Aaron Capehart and Trent Lyon are making the most of their senior track seasons at Siloam Springs.
Capehart and Lyon are two of several Siloam Springs athletes who will be participating Thursday in the Class 6A State Track Meet at Benton High School.
And according to head boys track coach Chuck Jones, there aren't two better examples of hard work and dedication than Capehart and Lyon.
"Trent and Aaron, in workouts, it doesn't matter what the workout is, they're at the front of the pack," Jones said. "They're the ones always leading. They're the ones that are always pushing. The rest of the kids have followed."
Capehart will be competing in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles at the state meet, while Lyon will be participating in the 400-meter dash and 4x800-meter relay.
Both Capehart and Lyon, along with teammates Chandler Stewart and J.D. Horn will compete in the 4x400-meter relay at state.
Capehart has already achieved his main goal this season, which was to simply make the state meet after falling short by a few places last season.
Capehart qualified for the state meet earlier this season in the 300-meter hurdles at the Fayetteville Bulldog Relays, but his performance last week at the 6A-East/Central Conference Meet in Mountain Home would have gotten him there anyway.
Capehart ran a time of 43.03 seconds at the conference meet, which was good for third place.
"I'm excited for him," Jones said of Capehart. "Just look at where he was when he was a freshman and how he's matured physically. He's become a leader. He's a great kid. And it just goes to show you what hard work and effort can do for someone. He's not the fastest kid out there a lot of time, but he's got great technique and he works hard."
Capehart finished fifth in the 110-meter hurdles at the conference meet, an improvement of three spots after placing eighth in the preliminary rounds.
The 4x400-meter team wound up placing third at the conference meet with a time of 3:39.78.
"I just want to be able to compete with the guys at state and perform my best and represent our school," said Capehart, who signed to run cross country and track at Ecclesia earlier this year. "I'm super excited. This season has made it even more (exciting) to continue to do the running and events."
Capehart said he wants to focus in most on the 300-meter hurdles, where his personal best time is 41.5 seconds.
"My goal all season has been to get below 41," he said. "I would like to get into the low-to-mid 40s, even break 40 possibly."
Lyon said his main goal on Thursday is atone for his performance last year at the state meet, where he tripped and fell in the 400 and finished dead last.
Lyon placed second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.58 seconds at the conference meet.
"I was kind of expecting to finish pretty high in the 400," he said. "I was ranked second coming into it, and I was hoping that there wasn't somebody who was going to make a push. I managed to keep my place and ran behind Russellville's guy for most of the race."
Lyon would like to finish fourth place or higher at the state meet.
"I think I'm ranked ninth right now," he said. "The 6A-South has some incredible runners."
Lyon's best time in the 400 is 52.1.
"I want to get into the 51s," he said.
Jones has liked the improvement he's seen out of Lyon this year.
"Trent, when he's running that fast, it's hard to get a lot better," Jones said, "but he just keeps shaving a tenth or two-tenths (of a second) off his time, and he keeps getting faster and faster and faster.
"The thing I like about Trent is he's a competitor. This year he's been the anchor on the mile relay. There's been three races where he's ran stride for stride with someone the last 150 yards and every single time he's come out on top and conference was no different."
Lyon, along with teammates Gavin Efurd, Charlie Jones and Stewart will also run in the 4x800-meter relay after finishing fifth at the conference meet with a time of 8:51.30.
• • •
The following Siloam Springs athletes will be participating in the Class 6A State Meet in Benton.
Boys
• Montana Burke -- 4x100-meter relay
• Aaron Capehart -- 300-meter hurdles, 110-meter hurdles, 4x400-meter relay
• Kyler Duncan -- discus
• Gavin Efurd -- 4x800-meter relay
• J.D. Horn -- 4x800-meter relay
• Connor Humphrey -- 1,600-meter run, 3,200-meter run
• Charlie Jones -- 4x800-meter relay
• Trent Lyon -- 4x800-meter relay, 400-meter run, 4x400-meter relay
• Cade Miller -- 4x100-meter relay
• Elliott Pearson -- 1,600-meter run, 3,200-meter run
• Coby Roach -- 4x100-meter relay
• Chandler Stewart -- 4x800-meter relay, 4x400-meter relay
Girls
• Alexis Duffy -- high jump, 4x800-meter relay, 800-meter run, 4x400-meter relay
• Caroline Farine -- 4x800-meter relay, 800-meter run, 4x400-meter relay
• Jasmine Guillen -- 4x800-meter relay, 1,600-meter run, 3,200-meter run
• Gabby Hufford -- 4x400-meter relay
• Angelica Lange -- 4x100-meter relay
• Chloe McGooden -- 4x100-meter relay
• Allika Pearson -- 4x800-meter relay, 1,600-meter run
• Chloe Price -- 4x100-meter relay, 400-meter run, 4x400-meter relay
• Alexis Roach -- Triple jump, 4x100-meter relay
• Bethany Rodgers -- 3,200-meter run
Sports on 05/04/2016