BENTONVILLE -- Emily Robinson is determined not to feel any more pressure than what she will place on herself this spring.
The Bentonville High senior distance runner refuses to worry about the season she lost last year when the coronavirus pandemic hit and practically wiped out the entire outdoor track season. She's not going to fret over this spring being her final year to compete in high school.
Instead, Robinson has her eyes set on what she wanted to do before everything when crazy last year.
"I'm going into this season with the mentality that I definitely still have something to prove," Robinson said. "I'm capable of faster times than I have already run, but at the same time, the only pressure I have on me is what I'm going to put on myself.
"I'm trying to stay relaxed about it, but I'm definitely very competitive. There is naturally some pressure I will put on myself, but I still feel more amped about this season than other seasons."
Robinson called last year a "gut-wrenching experience" because she wasn't able to enjoy the rewards from the hard work she put in during the previous offseason. She had run well enough to win and automatically qualify for the state meet in both the 800 and the 1,600 meters during the Y-Timing Running Festival in early March.
With the automatic qualifications out of the way, her plan for the following meet was to run a personal-best in the 800. That opportunity, however, never happened as the Springdale Invitational, as well as the remainder of the track season, was called off and never resumed.
"I was definitely looking to PR by a significant margin," Robinson said. "I put the work in, but sadly the season crumbled. I felt good, I felt confident and I was super excited to get to the next meet. Come to find out, the meet gets canceled and everything was washed out.
"It was disappointing because we thought we could go after a while. It sucks that junior year was canceled and it made college recruiting harder than it would have been. If anything, it motivated me to work harder, and I took my summer super-seriously so I could have a strong senior year."
While the coronavirus didn't allow her to practice with her entire team, Robinson was able to keep one teammate close -- her neighbor, Olivia Hinkebein. The two continued running throughout the spring and summer months in preparation for the cross country season last fall and the upcoming track season.
Another thing out of her way is college as Robinson will go to Villanova, where she will be an invited walk-on. In the meantime, she's ready to get back to a track meet and accomplish some of the things she wanted to do last year.
"I want to go sub-5 in the mile, for sure," Robinson said. "In the 800, I'm wanting to get as close to 2:10 as possible. We've been working toward that in practice, and I'm excited. I'm hitting times in practice a lot faster than I was my sophomore year, and I feel a lot stronger. It will be something I work into during the season."
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GIMME 5
5 prep track athletes to watch in 2021
Boys
Isaiah Sategna, junior, Fayetteville
He does the sprints, the hurdles and the jumps, and he does them all well. As a freshman, he accounted for 54 points and led the Bulldogs to the 2019 Class 6A state title. The 300-meter hurdles state record could belong to him this year after his 37.67 time as a freshman, and the 6A state record is 37.33 by Mark Bradley of Pine Bluff in 2000.
A.J. Moss, senior, Bentonville West
Moss gave Sategna a stiff challenge in the 100-meter hurdles during the 2019 Class 6A state meet, finishing just .07 seconds behind at 14.68 seconds. Moss could also be Sategna’s toughest challenge in the 300 meters as well.
Chas Nimrod, junior, Bentonville
Another person that could push Sategna in the 200, where he had a time of 22.61 seconds in that event during the Y-Timing Invitational — the only outdoor event held in the area last year. He could also be a contender in the triple jump, where he finished third in the Class 6A state meet in 2019.
Jack Williams, senior, Fayetteville
Williams showed what he could do in cross country last year when he won the Class 6A state individual title. In his only outdoor track event last season, he finished fifth in the 800 during the Y-Timing Invitational but he finished second in the 3,200 during the state 5A/6A indoor meet.
Joshua Workman, senior, Rogers
Workman could be a threat to challenge Sategna in the sprints. He ran the 100 in 11.07 seconds during the Y-Timing Invitational — one of the few meets that took place last year — and he turned in a 22.60 in the 200 during the state indoor meet.
GIRLS
Kessiah Bemis, junior, Fayetteville
Bemis accounted for 34 of the Lady Bulldogs’ 99 points during the 2019 Class 6A state meet, including a victory in the 300 hurdles and second-place finishes in the 200 and 400. In her only chance to run outdoors last year, she won the 300 hurdles at the Y-Timing Invitational.
Sydney Billington, senior, Bentonville
Billington broke the high jump record three times during the 2020 state indoor meet, with her final clearance being 5 feet, 10 inches. After sitting out the outdoor season last spring, she sets her sights now on the Class 6A and overall outdoor records — 5-8 in Class 6A (set by Chelsey Butler of Searcy in 2011) and the overall mark of 5-10 by Jan Bennett of Jonesboro in 1980.
Kinleigh Hall, junior, Springdale Har-Ber
As a freshman, Hall just needed one attempt to be victorious in the long jump (17-4.75) and the triple jump (36-5.5) during the 2020 state indoor meet. The Lady Wildcats will attempt to get the most out of Hill as she will add high jump, the 200 and the 400 this spring.
Emily Robinson, senior, Bentonville
Robinson, who will be an invited walk-on next year at Villanova, finished third in the 800 and fourth in the 1,600 during the Class 6A state meet in 2019 and won both events last spring during the Y Timing Running Festival before the season was shut down.
Blakelee Winn, senior, Pea Ridge
The Pittsburg State signee accounted for four first-place finishes — 100, 200, 100 hurdles and long jump — and 48 of the Lady Blackhawks’ 115 points en route to the 2019 Class 4A state championship. Winn also used that to catapult her to a second-place finish in the Arkansas girls heptathlon that spring.