By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
HOT SPRINGS -- Forrest City sophomore sprinter Eric Walker didn't win the 400-meter run at Wednesday's 2004 Meet of Champs, but he will.
Walker finished third in a time of 50.15 behind North Little Rock's Michael Jones and Camden-Fairview's Rod Coleman at Lake Hamilton High School.
Jones won the eight-man event in a time of 49.32 while Coleman was second at 49.42.
"Eric was given the opportunity to run at the Meet of Champs and he went down there (Lake Hamilton) and had a good run," said Forrest City Mustang Coach Clark McBride. "He is just a sophomore and he has two more years and he will get better and better. He will win the event before he graduates. Already he is making other coaches and athletes sit up and take notice."
Walker's finish was the best finish for a Forrest City sprinter since Joseph Wilson's third-place finish in the same event in 2001. Walker ran fifth in the 400 at the Class AAAAA State Meet held last Saturday.
Wilson, a senior in 2001, ran the 400 that year in 49.21, which would have been the winning time Wednesday.
Walker was the first Forrest City athlete to qualify for the Meet of Champs since Wilson competed in 2001.
The only other St. Francis County athlete to compete Wednesday was Palestine-Wheatley's Rashun Barnes, who finished eighth in the triple jump.
Barnes qualified for the Meet of Champs by winning the triple jump at the Class AA State Tournament.
Donavon Loring of Little Rock Parkview won the triple jump with a leap of 45 feet three inches.
Barnes, who set a new school record earlier this year with a leap of 43 feet, nine inches, managed just 40 feet, two inches Wednesday.
His jump of 41 feet, three and a half inches was good enough for first at the state meet.
There were some new records set Wednesday, but most stood this year's test.
Jonesboro's Glenn Ritter won the 800-meter run in a time of 1:57.78 and finished undefeated in the event for the year.
The Lady Hurricane was dealt a blow in the 3,200-meter run when Leigh Ann Moore (11:26.39) could not catch Mount St. Mary's Ashley Williams, who passed all the competition in a time of 11:19.56.
Mount Ida's Stephanie Irwin broke her own pole vault mark with a leap of 12 feet, six inches. Springdale's Paige Ferrell also snapped a mark on the day, posting a 55.54 in the 400-meter dash to top her own record from last year (55.88).
In other action, Osceola's Indy Haynes fared well in the triple jump event, with the Lady Seminoles sophomore leaping 35 feet, 6-1/2inches two feet short of Greenwood's Brittney Leftwich, this year's MOC champion and overall record holder.
Haynes almost caught Leftwich in the long jump mere hours after the triple jump event, with Haynes' 16 feet, 9-1/4 inches for second place falling just short of Leftwich's No. 1 mark of 16 feet, 10-1/2 inches.
Rivercrest's Hannah Lark finished fifth in the long jump field with a leap of 16-0.5, minutes after finishing fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.87. Courtenay Brown of Sylvan Hills took first-place 12.10.
Osceola's Chris Brock ran to a third-place finish (11.11) in the 100-meter dash, just over one-tenth of a second behind first-place finisher Kelby Moore of Crossett.
Brock also finished sixth in the 200 dash (22.55) and sixth in the 400-meter relay (43.14) along with teammates Mario Barber, Cameron Baker and Chris James, running in all three events in just over an hour.
Osceola teammate Steven Davis finished third in the 110-meter hurdles (15.22).
J.A. Fair's Charles Hayes won the long jump with an effort of 22 feet, 5-1/2 inches.
Jonesboro pole vaulting standout Drew Bell cleared 14 feet good enough for fourth place in the overall standings. Lake Hamilton's Aaron Puckett won the event, leaping 15 feet, four inches.
Greene County Tech senior Blaine Russell finished fifth in the high jump, clearing 6 feet, 4 inches.
An individual skills softball camp will be held June 1-2, at Williams Baptist College in Walnut Ridge.
The camp is open to all softball players, grades nine through twelve and will be held from 8 a.m. until 12 noon each day. Cost of the camp is $25 and the Forrest City School District will provide bus transportation for those who register for the camp.
All campers will need to bring money for lunch. The deadline to sign up for the camp is May 26. Contact Forrest City Lady Mustang Coach Pam England or assistant coach Jacky England for registration forms.