Billington soars for 6A-West teams

Sydney Billington wasn't satisfied with breaking the state record in the girls' high jump on Saturday. So, she did it again. And again. Billington broke the record three times in the same day during the Class 5A/6A State Indoor Track Meet at the Randal Tyson Track Center. She first cleared 5-8 to surpass the previous record of 5-7, which was held by Hannah Martin of Rogers. Billington then broke her own record by clearing 5-9 and 5-10. For her performance, Billington is the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette girls Athlete of the Week. Corey Williams Jr. of Fayetteville is the boys Athlete of the Week. Billington is a junior at Bentonville, and her performance helped the Lady Tigers win the team title in Class 6A. Billington broke the record three times while, occasionally, being distracted by people walking across and near the jumping path at the indoor facility in Fayetteville. She had to refocus while attempting to hold off stiff competition from a quality field of high jumpers, including her teammate, Lexi Matlock, and Kiana Cooley-Hayes of Springdale, who both cleared 5-7 to tie the previous state record. Billington cleared 5-8 on her first attempt, then cleared both 5-9 and 5-10 on her third and final attempts at those heights. "I had not seen competition of that quality in Arkansas since I've been here, but Sydney was the show," Bentonville girls coach Randy Ramaker said. "She's really level-headed and kind of holds things in. But she was excited about what she did, and we were excited for her."

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BILLINGTON SOARS FOR 6A-WEST TEAMS

RICK FIRES

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 3/3/2020

PHOTO CREDIT: Submitted Photo