Central High wins first outdoor state track title, makes history

Central High School turned a long chase into a first when the Cougars won the Arkansas Class 3A State Track and Field Championship at Ashdown High School. It was the program’s first outdoor state track title, a milestone that lifted Central beyond a single meet result and gave Helena-West Helena a rare statewide athletic crown.

The Arkansas Activities Association listed Ashdown as the 2026 host site for the Class 3A championship meet on May 5, and Central left that stage with the title that mattered most. For a school in Helena-West Helena, the win carried weight well beyond the track oval. It gave Central a public marker of progress and a new standard for a program now measured against the best in the state.

The Helena-West Helena School District marked the achievement with a direct celebration of its athletes, writing, “Congratulations to our Central High School Cougars Track Team on winning the 3A Track and Field Championship. Great job, Cougars!!!” Central High School is located at 103 School Road in Helena-West Helena, and the title offered the kind of visible success that tends to resonate across hallways, classrooms and athletic programs.

The meet also showed that Central scored in more than one event. MileSplit Arkansas results listed Jaden Mitchell of West Helena Central finishing second in the boys 100 meters in 11.08 seconds and second in the boys 200 meters in 22.72 seconds. Those runner-up finishes underscored the depth behind the championship, showing the Cougars had athletes capable of scoring in key sprint events instead of relying on one standout performance.

For Phillips County, the championship mattered as a signal of what sustained work can produce. A first outdoor state title can strengthen school pride, give future student-athletes a reason to stay invested in the program and provide Central with a stronger recruiting pitch inside its own community. It also sharpened the school’s athletic identity at a moment when county programs are competing for attention and momentum. Central did more than win a track meet in Ashdown; it set a new benchmark for what Helena-West Helena can claim on the state level.