Siloam Springs' cross country teams ran hard last Saturday in the annual Panther Cross Country Classic held on the Simmons Course, but SSHS head coach Sharon Jones knows improvement is needed if the Panthers and Lady Panthers are to finish among the top teams in Class 6A.
The defending 6A state champion Lady Panthers finished third overall at their home meet behind 7A cross country powers Bentonville and Rogers, and the 6A state runner-up Panthers took sixth behind four 7A schools and fellow 6A member Greenwood.
The placement for the teams wasn't disappointing, Jones said, but rather it was the individual times themselves.
"I don't like the looks of our times at all," Jones said. "We expect slower times on our course. It's a tough course, but we didn't do good at all. I've been feeling uneasy about the last two weeks. Our workouts haven't been challenging enough. That's my fault. We've got to step it up."
Complete results are available at race-wizard.com or ar.milesplit.com.
Varsity girls
Bentonville and Rogers each finished with 37 points to tie for first place in the Class 5A-7A division, but Bentonville won the meet on a sixth-place tiebreaker.
Siloam Springs took third with 72 points, followed by Rogers Heritage 106, Russellville 135, Bentonville West 166, Greenwood 207, Stilwell (Okla.) 213 and Farmington 249.
Halle Gilreath of Rogers placed first individually out of 84 girls with a time of 20 minutes, 34.00 seconds.
Jasmine Guillen was the top overall finisher for Siloam Springs with a time of 21:29.26, finishing in sixth place.
Allika Pearson placed 12th at 22:03.77, while Britney Pilcher placed 14th at 22:08.25 and Chloe McGooden 16th at 22:21.74.
Those four Lady Panthers were among the top 20 finishers who received medals.
"Our girls finishing third against the 7A varsity teams was great," Jones said. "And they didn't let any 6A schools beat them. Allika felt a lot better about her race strategy, so I'm happy for her."
Caroline Farine finished 24th at 23:05.47, while Rachel Thompson was 25th at 23:14.52 and Lily Slater rounded out the Lady Panthers' top seven spots in 38th at 24:59.41.
Megan Rush ran a 25:01.22, while Melanie Capehart finished in 26:17.57, Whitney Burns 27:07.03 and Katie Bishop 27:09.37.
"I like the way our girls are competing," Jones said. "I just don't feel like I have them where they need to be right now, boys or girls. I guess I should keep in mind that this is really the first hard course we've seen. I need to quit comparing times with such bearing courses."
Varsity boys
Rogers' Diego Contreras finished first overall out of 99 boys with a time of 16:57.75, and the Mounties finished first in the 5A-7A boys division with a score of 28 points.
Bentonville West scored 70 points to finish second, while Bentonville High was third at 89, Class 6A Greenwood fourth at 91, Rogers Heritage fifth at 118 and Siloam Springs in sixth at 148.
Stilwell (Okla.) placed seventh at 164, while Russellville was eighth at 249 and Farmington ninth at 261.
Parker Wallis was the only Panther to finish in the top 20 and receive a medal, crossing the finish line in 18th at 18:10.28.
Isaac Leachman, despite losing a shoe, finished 30th overall at 19:04.00.
Samuel Granderson placed 32nd at 19:27.45 with Caleb Ellis finishing right behind him in 33rd at 19:30.32 and David Williams in 35th at 19:35.74 and Charlie Jones 40th at 19:49.76.
Eli Hawbaker placed 42nd at 20:05.59, while Carlos Reyes was 44th at 20:15.22.
Daniel Norwood ran a 20:36.92 and Logan McLeod rounded out the Panthers' runners with a time of 21:46.45.
"Our times were so slow," Sharon Jones said. "Charlie fell from third to sixth and that bothers me. He's battling ankle injuries from basketball and he just ran really tight. Samuel Granderson moved up into that third position from finishing sixth at our last race. That was really big for him. And David Williams ran really strong finishing our fifth position. Eli Hawbaker ran well enough to earn him a spot on the Kansas trip."
Jones said Chandler Stewart was sick and did not get to participate this past week.
"I hope he's ready to run next weekend," Jones said.
Jones said she's disappointed that Greenwood finished ahead of Siloam Springs as the two compete against each other several more times this year, including the 6A-West Conference Meet in Siloam Springs on Nov. 1 and the Class 6A State Meet on Nov. 12 in Hot Springs.
"Yes, I hate that Greenwood beat us," she said. "I definitely want another chance at them."
Rim Rock
The top seven runners from the varsity boys and varsity girls teams will travel to Lawrence, Kan., this weekend for the annual Rim Rock Classic High School meet hosted by Lawrence Free State High School and the University of Kansas.
The meet is held on Rim Rock Farm -- a 125-acre farm approximately 11 miles north of Lawrence that is the home course for the University of Kansas.
The rest of varsity runners will participate Saturday in a meet in Berryville.
"I know these guys are capable of more," Jones said. "Hopefully everything will start clicking."
1A-4A division
More than 200 varsity runners competed in the 1A-4A boys and girls divisions Saturday.
In the 1A-4A girls, Berryville scored 70 points to beat Jay, Okla., (71 points) by one point. Ozark was third with 93 points, followed by Gravette 127, Huntsville 142, Eureka Springs 148, Haas Hall 161, Arkansas Arts 161, Gentry 204 and Elkins 214.
Bergman, Green Forest, Lonoke, Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove and West Fork all had individuals run but did not have enough participants for a full team score.
Gracie Hyde of Lonoke 19:37.22 finished first out of 88 girls.
In the boys division, Green Forest scored 35 points to finish first, followed by Huntsville 68, Pea Ridge 95, Jay 105, Berryville 134, Prairie Grove 157, Elkins 217, Haas Hall 222, Gentry 233, Eureka Springs 256, Decatur 311, Ozark 317 and Arkansas Arts 344.
Bergman, Gravette, Haas Hall, The New School and West Fork all had participants in the boys race but not enough for a team.
Patrick Hunter of Green Forest finished first out of 124 boys with a time of 17:19.09.
Sports on 09/21/2016