No record for Haze Farmer -- the timing wasn't right, the calendar reading March instead of May -- but not another no-height either.
Arkansas' premier high school pole vaulter is back on track after a winning effort of 17 feet, 2 inches in the Lakeside Ram Relays Thursday at Austin Field. Stepping up to 17-7, Farmer tried three times to break Lake Hamilton's school record of 17-6 1/2 set by Nick Johnson in 2017.
"I got a little tired. I took a lot of jumps today," Farmer said. "But I still should have made it."
A Georgia signee, Farmer won for the second time in three outdoor meets as a senior, clearing 17 feet at Ashdown. Then came at Sheridan, he said, his first no-height performance since ninth grade.
"It's not like I did anything really bad that day," he said. "But I didn't have a good warm-up."
Farmer had everything working at Lakeside, where he went 16-3 late last March in the same meet. "His grip was as good as it's ever been," said Lake Hamilton vault coach Morry Sanders, who cleared 16-8 on the same site as a Wolf senior in 1988. "He just needed a bigger pole, although the one he used was the biggest in his bag."
The Arkansas Activities Association recognizes outdoor track records only if set at a state meet or the Meet of Champions. Johnson set the Arkansas outdoor record of 17 feet, 3 inches at the 2016 Class 6A meet in Benton.
Farmer's personal record of 17 feet, 5 inches came indoors in January. He went 17-4 at last year's Lake Hamilton Invitational, then cleared 16-8 to win the Meet of Champions on what is now Bank OZK Field at Wolf Stadium. Lake Hamilton is a May host both to the Class 6A meet and the Meet of Champions.
"We're trying to bring him to a peak around the state meets," Sanders said. "Anything he does before May will be a bonus."
Vilonia's Carsen Lenser placed second at 15-6 and Lake Hamilton's Michael Harris fourth at 14-6. Harris, a senior, led a Lake Hamilton top-four sweep at Sheridan going 15 feet.
Lake Hamilton won the girls' pole vault with senior Edie Murray clearing 12 feet and teammate Mahayla Swayze second at 10-0. An Arkansas signee, Murray won her second Meet of Champions title last year at 13-1 after setting a personal record of 13-3 1/4 in the 6A meet.
"She knows she can do better," Sanders said. "We'll work through it and make the adjustments necessary."
Other winners Thursday included Lake Hamilton senior Colby Swecker in the boys' 800 meters (1:57.95) and Lakeside sophomore Natalie Jennings in the girls' 800 (2:29.13).
Sports on 03/30/2019