. I started having shin problems overnight. The shot, I threw what I needed to do, but the 800 wasn't so good. There was nothing left in the tank."
Pea Ridge sophomore Blakelee Winn maintained her grip on third place and finished with 4,167 points. Carly Strong of Sheridan was fourth at 3,940, while Desi Meek of Decatur rounded out the top five with 3,887, just nine points ahead of Rogers' Ashlyne Silcott, who broke her school's record for points in a heptathlon.
Winn provided balanced scoring in three events that she doesn't do very often. She cleared 4-7 in the high jump to gain 512 points, then added 525 points in the shot put and 545 in the 1,500.
"I'm feeling good," Winn said. "I wanted to finish in the top three, and I did that. I did pretty good on the shot put, and I was expected to do that, but that 800 was rough. This is only the second time I ran it, and I did it on a 4 by 800 relay.
"There's a lot of competition, and it's fun to compete. I'll be back for it again, and I'll be working on my long jump and doing a lot more distance than in warm-ups."
Sports on 05/17/2019