HOT SPRINGS -- Siloam Springs went into the Class 6A State Boys Cross County Meet with the reality that catching defending three-time state champion Lake Hamilton would not be possible.
The Wolves blew away the competition at the recent 6A-West Conference Meet with six of the top seven finishes and a near-perfect score of 17 points.
Arkansas High School Boys Cross Country Championships
Saturday at Oaklawn Park, Hot Springs
Class 6A
Team scores — 1. Lake Hamilton 24; 2. Greenwood 80; 3. Siloam Springs 82; 4. Mountain Home 109; 5. Benton 142.
Individual results — 1. Colby Swecker, Lake Hamilton, 16:40.7; 2. Skylar Davis, Lake Hamilton, 17:01.9; 3. McKree Martin, Lake Hamilton, 17:10.3; 4. Tyler Braswell, Texarkana, 17:15.8; 5. David Byrd, Mountain Home, 17:22.6; 6. Nathaniel Gonzales, Greenwood, 17:27.8; 7. Joseph Wittig, Greenwood, 17:30.4; 8. Noah Smith, Lake Hamilton, 17:36.8; 9. Parker Wallis, Siloam Springs, 17:37.3; 10. Cody Weldon, Lake Hamilton, 17:47.6.
Other Siloam Springs finishers: 16. Isaac Leachman, 18:03.9; 17. Kerrig Kelly, 18:15.4; 18. Samuel Granderson, 18:19.3; 22. Charlie Jones, 18:27.3; 23. Carlos Reyes, 18:32.9; 25. Chandler Stewart, 18:37.1; 28. Daniel Norwood, 18:45.8; 47. Caleb Ellis, 19:37.7.
But the Panthers did feel like they had a shot to catch 6A-West rival Greenwood for a third straight state runner-up finish. Greenwood had beaten Siloam Springs in head-to-head competition in every meet so far in 2016, including besting the Panthers 63 to 69 in the 6A-West Conference Meet on the Panthers' home course on the grounds of Simmons Foods on Nov. 3.
"We knew we had to have all our guys run their best," said head coach Sharon Jones. "We knew we had to have our guys as far in the front as we could. We knew that every single person we passed was a point closer to Greenwood. We knew Lake Hamilton was out of touch, but we had a good feeling about Greenwood."
Unfortunately for the Panthers, they would come up short by two agonizingly close points.
Lake Hamilton won its fourth straight state title with a team score of 24, but Greenwood edged Siloam Springs 80 to 82 for second place in the Class 6A State Boys Meet at Oaklawn Park.
Greenwood's Jarrod Maxon came in fifth for the Bulldogs at 38th, which cemented the Bulldogs' second place finish.
"When I saw their fifth runner come in, I mean we were like keep going, keep going, as far back as he could be is where I needed him," Jones said. "He just came in too quick. I was like, 'Oh that's going to hurt us.' But I thought it was going to be a little more than that. Two points is hard to take."
The Panthers had all five of their scorers finish among the top 22 runners.
Senior Parker Wallis just missed a new personal record by two seconds with a time of 17 minutes, 37.3 seconds. And five of the Panthers' nine runners did set personal records on the day.
Junior Isaac Leachman ran a 16th place time of 18:03.90, well short of his personal record. But freshman Kerrig Kelly placed 17th with a new personal best of 18:15.4 and sophomore Samuel Granderson was 18th with a personal record of 18:19.3.
Senior Charlie Jones placed 22nd at 18:27.3, while senior Carlos Reyes ran a career-best 18:27.3 to finish 23rd.
Senior Chandler Stewart saved his best race for last with a new PR of 18:37.1 to finish 25th. Senior Daniel Norwood also ran a personal record of 18:45.8 for 28th place. Junior Caleb Ellis finished 47th with a time of 19:37.7.
"They're all good boys. I wanted that (second place) for them," Sharon Jones said. "To get this close to being on the trophy stand is a great accomplishment for sure."
Wallis received a Top 10 medal and all-state recognition in Class 6A for his finish.
"When I finished, I felt like I had actually did something," Wallis said. "I felt like I had accomplished something. At the beginning of the race I wasn't nervous. I was ready. I was in the zone. The race wasn't easy, but I gutted it out, and when I finished I felt like I really did something. It really hit home and it's my last race."
Wallis said it was tough to swallow getting so close to Greenwood.
"We only lost by two points," Wallis said. "Well that's actually the worst part, we lost by two points."
Jones was hoping Leachman and her son, Charlie Jones, might have a chance to crack a new personal record in the race and maybe reach All-State. Leachman just missed by a few spots, and Jones faded at the end of the race after a strong start.
"I was hoping Isaac and Charlie might have a chance," Sharon Jones said. "Charlie died his last mile. He was so far ahead of his pace early in the race and he sort of ran out of gas."
Wallis, Charlie Jones, Reyes, Stewart and Norwood all will graduate from this year's state roster with Granderson, Ellis, Leachman and Kerrig returning.
"We've got a couple of other freshmen coming up too," Jones said.
Sports on 11/16/2016