Three Siloam Springs High School track records were set at the Class 5A state track meet at Lake Hamilton on Thursday, May 4.
Senior Esther Norwood set a school record in the 300-meter hurdles, while Wilson Cunningham earned the new record in the 800-meter run. And the Panthers' 4x800-meter relay team of Wilson Cunningham, Chance Cunningham, Levi Fox and Nathan Hawbaker set the SSHS mark at Wolf Stadium.
"I have only coached one other team where three school records were set in a single track meet," said Siloam Springs boys coach Chuck Jones. "It is a special moment for an athlete to know you just had the best performance in your school's history."
A total of 11 Siloam Springs athletes attended the meet. To qualify, an athlete had to place in the top four at the conference meet, which was held April 27 in Van Buren.
"The weather was perfect Thursday and apparently our kids were ready," said SSHS girls coach Sharon Jones. "Most of our performances were PRs (personal records) and school records."
Boys
The Siloam Springs boys scored 10 point and finished 18th overall. Russellville was the state champion with 93 points, finishing ahead of second place Mountain Home with 81.5 points.
Complete results are available at ar.milesplit.com.
Chuck Jones said the two-mile relay team has had a late start to the season with the combination of weather, meet cancellations and the end of basketball season, with three of the runners (Wilson Cunningham, Fox and Hawbaker) and the alternate (Marcus Molina) playing basketball. The Cunningham brothers and Hawbaker were also on the state runner-up cross country team.
The Panthers ran a time of 8 minutes, 17.20 seconds to set the record, finishing fourth overall. The previous record of 8:21.54 was set in 1996 by Dave Lillich, Jason Meler, Danny Harp and Brach Siemens.
"Those cross country boys know how to work hard and compete at a high level," Chuck Jones said. "They were getting faster every week. They understood that they had a great shot at the school record going into the season. There was good competition for those 4 spots on the relay. We kept asking them to shave two to three seconds off their splits each race and they did. Relays are always exciting. It's four athletes giving it all they've got for the team. I'm so happy for those young men."
Wilson Cunningham set the tone as the leadoff man, Chuck and Sharon Jones said.
"Wilson led off with a 2:01 split to get us in a great position," Sharon Jones said. "His brother Chance, just a freshman, took the baton ran a 2:05, then Levi a 2:07, and Nate anchored with another 2:01. All four boys improved their times running new personal records. They had improved last week at conference running a team time of 8:28.24. With that time we started looking at the school record. It was a long shot. Seven seconds is a lot to knock off your time this late in the season, but as a team it was a real possibility. ... I think they were running more for placement, trying to do the best they could at state. The school record was something of a long shot. When I looked at their time at the end of the race, I was so excited to see they had improved 11 seconds to take the new school record. We celebrated like we'd won the whole thing. It's a big deal to get your name up on that board in the PAC."
Sharon Jones said the 4x800-meter relay earned a spot at today's Meet of Champions but declined to participate.
"They are ready to be done and want to end on a high note," she said.
Wilson Cunningham then went and set the school record in the 800-meter run later that day with a time of 1:59.07. He finished sixth overall.
"He knew he was capable of running under two minutes and that was one of his goals," Chuck Jones said. "Sharon had been working with him on that first lap split time. As the gun sounded, Wilson went out fast and was with the top bunch on the first lap. He got boxed in for a second, which changed the pace. He recognized it immediately, broke out of the pack, and finished extremely strong. By our watches, he had beaten the school record, but that two- to-three-minute wait on official FAT (fully automatic timing) times is a killer. We all were excited."
Said Sharon Jones, who also coached Wilson Cunningham in cross country: "I'm so proud of his effort. His goal coming into the season was to break two minutes and possibly get the record. It was huge for him. A great way to end his senior year. That record has stood since 1975."
The previous mark in the boys 800 meters was set by Gene Collins at 1:59.74 in 1975.
Also for Siloam Springs, Silas Tugwell finished seventh in the the triple jump with a mark of 42 feet, 11 inches.
"Silas has jumped so well after coming back from a hamstring injury," Chuck Jones said. "I look forward to seeing what he puts together in the decathlon. He really wanted to jump 43 feet. In the finals, he was jumping well, but I felt like he didn't have enough speed into the board, so on his final jump Silas said 'Coach let's back up and go for it.' We backed him up two strides and told him to attack it. He hit 42-11 and barely touched the take-off board."
Girls
The Siloam Springs girls totaled seven points to finish 21st. El Dorado won the meet with 100, while host Lake Hamilton was second at 94.5.
The highlight was Norwood's third place finish in the 300-meter hurdles, setting the school record at 48.04.
The previous record was set in 2018 by Hadlee Hollenback at 48.93.
"Esther has been creeping closer to the 300 hurdles record all year," Chuck Jones said. "She ran a great clean race. She works so hard to be in top shape and certainly deserves the record. What a great way to finish your senior season."
Both Norwood and Jeri Roy competed in the 300 hurdles and in the long jump, forming a solid 1-2 punch for the Panthers in multiple events all season.
Roy placed 14th in the 300-meter hurdles at 52.29.
"Jeri ran in the first heat and Esther the second," Sharon Jones said. "Esther attacked the hurdles, cruising through the finish with a new school record, 48.04. She's had her eye on this record all season. It's so good to end your career as a senior on such a high note."
Both Roy and Norwood competed in the long jump, with Roy finishing 11th at 16-1 and Norwood 14th at 15-2.
Roy, who competed in five events, also was in the triple jump, where she finished eighth at 34-11, and in the 100-meter hurdles, where she took 14th at 18.18. She also was on the Lady Panthers' 4x400-meter relay team.
"Qualifying for five events is impressive," Chuck Jones said. "It is also a long, tough day. Jeri has improved so much this season. I am so very proud of her. She was a little disappointed in her day, but that is because she has high standards for herself. When she reflects back on her season she will proud of her accomplishments."
Chuck Jones said Roy set the school record in the triple jump and cut time off both her hurdles' marks.
"To me, that's big," he said.
Reese Sutulovich placed 11th in the shot put with a personal record throw of 32-0.25.
"We proud of Reese returning to the state meet for the second year as a sophomore," Sharon Jones said.
"Reese is a sophomore, so she will be with us the next two years in the throws for our track team," said assistant coach Henry Janes, who coaches the throwers. "She has been doing throws for Siloam since she was a seventh grader and has had lots of success with it. She finished second last year at the junior high conference meet and fifth last year at the high school conference meet in the shot when she was a freshman. She has also added about 20 feet to her discus throw this year. She missed qualifying for the state meet this year in discus by about one foot and was only about 6 feet from winning the conference."
The Lady Panthers' 4x400-meter relay team of Norwood, Roy, Crystal Solarzano and Ava Scarberough placed 15th with a time of 4:33.23.
"All ran extremely well to place seventh in their heat," Sharon Jones said. "We're proud of all our athletes who competed this season and those who made it to state."
Submitted photo Siloam Springs senior Esther Norwood set a school record in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.04 seconds at the Class 5A state track meet in Lake Hamilton on Thursday, May 4.
Submitted photo Siloam Springs senior Wilson Cunningham set a school record in the 800-meter run of 1 minute, 59.07 seconds at the Class 5A state track meet Thursday, May 4, in Lake Hamilton.