CONWAY – Two Harding freshmen earned event victories for the Lady Bisons Saturday at the UCA Open track and field meet.

Liz Fouts broke her own school record and eclipsed the NCAA provisional mark for the first time with a winning throw of 147 feet 8 inches. She had fouled on four of her first five throws, but her sixth and final throw was the record-breaker.

Fouts has now won the discus in each of her last three meets. She is now ranked in the top 40 nationally in the discus.

In the running events, Alicja Minczuk won the 800 meters in 2 minutes, 17.40 seconds. It was her fourth event victory of the outdoor season and her second in the 800 meters. She also won the 800 at the Harding Invitational on March 24.

Harding had one other top-three finish in the running events. Senior Raianne Mason was third in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.15.

The Lady Bisons also turned in two second-place finishes and four thirds in the field events. Senior Kaeli Miller was second in the pole vault (9-05.75), and Cara Mason was second in the shot put (36-02).

Third-place finishers included freshman Darcy Sanford in the high jump (5-3), freshman Anna Bristo in the pole vault (8-11.75), sophomore Ariel Syrotchen in the hammer throw (125-00), and sophomore Jenni Nadeau in the javelin (110-10).

Harding’s next outdoor event is the Great American Conference Championship beginning April 19 in Magnolia, Arkansas.

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SEARCY – The Williams Baptist College track and field teams traveled to Searcy, Ark. for the Harding University Invitational on Saturday. There were no team scores for the invite, but WBC’s Mykiyah Brown led a strong showing by winning the triple jump field event.

Brown won the event after jumping 10.75 meters. She finished .14 meters ahead of second place. Another Lady Eagles athlete found herself in the top three with a jump of 10.54 meters. Ashlyn Ellis’ distance placed her in third place for the event.

Brown also competed in three track events. She helped the 4X100 meter relay team finish in second place with a time of 50.85. Joining Brown on the relay team was Devyn Pollard, Ellis and Rhaegan Linn.

In the 200 meter sprint, Brown ran in 26.89 seconds to finish ninth. Meanwhile, she finished in 11th place in the 800 meter race.

Other top 10 finishers on the women’s side included Ellis, Hannah Roberts, Kristen Smith, Betsy Ryan and Mikaela Darnell.

Ellis ran the 100 meter race in 12.98, finishing in fifth place, while finishing in fourth place with a long jump of 5.02 meters.

Meanwhile, Roberts ran the 1,500 meter run in 5:26.92, placing eighth. Kristen Smith ran the 5,000 meter run in 21:48.05. This time placed her in sixth place.

In the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase, Betsy Ryan finished in eighth place with a time of 13:10.58.

Mikaela Darnell finished in 10th in the shot put with a distance of 9.12 meters. In the discus, WBC’s Tori Lovelady had a distance of 28.87 meters, which was good enough for a 10th place finish.

There were five top 10 finishes on the men’s side, as well as three relay teams. The individuals were Jacob Whittle, John Fairris, Justin Stevens, Jacob Short and Alex Cowgill.

Whittle finished in fifth place in the 400 meter sprint with a time of 51.25. Meanwhile, Fairris ran the 5,000 meter run 17:33, which placed him in eighth place, while he finished in fourth place in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

Justin Stevens ran the same 3,000 meter steeplechase in 10:38, good enough for third place, while Alex Van Herpen finished the same race in 11:24, placing sixth. Stevens also finished in 10th place in the 800 meter run, finishing in 2:03.88.

The 4X100 meter relay team (A) finished in fifth place after a time of 43.79, while the “B” team finished in seventh with a time of 48.66. The “A” team was comprised of Joao Rupp, Jacob Whittle, Josiah Marlow and Nicholas McKinnie, while the “B” team was made up of Tracy Allen, Vinicius Maia Romano, Marlon Benevides and Davis Fetzer.

The 4X400 meter relay team comprised of Whittle, Benevides, Stevens and McKinnie finished in ninth place with a time of 3:36.19.

Jacob Short finished in ninth place with a shot put going 10.72 meters in distance, while teammate Alex Cowgill’s shot went 10.29 meters, placing him in 10th. Cowgill also placed 10th in the discus with a throw of 30.57 meters.

Next up, the programs will travel to St. Louis, Mo., for the WashU Distance Carnival. This will take place on March 30.

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NORTH LITTLE ROCK – Hendrix College alum Arthur “Red Sears” was inducted into the Arkansas Track and Field Hall of Fame as part of the inducted class on Jun. 3 at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in North Little Rock.

Sears, class of 1953, was the high point man at the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference track meets for two years and set records in the 100 and 440 yard dashes. He was an outstanding sprinter at Hot Springs High School. In 1949, he won high point honors at the Arkansas State Championships by winning the 100 in 10.3 seconds, the 220 in 23.5, and the 440 in 51.8.

Sears continued his career at Hendrix College with much success:
·        At the 1950 AIC meet, he was a member of the championship 440 relay team, of the runner-up 880 relay team and finished third in the 100.
·        At the 1951 AIC meet, Hendrix finished third and Sears ran on the winning 440 relay team.
·        At the 1952 AIC meet, Hendrix again finished third. Sears won the 100, 220, and 440 and was a member of the winning 440 relay team. He finished as high point performer for the meet.
·        During his senior season of 1953, Sears was undefeated during the regular season in the 100, 220, and 440. At the AIC meet, where the Warriors finished second, Sears had a record-setting day. He won the 100 yard dash in 9.8, tying the 20 year old conference record. He won the 440 yard dash in 48.9, breaking the 18 year old conference record. He also won the 220 yard dash in 21.8.

After that season, the Associated Press labeled him “The Greatest Sprinter in AIC History”. In 1953, Sears was also named the winner of the AAU’s Neil Martin Trophy as the outstanding Arkansas Amateur Athlete.

After graduation, he served for five years in the United States Navy. Following his service, he earned a Master’s degree and spent more than 40 years working for the YMCA on the west coast and in the southwest. He was a volunteer official starter for youth and college track meets in New Mexico and Texas.

Now retired, he and his wife Pat live in Sun City West, Ariz. Sears was inducted into the Hendrix College Sports Hall of Honor in 1998.

Sears is the ninth inductee into the Arkansas Track and Field Hall of Fame from Hendrix.

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