By Rob Patrick
CABOT — In a 17-team meet that included all but one of the teams that will be competing in the[more] 7A-Central track and field championships on April 27, the Bryant Hornets tied North Little Rock for fourth with 65 points on Thursday at the Panther Relays.
Conway, the traditional power of the league, ran away with the team championship, compiling 139 points. Cabot was second with 86 and West Memphis third with 67 with Bryant and North Little Rock just two points behind the Blue Devils.
The Hornets were sparked by Troy Smith who won the high jump by clearing 6 feet, 4 inches. Tanner Tolbert added a second-place finish in the long jump, covering 21 feet and half inch.
Smith also finished third in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 42.35, fourth in the pole vault, clearing 11 feet, and fifth in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 16.30. He also joined Michael Smith, Lance Smith and Derrick Dogan in the 4×400 relay, which turned in a time of 3:40.81 to take eighth. In all, Troy Smith accounted for 25 points.
“Troy had a great meet,” stated Hornets coach Steve Oury. “He was just dominant in the high jump. His previous best was 6-2, so he really had a good day. He also ran well in the hurdle races.
“We still have several guys who are banged up one way or another, so we need to get healthy and be ready for conference,” he added.
Tolbert contributed 16.5 points for the Hornets. Along with his work in the long jump, he earned third place in the triple jump (40-3.75), finished eighth in the 100 meter dash (11.08) and contributed a leg to the 4×100 relay team that posted a 43.49 clocing to finish third. Joining him on the relay was Winfrey, Stephen Clark and Kris Bazzell.
Winfrey turned in a third-place finish in the 200, running a 22.52 and Luke Lindsley was third in the 1600 (4:44.38).
Michael Smith added a fifth place finish in the 800, clocking in at 2:04.43 and the Hornets picked up eighth-place finishes from Bazzell in the high jump (5-8) and Derrick Dogan in the long jump (19-3).
The Hornets return to competition on Thursday, April 14, at the Wampus Cat Relays in Conway.
