Jasmine Guillen will have company Saturday at the Meet of Champions in Russellville.
Guillen, a sophomore for Siloam Springs, automatically qualified for the Meet of Champions after winning the 3,200-meter run at last week's Class 6A State Meet at Lake Hamilton. However it wasn't known until Monday afternoon if she would be joined by any of her Siloam Springs teammates.
Turns out, Guillen and her 4x800-meter relay teammates, freshman Caroline Farine, sophomore Hannah Herring and junior Alexis Duffy, qualified to compete at the Meet of Champions as well. Duffy also qualified for the meet in the high jump.
"I'm glad that I'm not going to be going by myself and my teammates are going with me," Guillen said. "I support them and they support me."
State champions in each event automatically qualify for the Meet of Champions, and the next nine best times/marks also qualify for a total of 16 participants in each event.
The meet begins at 1 p.m. at Cyclone Stadium on the campus of Russellville High School.
Duffy will be the first Lady Panther to compete at 3 p.m. in the high jump. Her jump of 5 feet, 2 inches finished second at the state meet. Her season-best mark of 5-4 at the McDonald's Relays in Fort Smith.
The top height recorded at the state meets was Hannah Noble of Berryville at 5-6.
"She's going to have to clear 5-6 to win the Meet of Champions," said Siloam Springs track coach Sharon Jones. "If she goes out and just jumps and not think about it she can clear it."
The 4x800-meter relay will compete at 4:30 p.m.
The Lady Panthers ran their race in 10 minutes, 17.93 seconds, shaving nearly 13 seconds off their previous mark, and finished second behind Lake Hamilton, which finished in 10:02.77.
Duffy starts off the race for the Lady Panthers, followed by Guillen, Herring and Farine.
"We're confident in how we prepare," Herring said. "We give 100 percent each practice and God just gives us the strength to finish the race strong."
Siloam Springs currently has the 10th best time. Bentonville has the top time at 9:37.51, followed by Har-Ber at 9:46.57 and Cabot 9:53.72.
Jones hopes the Lady Panthers can shave off enough time to make it into the top eight and earn a medal.
"To place at the meet of champs in the top eight of all those teams, that's a pretty big deal," Jones said. "It's within reach. If they all PR again by a couple of seconds, they can do it. I feel like our next goal is to place."
Guillen, meanwhile, will run the 3,200 (two-mile) at 5:30 p.m.
Guillen won the 6A state title in the event with a time of 12:16.05, pulling ahead of Lake Hamilton's Cassidy Turner in the final lap.
"I was really excited about it because I had been hoping for it but I wasn't sure," Guillen said. "When I finally hit the last 200 meters of the race and I kicked it in I took the lead and I was excited."
Guillen's time ranks 10th on the state list. The top time is Micah Huckabee of Cabot at 11:21.72.
"(Guillen) needs to shave off about 10 seconds to put herself in a position to place, which I think she can," Jones said.
Sports on 05/13/2015