LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The best runners from the Siloam Springs high school cross country teams got the opportunity to participate in the one of the midwest's premiere cross country meets on Saturday.
And the trip to the Rim Rock Classic -- held at Rim Rock Farm, the home course of the University of Kansas -- proved to be well worth it.
"It was a beautiful course," said Siloam Springs cross country coach Sharon Jones. "It was really cool -- rolling hills, steep inclines, ponds and covered bridges. Truly one of the neatest and most challenging courses we've ever ran on."
The race had 13 different divisions, and the Panthers and Lady Panthers participated in the Crimson Division.
Each team was allowed to bring its top seven runners.
Panthers
Siloam Springs finished 26th out of 45 teams overall in the Boys 5,000-meter Crimson Division.
The top finisher in the division was Springdale Har-Ber's T.J. Sugg, who just a week ago took first place at the Panther Cross Country Classic on the Simmons Course in Siloam Springs.
Sugg finished his race in 16 minutes, 12.7 seconds, finishing first out of 305 runners.
Webb City, Mo., took the overall team title.
Junior Elliot Pearson placed 42nd overall to lead Siloam Springs with a time of 17:38.01.
"Elliott Pearson really enjoyed the course and ran very well despite its level of difficulty," Jones said.
Porter Lasater took 77th overall with a time of 18:00.7.
Tyler Low finished 132nd overall with a time of 18:33.4.
Parker Wallis was 189th at 19:07, while Zach Morgan was 218th at 19:23.2.
Eli Hawbaker placed 240th at 19:40.9, and Austin Cooper rounded out the Panthers' scoring in 253rd at 20:03.6.
"All our boys stayed really close together the first mile, however they began to separate in the second half of the race," Jones said. "I'm disappointed in how much separation there was between each runner at the finish line."
Lady Panthers
The Lady Panthers finished 15th out of 26 teams in the Girls 4,000-meter Crimson Division.
Rogers took first place overall with a score of 76 points. A total of 179 girls participated in the race.
Jasmine Guillen placed 50th overall for Siloam Springs' top finish with a time of 17:31.2.
Hannah Herring placed 57th at 17:40.6.
"The girls ran a 4,000-meter race, instead of a 5K," Jones said. "It was a little harder for them to know how to pace. Jasmine and Hannah Herring took off and lead our team the whole race."
Adrienne McGooden placed third for the Lady Panthers with a time of 17:57.1.
Mary Anne Reid placed 78th with a time of 18:08.8.
"Adrienne and Mary Anne looked really strong in the third and fourth position," Jones said.
Alexis Duffy placed 121st at 18:57.8.
"Alexis was in third place for us after the first mile but fell to fifth, really struggling during the race," Jones said.
Bethany Rodgers placed 154th at 19:50.7, while Rebekah Hill was 171st at 21:09.8.
JV/Junior high
The Siloam Springs junior varsity and junior high cross country teams were scheduled to participate in a meet at Holiday Island near Eureka Springs last Saturday. However, Jones said the coaching staff decided to keep both groups home for the weekend to rest and prepare to run a 5K in the Chile Pepper Festival this weekend in Fayetteville.
Up next
All four Siloam Springs teams will participate this weekend in the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville. The annual race brings more than 5,000 runners overall, including 80 college teams and 120 high school teams to the area to race. The high school portion of the race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. beginning with the senior high boys invitational followed by the senior high girls invitational at 11:30 a.m. The junior high boys race will start at 1 p.m. with junior high girls at 2:15 p.m.
Sports on 10/01/2014