Benton finished second in the girls division and third in the boys in the Region I-4A track and field meet on Wednesday at Benton.
Booker T. Washington took the girls title with 84 points, 13 more than Benton. DeRidder was third with 57.5 and Leesville fourth with 54.
Neville won the boys championship with 72 points, edging Leesville by one. Benton was just five points behind Neville.
The meet was held under cloudy skies with mild temperatures. While a shower did move through early in the afternoon, the heavy rain remained to the west.
While the team competition was important, the main goal was qualifying for next Saturday’s Allstate Sugar Bowl/Outdoor Track & Field State Meet at LSU.
The top three finishers in each event qualified for the Class 4A meet.
Benton senior Taylor Davis won her two specialties — the high jump and long jump.
Davis had her best jump of the season in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 6 inches. She is the two-time defending Class 4A state champion in that event.
Davis won the triple jump with a leap of 37 feet, 1.25 inches. That was 5 feet, 10 inches farther than runner-up Alexus Robertson of Tioga.
Benton’s Kristen Glovier won the discus with a toss of 99-5, beating Grant’s Lana Bowie by nine inches.
Benton’s Georgia Carroway is also headed to the state meet. Carroway cleared a personal-best 9-6 in the pole vault. DeRidder’s Cameron Mount also cleared 9-6 and took first in a jump-off.
Benton’s Qua Chambers qualified with a third-place finish in the 400 in 1:01.56. Leesville’s Faith Outing was first in 56.63.
The Benton team of Sairielys Hernandez-Cruz, Hollie Myers, Kobe Crayton and Bayleigh Parker captured second in the 4X800 relay in 11:06.73. West Ouachita won in 10:53.02.
The Bossier foursome of Ka’Mya Smith, Sashnia Murray, Kelcee Marshall and Rebecca Washington finished third in the 4X400 relay in 4:17.63. Booker T. Washington won in 4:02.25.
Bossier’s Washington (400), Benton’s Parker (1,600) and Benton’s Emmalyn Burns (3,200) all just missed qualifying in their individual events with fourth-place finishes.
The Benton 4X400 team of Caroline Cannon, Chambers, Daly Nagot and Crayton was fourth.
Bossier’s Decamerion Richardson qualified in three events. He won the 200 in 21.71, .22 ahead of runner-up Efosa Evbuomwan of Leesville, and finished second in the 100 and high jump.
Richardson ran an 11.13 in the 100, finishing .04 behind Gaylen Lloyd of Grant.
He cleared 6-4 in the high jump along with Woodlawn’s Michael Jones, Leesville’s Duwon Tolbert and Tioga’s Tre Cherry. Jones got first via the tiebreaker and Tolbert was third.
Benton’s Mclane Smith won the boys 3,200 in 10:25.71 and finished second in the 1,600 in 4:38.74. Smith finished less than a second behind Caddo Magnet’s Luke Harris.
DeRidder’s Le’darius Dixon was second in the 3,200 in 10:31.08.
Benton’s Shaw Malley took the pole vault with a personal-best 13-6. That was 1-6 higher than Neville’s Derryck Dorsey and Buckeye’s Adam Cundiff.
Benton’s Michael Scoth took second in the 300 hurdles in 40.83. North DeSoto’s Olu Ogunyemi won in 40.56.
Benton’s Kahleem Amos captured second in the long jump with a 21-7.25. Woodlawn’s Jones won with a 22-0.5.
Benton’s Laeden Tucker was third in the 400 n 51.38. Neville’s Darrington Robinson won in 50.61.
Benton’s Anthony Echols took third in the discus with a toss of 133-2.75. North DeSoto’s Johnny Mitchell threw 166-9, more than 26 feet farther than runner-up Jatavionne Lotts of Tioga.
Benton’s Chandler Burns barely missed qualifying for state with a fourth-place finish in the 3,200.
The Benton foursome of Brennan Kennedy, Nick Randall, Tucker and Schoth was fourth in the 4X400. They missed qualifying by less than a second.
NOTE: This report has been updated from the original. Bossier’s Decamerion Richardson also qualified for the state meet in the 100. The results for the 100 in original meet results submitted to The Press-Tribune were incorrect.
