Royal sizzles at first indoor meet
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FAYETTEVILLE — At the Arkansas Track Coaches Association Indoor Track Invitational held at the Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville Saturday, Bryant junior Alexis Royal scored 23 points to lead the Lady Hornets to a fifth-place team finish.
Bryant scored 48 points in the field of 24 teams. Bentonville took the championship with 101 points.
Royal started the meet out by winning the 60-meter hurdles in a personal best time of 9.25. She then took second-place in the triple jump (37’3”) followed by a sixth-place finish in the long jump (16’6”). She finished off the meet by running the first leg of the 4×400 meter relay, which finished second.
“Alexis had an outstanding meet tonight,” said Bryant coach Danny Westbrook. “She got a great start in the hurdles and just powered away from a very good field. I would say she will go into the state meet in two weeks as one of the favorites in both the hurdles and the triple jump.”
Sophomore Leah Ward scored 8 points for Bryant with her third-place leap of 16’8” in the long jump. She was also a member of the 4×400 relay that finished second.
Junior distance runner Hannah Raney finished fourth in the 3200-meter run with a personal best time of 12:11. Sophomore Melinda Murdock also turned in a personal best time of 2:27 in the 800-meter run to take sixth place.
In the relays, Bryant’s 4×800 meter team of Raney, Murdock, Marley Adams, and Stacy Emmerling finished fourth with a time of 10:31. In the final event, the 4×400 meter team of Royal, Fenice Boone, Ward, and Murdock turned in a time of 4:13.3 to take second.
“This meet was a good tune-up for the indoor state championship which will be held here at the Tyson Center on Feb. 25,” said Westbrook. “I think if we keep working hard between now and then you will see some outstanding performances from the Lady Hornets. ”
