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Going into the Class 3A state track and field championships on Tuesday, May 2, at Prescott, Green Forest sophomore Lydia Russell was projected to have a pretty good day.
But seeing the projections was nothing like seeing Russell’s performance in person, Green Forest coach Kelby Harness said.
Russell won four events at the state meet, claiming state titles in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump.
“It was crazy,” Harness said. “We knew she was projected to win those four events from Milesplit and all the rankings and everything. But it was just so awesome to see it actually happen.”
Russell finished eighth in the 100-meter dash and scored 41 points to earn high-point honors at the meet. Her performance helped a young Lady Tigers team finish seventh among 37 teams in the girls team standings.
“Usually she maxes out at six events,” Harness said, explaining that Russell typically runs the 200-meter dash but missed qualifying for state in that event by one place at the district meet.
Russell won her first state title in the long jump, setting a school record with a leap of 16 feet, 5 inches.
“It was her jump in the prelim that carried over into the finals,” Harness said. “She was the last one to go each round, so by the time they got to the end, we knew she had it. Oh, she was ecstatic. She was jumping up and down. We were all going crazy.”
Russell won the triple jump with 35 feet, 5 inches. Her winning time in the 100-meter hurdles was 16.54, and she won the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 48.58.
Harness said Russell’s success has a lot to do with her dedication and work ethic.
“She has an amazing work ethic after school, ” Harness said. “She’s always the first one there, asking ‘what are we doing today?’ She’s just a really dedicated sophomore. You don’t see underclassmen really stepping up the way she has.”
On the boys side, Green Forest senior Alonzo Rangel finished second in the 3,200-meter run, recording a personal-record time of 10:39.99. Rangel was fifth in the 1,600. Senior Tony Gonzalez took fifth place in the high jump. Senior Jason Lopez was 13th in the shot put and 14th in the discus and freshman Lucas Maloney finished 13th in the pole vault.
Green Forest’s boys were fourth in the 4x800 relay, ninth in the 4x400 and 10th in the 4x100. The Tigers were 12th in the final boys standings.
Lady Tigers sophomore Haddasah Reyes finished eighth in the girls discus.
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