LH's Burgess gives best shot, takes MOC title

The Sentinel-Record/Grace Brown - Lake Hamilton's Josie Carson runs during the girls 1600 meter run at the Meet of Champions at Lake Hamilton Wolf Arena on Saturday, May 12, 2018.
The Sentinel-Record/Grace Brown - Lake Hamilton's Josie Carson runs during the girls 1600 meter run at the Meet of Champions at Lake Hamilton Wolf Arena on Saturday, May 12, 2018.

PEARCY -- As a Lake Hamilton senior, Will Burgess reaped the benefits of working hard in his first two years of varsity athletics.

An offensive lineman measuring 6 feet, 4 inches and 340 pounds, Burgess made the Class 6A West all-conference team last year as the Wolves reached the state playoffs. Overlooked by colleges through his junior season, Burgess was mentioned to Arkansas tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. by first-year Lake Hamilton head coach Tommy Gilleran.

Although saying "our whole family is "Razorback everything," and also getting contact from Arkansas State and Memphis, Burgess signed with Central Arkansas.

In Conway, Burgess will play for a different head coach for the fourth straight year with Nathan Brown now in charge of the Bears. UCA comes off two consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs under Steve Campbell, named in December as head coach at South Alabama.

In addition to the diploma he'll receive, Burgess gave himself a happy send-off in another Lake Hamilton sport. Following up on his Class 6A title, Burgess brought the school its third Meet of Champions victory in the boys' shot put in four years Saturday.

Competing at Wolf Stadium for the last time, Burgess reached 55 feet, 7.50 inches, a personal MOC record. He placed third at 53-6 in 2016 and second at 52-3.75 last year. Burgess learned from former teammate Eli Jackson, MOC winner at 53-10.50 in 2015 and 59-0.75 in 2016. He finished behind Russellville's Matt Campbell (53-3.50) at the 2017 MOC.

Bentonville's Bryant Parlin placed second in 53-2.50 on Saturday with Bentonville's Hayden Wiatrek third at 49-6, Clarksville's Michael Powell fourth at 49-5.50 and Piggott's Nate Mallard fifth at 48-10.

Burgess took the 6A title at 52-6.50 May 3 in Russellville, helping the Wolves win the overall championship on a day that Lake Hamilton also took the girls' crown.

Burgess gave Lake Hamilton its meet-tying third individual victory Saturday following winning pole vaults by juniors Edie Murray (13-1) and Haze Farmer (16-8). Murray repeated as MOC champion, while Farmer gave the school its first overall boys title in the event since Nick Johnson cleared 15-10 in 2015.

Farmer has a season best of 17-4 (an unofficial state record) and, said Lake Hamilton vault coach Morry Sanders, "I think ... is going to become my first 18-footer." Johnson holds the state overall record of 17-3 and former Mount Ida star Andrew Irwin the MOC record of 17-1, which Farmer tried to better with three attempts at 17-2 Saturday.

Lake Hamilton senior Josie Carson. making her last appearance at Wolf Stadium, finished second at 1,600 meters and also ran on the fourth-place 4x400-meter girls relay. A University of Arkansas signee, Carson (5:10.71) lost a close race against Fayetteville's Rebecca Boushelle (5:08.29) while more than 12 seconds ahead of the next finisher.

Jessieville senior Noah Eskew, a four-time state cross country champion like Carson and headed to Oklahoma Christian, finished runner-up to Benton's Kyler O'Brien (1:55.84) in the boys' 800. Eskew, in 1:57.30, bettered the state-Class 3A record of 1:58.10 that made him leading qualifier. Though Robert Bradley's 1985 records of 1:51.94 (overall) and 1:52.44 (MOC) went unchallenged, the top seven boys, including Lake Hamilton's Skylar Davis, went under 2 minutes.

Lake Hamilton girls vaulter Grace Cole finished in a three-way tie for third at 11-3 behind runner-up Emily Roberts of Springdale Har-Ber.

Eskew and Farmer have entered the state high-school decathlon Wednesday and Thursday at Cabot. Others include Jackson Galster, Michael Harris and Cody Weldon of Lake Hamilton and Jacob Bearden of Jessieville.

Heptathlon contestants Wednesday and Thursday at Cabot include Skylar Hall and Jenny Peake of Lake Hamilton and Katherine Elliott and Jaidyn Fortenberry of Jessieville.

Sports on 05/14/2018

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