THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bentonville High School Athletics

ROGERS -- The field events at the Whitey Smith Relay Carnival are structured where not only school can set a team record, but individuals can pursue records, as well. That was what Isabel Neal was trying to do Friday afternoon. The junior pole vaulter had already helped Bentonville High's girls smash the pole vault relay record, but she wanted to clear 12 feet and break the meet record of 11-6 she set two years ago. Instead of the record, Neal received a bump on her head when one of the standards fell during her first attempt. "My step was off a little bit because I was using a bigger pole," Neal said. "When I went to swing, I didn't swing up enough and split the pole. It went into the air, but that didn't hit me in the head. "The standard on the side is supposed to be weighted or have somebody sitting on it, and neither happened. It hit me in the head. I got up and finished my last two attempts, but I was a little dizzy. But that's OK. It happens." Neal did combine with Chloe Christian and Skyler Owens to give Bentonville a combined cleared height of 32-4, almost 11 feet more than the previous record of 21-6 set by Alma four year ago. It was one of three records the Lady Tigers set en route to taking the team title with 132 points to second-place Rogers High's 107. Tori Willis and the sister duo of Lainey and Sophie Quandt had a hand in Bentonville's other record-breaking performances. They teamed with Krista Herlin to win the 4x1,600-meter relay in 22 minutes, 23.95 seconds and broke the previous mark of 23:01.94 set by Rogers High in 2014, then they joined Trinity Walker for a winning time of 12:57.84 in the distance medley relay and broke the previous mark of 13:02.75 set by Neosho, Mo., in 2011. "The team aspect is what this meet is about, and I really like it," Bentonville coach Randy Ramaker said. "The kids also like the different events in this meet, and it allows you to test them in different things and test the depth of your team. "It also gives you a chance to isolate one race that you really want do well in. We have a little bit of depth in the distances, and it allows to put some quality distance races together. It suits us pretty well." The only other record broken was in the shot put relay, where Rogers' trio of Elizabeth McCrary, McKenzie Pillstream, Amber Covington combined to throw 97-11, breaking the previous mark of 97-2.5 set by Springdale in 2014. No records fell in the boys division, which turned out to be a tight race in the team standings as Bentonville edged Fayetteville by a 97.5-97 margin. The Tigers had just enough points where they could opt out of the final event -- the pole vault relay -- as temperatures became colder as nighttime fell on Whitey Smith Stadium. "We like this meet, and it's always more enjoyable when your team wins," Bentonville coach Mike Power said. "These relays are good because there's always a lot of stuff to practice on, such as handoffs and other things. "It was good to see field events, and we had some good performances. I think Adrian Broadus in the highlight in the long jump, and it was good to see the distance runners come out after a hard week of training.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bentonville High School Athletics

LADY TIGERS CLAIM THREE RECORDS, TEAM TITLE

HENRY APPLE

Arkansas Online | 3/11/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Jason Ivester