Sports

Pine Bluff wins Flagship meet at UAPB

By Pat Geans/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Sunday, February 17, 2008 3:04 PM CST

The Pine Bluff High School boys and girls track teams prevailed against some of the state’s top competition in the first-annual Flagship of the Delta indoor track and field meet on Friday at UAPB’s HYPER Complex. The PBHS Zebras out-pointed two-time defending Class 6A state champion Forrest City 124-79 to win the boys title. Meanwhile the PBHS Fillies nipped Monticello and Camden Fairview 113 to 112 and 110 respectively.

Competing at the innaugural meet sponsored by the UAPB Golden Lion track department were Pine Bluff High, Watson Chapel, North Little Rock, Little Rock Parkview, Forrest City, Monticello, West Helena, Camden Fairview and Warren. The Flagship indoor meet was put on as a means of showcasing Arkansas’ top track talent in Southeast Arkansas.

“Any coach that is familiar with Arkansas knows where the speed is. That’s in the South,” said Golden Lion assistant track coach and Pine Bluff native Samuel Glover, who is a four-time track All-American at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. “Pine Bluff finished second in 7A last year. North Little Rock has the state’s 100 meter champion. Forrest City is the two-time defending champion in 6A. Helena is always competing for the championship in 5A. So is Camden Fairview. Then, you have Watson Chapel and Dollarway. It was the collection of teams that made it special.”

Pine Bluff got first-place finishes from both its 4x400 meter relay teams. The Zebras won the event with a time of 3:53.6. The PBHS boys also got a first-place finish from Josh Thomas in the 3200 meters with a time of 11:28. Justin Davis’ jump of 6’2 in the high jump was also good for first-place honors. Meanwhile Watson Chapel’s Gordon Johnson won the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 7.92.

The Zebras got one other top-three finish with their sprint medley team of Jarvis Mayo, Kelsey Collins and Patrick Wright. The group clocked in at 4:12 behind Forrest City and West Helena which ran 4:02 and 4:06 respectively.

Overall in the boys competition, North Little Rock was third with 74 points. Monticello was fourth with 62. Camden Fairview finished fifth with 55. Helena was sixth with 46. Little Rock Parkview was next with 28. Chapel rounded things out with 23 points.

“Well, really this meet is about getting some work,” said Zebra track coach Laydell Jordan, whose team will compete in the state indoor meet on Saturday in Little Rock. “I’ve got four or five new guys that I want to look at. We are trying to really feel our way as far as conditioning. We want to let them know what is expected of them coming into the state meet, which is next weekend.

“We are just trying to look at some of these old guys and see how they improve. We are bringing some of these young guys along and let them know what it’s all about. That’s mainly what we are doing (Friday).

On the girls’ side, Warren’s Latoya Marshall won high point honors with 30 points. Marshall was the only Lady Lumberjack competing at the meet but won all three of the events she was entered in. Marshall won the 60 and 200 meter dashes with times of 7.39 and 26.72. She also won the high jump at 5’2”.

The Pine Bluff Fillies’ first place finish in the 4x400 meter relay came in a time of 4:43.8 over Monticello’s 4:56.1. The Fillies also got a pair of first-place finishes from Sharone Willis in the long jump at 14’6”. Willis also won the 300 meters with a time of 52.48. Pine Bluff swept the top four finishes in the race with Jelcia Lidell (52:82), Erica Thomas (53.92)and Anshanetta Turner (55.86) finishing second through fourth.

“ It’s never been done before. We just felt like we had to bring the community together and give them what they want,” Glover said. “They just want to see that high level of competition and that’s what we are trying to do.

“All of the coaches were telling me how pleased they were at us having the meet down here. Usually they have to go all the way to Fayetteville to compete. Well, all of the best schools are down here. So, we are glad to be able to get them all together right here in our own backyard.”

Glover will be assisting UAPB head track coach Curtis Pittman as the Golden Lions revive their men’s track program under first-year athletic director Skip Perkins. The Golden Lion track program has been dormant for five years but Glover is excited about the wealth of track and field talent on display Friday on the UAPB campus.

“The meet exceeded all of my expectations,” Glover said. “My focal point being a former track athlete from Pine Bluff High was to get all those teams to come to the meet. I was really pleased with the result.”

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