Benton's Flattmann is flat-out fast

When I wrote a story previewing the high school track and field season a few weeks ago, one of the questions I proposed was this:

Would Benton freshman Kaitlyn Flattmann be as fast on the track as she was in winning the state cross country title last fall?

Not surprisingly, the answer is a resounding yes.

Flattmann finally got to run her first 3,200 of the outdoor season in the Gator Relays last Thursday at Lee Hedges Stadium after the event was cancelled in the first two meets at Airline because of poor weather conditions.

All Flattmann did was run an 11:23.11.

Consider this. The winning time in Class 4A state meet in Baton Rouge was 11:47.98.

Flattmann’s time was better than all but two times in the entire seven-class state meet. Two girls in Class 2A ran 11:16.08 and 11:18.53, respectively.

And Flattmann’s time is not all that far behind the all-time state meet record of 10:59.66 run by Ruston’s Jakia Williams in 2005.

It will be very interesting to watch Flattman the rest of the season. If she stays healthy, there’s not telling what she might accomplish.