From Staff Reports
GREENWOOD -- Kerrig Kelly stole the show Thursday at the Greenwood Invitational.
Kelly, a junior for the Siloam Springs boys cross country team, ran a 5K-time of 18 minutes, 6.50 seconds and finished first overall in the 5A-6A boys division at Bell Park.
"Kerrig Kelly ran an incredible race (Thursday) night at Greenwood," said head cross country coach Sharon Jones. "He came to the front during the first half mile and challenged Fort Smith's and Rogers' best varsity boys. In the second half of the race he took the lead and began separating himself from the rest."
Kelly beat out Rogers' William Pender by more than 9 seconds.
"It was a significant winning margin," Jones said. "He looked strong all the way through."
Siloam Springs finished third as a team with 96 points behind first-place Rogers 34 and Russellville 92. Fort Smith Northside was fourth at 104, followed by Van Buren 110, Fort Smith Southside 125 and Greenwood 132.
The Panthers were running without their other top runner in sophomore Michael Capehart, who sat out the race with a sore muscle in his hip. Jones expects him to run Oct. 16 at Huntsville.
Senior Samuel Granderson placed eighth overall for Siloam Springs with a time of 18:51.40, while sophomore Blake Morrison was 19th at 19:28.40, junior Adam Kennedy 29th at 20:07.70, sophomore Luke Fields 46th at 21:27.80, sophomore Ben Humphries 54th at 22:18.70 and sophmore Seth Funk 81st at 25:12.10.
Girls
Siloam Springs finished second overall in the girls race.
Rogers took first place with 15 points, followed by the Lady Panthers with 52, Russellville 82, Fort Smith Northside 110 and Fort Smith Southside 141.
Senior Chloe McGooden placed seventh overall with a time of 22:08.20.
"Chloe is having a great senior year," Jones said. "She is a solid leader for our team."
Sophomore Quincy Efurd placed 10th at 22:28.20, while junior Candy Dubon was 13th at 23:07.80, followed in succession by junior Rebekah Rodgers in 14th at 23:12.40, senior Brittany Pilcher in 15th at 23:35.20 and sophomore Sydney Moorman in 16th at 23:49.10.
Junior Kailey Pentz placed 26th at 25:19.70, while sophomore Abby Thompson placed 34th at 26:09.60, senior Katie Bishop 49th at 29:35.60, sophomore Jordan Rush 52nd at 30:24.20 and junior Mary Grace Green 59th at 32:56.90.
Junior high girls
Siloam Springs won first place in the junior high girls race with 38 points.
Greenwood was second at 61, followed by Rogers Elmwood 95, Rogers Kirksey 120, Rogers High 122, Van Buren 122, Northridge Middle School 182, Butterfield Middle School 193 and Fort Smith Ramsey 260.
Siloam Springs' Shelby Smith was the top overall finisher with a time of 13:44.50.
Ellen Slater was fifth at 14:33.60, while Grace Price placed eighth at 14:44.00.
Lilly Cole finished 12th at 15:01.00, followed by Jacilyn Weilnah in 14th at 15:11.80, Laurel Granderson 19th at 15:37.80, and Shayla Conley 27th at 16:36.30 to compete Siloam Springs' top seven scores.
Avery Carter was 37th at 17:25.80, with Leahla Schochler taking 43rd at 17:51.00, Faith Harris 45th 17:58.20, Lillian Wilkie 46th at 18:00.80, Ava Anglin 51st at 18:18.10 and Lexi Lane 52nd at 18:22.00.
Crystal Mercado placed 61st at 19:04.10, while Anna Floyd was 69th at 20:09.00, Joy Nam 71st at 20:19.30 and Ridley Floyd 72nd at 20:19.40.
Also running for Siloam Springs was Laura Fields 20:55.90, Jenna Keys 21:19.80, Nyah Hostler 22:58.00 and Hannah Green 28:56.50.
Junior high boys
Siloam Springs also won the junior high boys race with 28 points.
Greenwood took second with 46, followed by Rogers 73, Rogers Kirksey 105, Rogers Elmwood 148, Fort Smith Ramsey 150, Northridge 184 and Butterfield 218.
Wilson Cunningham placed second overall and led Siloam Springs with a time of 12:07.30.
Levi Fox placed fourth at 12:14.80, followed by Javier Chavez in fifth at 12:18.20.
Nathan Hawbaker was seventh at 12:24.60, while Noah Granderson was 11th at 12:33.10, Dane Kelly 15th at 12:40.90, Connor Clayton 18th at 12:53.30 and Liam Scott 19th at 12:58.50 to finish the Panthers' top seven scores.
Jordan Baskins placed 22nd at 13:07.80, while Cooper Shaw was 27th at 13:34.90, Tate Broquard 31st at 13:48.40, Truman Janes 34th at 14:02.20, Tyler Cottrell 35th 14:04.00, Logan Sharp 37th 14:09.40, Cayden Hansen 41st at 14:14.50, Charlie Hyde 42nd at 14:14.80, Barrett Eldridge 45th at 14:18.10, Malachi Becan 49th at 14:36.60, Ben Haak 50th at 14:41.00, Camden Blackfox 54th at 14:43.80, Ferdi Blume 57th at 14:44.70, Nathen Thurstenson 14:54.10 and Samuel Herndon 60th at 14:55.80.
Thad Goetz finished in 15:04.80, Keegan Hansen 15:12.50, Riley Owens 15:22.50, Ivan Parra 15:50.90, Caleb Wallace 15:56.40 and Ezekiel Becan 16:00.30.
Also running for Siloam Springs: Bryson Yeager 16:20.10, Ben Stout 16:29.00, Caleb Rodgers 16:59.30, Jacob Moorman 17:19.90, Riley Harrison 17:28.60, Noah Sharp 18:03.00 and Rowan Turner 20:13.50.
Up next
The cross country teams are off until Oct. 16 when they run at Huntsville.
Sports on 10/06/2018