Junior Haze Farmer proved himself as the state's top pole vaulter this season, but he also developed into one of Lake Hamilton's best all-around track and field performers.
Farmer won the boys' pole vault event at the state's Meet of Champions at Lake Hamilton on May 12 and the 55th annual state decathlon in Cabot on May 17 to earn the selection as The Sentinel-Record's 2018 Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year. He is the son of David Farmer and Mecca Hill.
His first-place finish in the pole vault at the Class 6A state meet in Russellville on May 3 gave the Wolves 10 points. He also ran on the winning 4x400-meter relay team with fellow junior Colby Swecker and seniors Knowledge Hood and Cody Weldon.
The boys' and girls' state championships for Lake Hamilton and coach Karl Koonce were the 27th and 28th for the program in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field. The Wolves also have 44 runner-up finishes.
Lake Hamilton won the 6A boys title with 140.5 points. Texarkana placed second with 129 points.
"Haze scored 12.5 points and we won by 11.5 points," Koonce said. "Haze obviously is very serious about the pole vault and has become one of the top pole vaulters in the country. He also is a great teammate to his fellow 4x400 relay team. He does his part in those events and is also very supportive of his track teammates."
Farmer was announced this week as the Arkansas Activities Association's High School Player of the Year in boys track and field. Lake Hamilton senior Josie Carson received the girls award.
"Both Josie (Carson) and Haze are classy people both on and off the track," Koonce said. "They are both good examples of what a strong work ethic can do for an athlete's success because both of them have worked diligently to develop their skills in their respective events."
"I was pretty sure that I was getting the award, but I did not know all of the different sports were going to be there," Farmer said. "And that was cool."
Farmer said he was happy when the award was announced with Koonce and his family in attendance.
"I have worked hard to get there," Farmer said. "I just happened to actually get it."
Farmer said consistency was the key to his standout season.
"I wanted to jump 17 (feet) as many times as I could," Farmer said. "I wish I could have jumped higher, and I still have a few chances to. I just knew, there's some records I needed to break. Even though I did not get all of them, I got some of them, and I know I have next year."
The junior won the indoor state title and took first place in every outdoor meet in which Lake Hamilton competed this season. He broke several meet records and continues to push for the state's top pole vault records.
"Even though I did not get the records I should have, like the state record and the school record, it leaves something for next year," Farmer said.
Farmer was the state's top qualifier for the Meet of Champs at 17 feet. He won the event on May 12 at 16-8.
Mount Ida's Andrew Irwin set the meet record in 2011 at 17-1. Lake Hamilton's Nick Johnson owns the overall state record of 17-3 set in 2016.
The Wolves have a reputation of developing many of the state's best pole vaulters. Fellow junior Edie Murray won the 6A girls' event at 13-2.25 and jumped 13-1 for first place at the Meet of Champs.
Farmer said the program's success is boosted by connections to the Arkansas Vault Club in Norman. Farmer and Murray are both members of the club, as is Trinity Christian sophomore Rhett Nelson, who placed second to Farmer at 15-6.
"I really want to break 18 (feet)," Farmer said. "I think, next year, I want to go to more national meets and compete on that level."
Farmer said he hopes to travel to the New Balance Nationals Outdoor competition in June with Murray and Nelson. He said he hopes the group can compete throughout the country, including the USA Track & Field 2019 Indoor Championships next February in New York.
Farmer was able to break the decathlon record in the pole vault with a jump of 16-5.25. The previous mark of 16-3 was set by Ethan Sandusky, of Bentonville, in 2010. Nelson was second at 15-5 and Farmer's teammate, Michael Harris, placed third at 14-9.
Harris tied for second with another Lake Hamilton pole vaulter, Hunter Johnson, in the 6A meet at 14-4. They were fourth and seventh, respectively, in the Meet of Champs with jumps of 14-10 and 13-4.
Farmer's first-place mark in the pole vault was accompanied by an eighth-place run in the 1500-meter event and 12th place in the triple jump. He finished with 5,970 points to become Lake Hamilton's fourth decathlon champion. Ashdown senior Tre Green took second place at 5,872 points, 98 points behind, and Prescott junior Adrian Block finished in third place with 5,864 points.
Lake Hamilton's past champions include Matt Lawrence in 1999, Matt Vining in 2003 and Ethan Turpen in 2009. Vining has been a coach at Arkansas State for the past eight seasons.
Farmer said he has talked to Vining at Arkansas State and the coach for the Army program at West Point. He said he is still exploring his options for college.
"I would like to go to a good program where I could get better and receive some scholarships," Farmer said.
The 4x400 relay team finished second place at the Meet of Champs with a time of 3:22.23. North Little Rock won the event with a time of 3:19.44. Farmer, Hood, Swecker and Weldon ran a meet record time of 3:25.48 at the Scrapper Relays in Nashville in April.
"That was fun because it was a team thing," Farmer said. "It is another thing for my name to be on the wall and I am really good friends with everyone on that 4x400 team. So, it was just awesome to run that with them."
Sports on 05/27/2018