By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Erik Leamon, who calls Conway home, won the 18th Mightymite Triathlon Saturday, becoming only the fourth Arkansan to win the 16.4 mile race since the race began in 1984.
But the 1993 Wynne High School graduate had to work to get the "sweet" victory.
His best previous Mighymite finish was fourth two years ago.
Leamon caught and passed the lead runner at the traffic signal at Washington and Arkansas and held on to take the win in just under an hour.
Leamon's winning time was 59:58.
Leamon was fifth out of the water at Village Creek's Lake Dunn and moved into third place after a splendid bike ride to the East Arkansas Community College campus.
He moved into second place shortly after beginning the the final leg of the race, the three-mile run.
Just a couple of blocks from the finish line at Sam Smith Stadium, Leamon passed Dean Phillips of Millington, Tenn., who eventually finished second, 24 seconds back.
"The run was the toughest," Leamon said. "I didn't think I was going to catch him."
Leamon said he went out strong to start the swim, a departure from his course of action.
"Usually I hang back a bit, but since I grew up here, Lake Dunn is home to me, so I just went as hard as I could at the start," Leamon added.
He said the bike ride and the run are about equal in terms of how they affect this 26-year-old.
At Wynne, Leamon said he participated only in track and that was less than a full season after he developed shin splints.
He began running triathlons in 1996 and is a veteran of more than 70 such races.
He feels a special bond to the Mightymite.
"It's like being at home," Leamon said. "It's a comfortable fit. I've always wanted to win here so I'm really happy about getting the win today."
Leamon's victory was aided somewhat by the absence of each of the previous 17 Mightymite men winners.
"Most of the guys I consider to be my main competitors did not run the Mightymite this year," Leamon said.
Forrest Owens, of Memphis finished third up from sixth a year ago while Todd Hink of Clinton, finished fourth, up four notches from last year's eighth place finish.
John Rohde of Vilonia ran fifth while 16-year-old Christopher Petrancosta of Hot Springs ran sixth.
"Watch out for Chris," Leamon cautioned. "He came off the bike in second place and he is headed for great things as a triathlete. He is already a strong conpetitor."
Darwin Davis ran seventh while Robert Burditt, seventh a year ago, finished eighth.
On the women's side, only two previous winners ran this year's event -- Lucia Colbert and M.C. Jermann.
Colbert, a two-time winner in 1994 and 1997 finished sixth and Jermann, who won the race in 1999, finished eighth.
Colbert, who is 43, said. "I'm out here running against a lot of girls who are much younger than I am. "But I'm happy."
Of the top 10 women finishers, five were under 30.
Lesley Brainard was the first woman to cross the finish line, doing so in a time of 1:06.40, almost two full minutes ahead of Anne Marie Sheldon, who ran second.
Brainard, 30, finished in the top 10 a year ago, placing eighth, after having trouble with her bike during the 13-mile ride.
Five of last year's top 10 female finishers made the cut again -- Jermann, Marda Kaiser who ran third, Joy Johnson finishing fourth and Amy Daily, who was seventh.
It was only the second Mightymite for Brainard, from Collierville, Tenn.
It is her second triathlon win this year. She ran second in her age group at Memphis in May.
Brainard was the first swimmer to exit Lake Dunn and had a good transition to the bike ride.
"The first mile and a half of the run after finishing the bike ride, was probably the toughest part of the race for me," Brainard said. "The swim was my strongest leg today. The water was warm and very calm."
The Forrest City women's team of Michelle Trail, Carla Nimocks and Angie Gilbreath finished with a time of 1:33.07 while the mixed team of Jim Mcinturff, Wilbert Dawson and Gabrielle Kuijten-Celz finished in a time of 1:22.27.
1 Lesley Brainard, 30, Collierville, Tenn. 1:06:40
(First-Time Winner)
2 Anne Marie Sheldon, 29, N. Little Rock , Ark. 1:08:24
3 Marda Kaiser, 27, Memphis, Tenn. 1:09:08
4 Joy Johnson, 24, Germantown, Tenn. 1:09:43
5 Krissa Thoreson, 27, N. Little Rock, Ark. 1:09:54
6 Lucia Colbert,43, Cordova, Tenn. 1:10:18
7 Amy Daily, 29, Hot Springs, Ark. 1:10:23
8 M. C. Jermann, 34, Memphis, Tenn. 1:10:38
9 Ginny Wood, 49, Cordova, Tenn. 1:12:00
10 Karen Harkins, 45, Germantown, Tenn. 1:13:25
1 Erik Leamon, 26, Conway, Ark. 59:58
(First-Time Winner)
2 Dean Phillips, 26, Millington, Tenn. 1:00:22
3 Forrest Owens, 31, Memphis, Tenn. 1:00:40
4 Todd Hink, 31, Clinton, Ark. 1:00:54
5 John Rohde, 41, Vilonia, Ark.1:01:52
6 Chris Petrancosta, 16, Hot Springs, Ark. 1:02:23
7 Darwin Davis, 31, Collierville, Tenn. 1:02:42
8 Robert Burditt, 30, Memphis, Tenn. 1:03:07
9 Timothy Brennan, 37, Memphis, Tenn. 1:03:09
10 Kevin Leathers, 36, Cordova, Tenn. 1:03:14
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WYNNE--The Forrest City Fireballs put together a five-game undefeated run to win the Eighth annual WynneBall 10-under tournament at the Wynne Sports Complex.
On Sunday, the Fireballs defeated West Helena Twin City 7-6 to bring home the championship trophy.
In the WynneBall 12-under tournament, the Forrest City Travelers, the only 11-year-old team in the mix, reached the semifinals on Saturday, only to lose to the Sylvan Hills Bears 5-2, ending their stay.
The Bears eventually reached the championship game and lost to their counterparts, the Sylvan Hills Braves.
The Fireballs finished pool play on Saturday with a perfect 3-0 record defeating Marked Tree 12-0, Marion 7-2 and Wynne 14-1.
Forrest City put away Wynne 17-1 in a rematch in Saturday evening's semifinal game to reach Sunday's championship game.
West Helena went 2-1 in pool play, losing to Wynne 13-3 before taking victories over Brinkley and Marion.
West Helena defeated Marked Tree in Saturday's semifinal.
In Sunday's final, Forrest City opened a 3-0 lead by scoring three times in the top of the first when Mark Machen, Evan Daugherty and Justin Cook each crossed home plate.
West Helena erased that lead in the bottom of the first by scoring five times.
The Fireballs answered with two runs in the top of the second to tie the game at 5-5 after Seth Smith and Chance Pearson each scored.
Forrest City added a single run in the third by Barrett Beshears to break the tie and lead 6-5.
Smith scored his second run of the game in the top of the fourth on a two-out, bases-loaded hit which left the Fireballs on top 7-5.
West Helena got within one run at 7-6 when they scored in the bottom of the fourth after a lead off triple and an error.
With West Helena runners at second and third with two outs, Daugherty ended the inning by snagging a line drive down the first base line.
West Helena managed just one more base hit after that against Pearson who took the mound in relief of Smith who started.
The Fireballs were the No. 1 seed from their pool.
The Travelers, the No. 1 seed from their pool, lost their opening game in pool play 5-2 to Marked Tree but regrouped to defeat Wynne 11-0 and Marion 3-2 in a Saturday morning thriller.
The WynneBall Tournament also featured an 8-under coach-pitch division and a t-ball division.
Any Forrest City student, grades 9-12, interested in forming the school's first male/female cross country team, is invited to attend an organizational meeting at Mustang Arena, Monday, Aug. 13, at 9 a.m.
The team will be coached by Lewis Ethridge.
The Forrest City School District will hold physical examinations Wednesday, July 25, at 8 a.m., at Mustang Arena.
The physicals are for all male and female students, 7th-12th grades, who plan to participate in athletics during the 2001-02 school year.
The exams will be given again on Saturday, July 28, at 9 a.m., at the office of Dr. Curtis Patton.
East Arkansas Community College will host a second youth soccer camp, July 30-August 3, from 9 until 11 a.m. each day.
Cost per campers, ages five through nine, is $60 each.
The camp instructors are from the Germantown Soccer Club.
For more information call, (870) 633-4480 ext. 261 or 333.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
MARION--H & J, a team comprised of players from Forrest City, Wynne and McCrory won the adult men's district slow pitch tournament played at Marion on Saturday.
H & J defeated the West Memphis Legends in the championship game to finish the tournament undefeated.
Forrest City's S.S.A. team finished fourth while West Helena's Hitmen took third.
All four teams qualify for the Class E state tournament which will be played Aug. 3-4 at Forrest City.
Sanyo, Poison and Kerby's, all Forrest City league team advance to state as well in other classifications.
In the women's district played Saturday, the West Helena Lady Bombers defeated Forrest City's Chism Concrete in the championship game.
The Bombers advance to the Class D state tournament at Fort Smith.
Forrest City First National bank finished third while the Odd Sox finished fourth.
Purple Haze and the Odd Sox will play in the Class EE state tournament at Pine Bluff.