Cross Country Classic a success

Girls take second place, boys third

Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader Siloam Springs senior girls runners, from right, Megan Rush, Sidney Avery and Lin Lampton run in the Panther Cross Country Classic held Saturday at the Simmons Course.
Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader Siloam Springs senior girls runners, from right, Megan Rush, Sidney Avery and Lin Lampton run in the Panther Cross Country Classic held Saturday at the Simmons Course.

The annual Panther Cross Country Classic was held Saturday on the grounds of Simmons Foods, and once again the race proved to be a success for the Siloam Springs Cross Country program.

A total of 99 different cross country teams and nearly 1,000 runners participated in the event, including 90 runners from the Siloam Springs School District.

"The weather was perfect," said Siloam Springs senior high head coach Sharon Jones. "Our kids were excited to run."

Complete results are available at www.race-wizard.com or www.armile-split.com.

Senior high girls

Defending 6A state champion Siloam Springs scored 48 points, but Class 7A Rogers scored 18 to win the large school division on Saturday.

"Our varsity girls are still on a roll, finishing second today," Jones said. "I'm pleased with their times. They seemed excited about how they did."

Bentonville finished third with 54 points, while Springdale was fourth at 131, followed by Stilwell, Okla., 161, Greenwood 166 and Farmington 177.

Gravette won the small schools division.

Overall 167 runners from 21 different schools participated in the senior high girls race.

Siloam Springs junior Jasmine Guillen placed third overall in the large school division with a finish of 20 minutes, 41.06 seconds.

Junior Mary Anne Reid finished seventh overall at 21:08.36, while senior Alexis Duffy placed 11th at 21:52.48.

Sophomore Caroline Farine was 12th at 21:54.27, while junior Hannah Herring placed 15th at 22:27.45.

Sophomore Abigail Cole placed 16th at 22:33.48, while sophomore Allika Pearson rounded out the Lady Panthers' top seven scorers at 22:55.46.

Senior Bethany Rodgers ran a 23:00.13, and senior Sidney Avery finished in 25:07.80 and junior Maddy Hancock 25:31.71.

"I see Sidney Avery continues to move up in the roster," Jones said. "Maddy Hancock has improved so much since last year. She's starting to compete for the top spots. The girls are working hard in practice. They have high goals for this season.

Megan Rush ran a 25:42.20, while Lin Lampton ran a 25:43.05, Megan Rodgers 26:40.37, Averie Headrick 27:08.47, Whitney Burns 27:21.97 and Natalie Mathe 27:34.40.

Senior high boys

A total of 180 high school boys from 21 schools participated in the meet, with 108 in the small school division and 72 in the large school division.

Bentonville won the large school division with 39 points, followed by Rogers 42, Siloam Springs 57, Greenwood 129, Stilwell 135 and Farmington 139.

Berryville won the small school division.

Siloam Springs senior Elliott Pearson continued his strong running with a third place finish of 17:17.66.

"Elliott ran a great race with a solid time for our course," Jones said.

Senior Connor Humphrey placed fifth at 18:11.34, while senior Bobby Norwood placed 14th at 18:30.12.

"Connor Humphrey has improved so much since last year," Jones said. "Well, really many of them have."

Senior Aaron Capehart finished 16th overall at 18:32.86, while sophomore Isaac Leachman was 19th at 18:43.29.

"Connor and Bobby, Aaron, Charlie (Jones) -- those guys are running about a minute or more faster than they were on this course last year," Jones said. "We needed those guys to step up and they're doing it.

Senior Parker Wallis, who was fighting an illness, finished 21st at 18:49.98, while sophomore Caleb Ellis ran a 18:49.98.

"Parker wasn't feeling well today, but gutted out a nice race," Jones said. "Caleb continues to contribute. He is a great pick-up this year. He had a strong finish."

Junior Charlie Jones, who is still recovering from an intercostal cartilage tear, finished in 19:08.13.

"I'm happy for how well he's running," Jones said of her son Charlie.

Senior Ethan Rush finishes his race with a time of 19:09.45, while junior David Williams ran a 19:37.22.

Daniel Norwood ran a 20:05.23, while Eli Hawbaker ran a 20:07.00, Ben Davis 22:17.23, Jake Hancock 22:49.19 and Zach Becan 23:30.73.

"Gosh, David Williams and Jake Hancock are vying for the most improved award," Jones said. "They are both running so confidently. I love it."

Junior high girls

More than 287 runners representing 28 teams combined participated in the large school and small school junior high girls divisions.

Siloam Springs finished first in the large school division with 61 points, while Rogers had 67, Springdale Central 90, Fayetteville Woodland 95, Bentonville Washington 101, Bentonville Black 173, Fayetteville Ramay 185, Greenwood 235, Bentonville Gold 239, Springdale Lakeside 296, Farmington 313 and Springdale Southwest 339.

Jay won the small school division championship.

Freshman Chloe McGooden placed sixth overall with a time of 13:36.60 to lead the Lady Panthers.

Candy Dubon finished eighth at 13:41.98, while Emma Hulbert placed 14th at 14:17.91 and Kimberly Guillen 15th at 14:20.90.

Lily Slater placed 18th at 14:27.23, while Rebekah Rodgers was 19th at 14:27.57. Eve Slater rounded out the Lady Panthers' top seven scorers with a time of 14:55.74.

Abby Thompson ran a 15:04.95 for Siloam Springs, while Sydney Moorman finished in 15:06.63, Brooklyn Shreve 15:09.06, Breanna Ramirez 15:13.93, Kailey Pentz 15:26.39, Aurora Conroy 15:36.46 and Natalie Holt 15:43.75.

Also running for Siloam Springs was Sydney Houston 16:13.31, Brooke Price 16:21.43, Katie Bishop 16:48.31, Rebececa Largen 17:16.48, Jordan Rush 17:19.74, Deisy Rosales 17:27.13, Samantha Largent 17:37.25, Mary Grace Green 17:39.87, Sarah Hancock 17:41.65, Kambryn Duncan 19:26.51 and Marlow Evans 19:43.33.

Junior High Boys

A total of 362 boys from 29 schools -- the largest group of the day -- participated in the junior high boys race, including 270 in the large school boys division.

Springdale Central won the meet with 42 points, while Fayetteville was second at 77, Fayetteville Ramay 135, Rogers Heritage 136. Siloam Springs finished fifth at 138, followed by Rogers 139, Fayetteville Woodland 149, Bentonville 155, Greenwood 252, Bentonville Washington 270, Springdale Southwest 312 and Springdale Lakeside 339.

Pea Ridge won the small school division.

Thomas Bridgeman led the Panthers with a seventh place finish of 11:46.05.

Ethan Davis placed 22nd at 12:09.84, while Kerrig Kelly was 27th at 12:17.94.

Landon Cottrell placed 33rd at 12:31.81, while Eric Davis was 49th at 13:06.28 and Michael Capehart 50th at 13:07.21.

Samuel Granderson finished 56th at 13:19.94 to round out the Panthers' top seven scorers.

Chase Mills ran a 13:29.08 for Siloam Springs, while Adam Kennedy finished in 13:30.68, Logan McLeod 13:36.56, Nathan Knabel 13:46.77, Jake Gill 13:54.61, Oliver Reid 13:55.24 and Blaise Becan 13:58.99.

Lincoln Myers finished in 14:04.18, Blake Morrison 14:06.97, Joseph Garza 14:13.93, Tyler Sharp 14:15.86, Ethan Owens 14:28.70, Luke Markovich 14:32.87 and Shadd Holmes 14:52.05.

Also running for Siloam Springs was Theron Perkins 15:02.66, Kade Price 15:21.01, Luke Engel 15:30.36, Alex Arriaga 15:43.15, Andy Almanza 15:43.94, Luke Fields 15:54.11, Seth Funk 16:22.29, Cole Geyer 16:49.53, Ryan Lane 17:21.93, Esai Flores 17:26.61, Matthew Hargett 17:31.31, Christopher Svebek 18:23.09 and Jacob Brown 19:58.63.

Up next

Siloam Springs will take its strongest senior high runners to the Rim Rock this weekend hosted by the University of Kansas.

"It's a really challenging course," Jones said. "I'm looking forward to seeing how well they perform there."

Jones said the rest of the varsity will rest this weekend or participate in the Tailwaggers 5K, which begins at 9 a.m. Saturday in Bob Henry Park.

The junior high teams will participate Saturday in a meet at Springdale Central.

Sports on 09/23/2015