Excitement abounds with cross country teams

n Numbers are high and so are expectations for Siloam Springs.

Graham Thomas/Siloam Sunday Members of the Siloam Springs cross country team run along the bike trails on the campus of John Brown University during cross country practice on Wednesday morning.
Graham Thomas/Siloam Sunday Members of the Siloam Springs cross country team run along the bike trails on the campus of John Brown University during cross country practice on Wednesday morning.

Numbers are holding strong across the board this summer for the Siloam Springs cross country program.

More than 115 kids combined in both the senior high and junior high programs have been participating in summer workouts as the teams begin ramping up as the 2019 season nears.

Siloam Springs cross country

2019 schedule

Date^Event^Time

Sept. 7^Fort Smith Invitational^TBA

Sept. 14^Siloam Springs Invitational^9 a.m.

Sept. 21^Be Your Best (N. Little Rock)^9 a.m.

Sept. 28^Berryville Invitational^9:30 a.m.

Oct. 5^Chile Pepper XC Festival^11 a.m.

Oct. 10^Greenwood Invitational^4 p.m.

Oct. 15^Prairie Grove Invitational^9:30 a.m.

Oct. 22^Huntsville Invitational^3:30 p.m.

Oct. 29^5A-West Meet at Vilonia^3:30 p.m.

Nov. 9^5A State Meet^10 a.m.

Nov. 16^Ark-Okla. All-Star Meet^TBA

The runners practiced three days a week in June, and when the teams came back from the Arkansas Activities Association dead period in early July, that load has increased to four days a week.

"We're hitting it four days a week and really trying to push the miles," said head coach Sharon Jones during a cool morning practice on July 24. "That's what the summer is all about, trying to accumulate as many miles as we can and build that endurance. Toward the end of this month they'll start adding a little bit of speed, and we're trying to do some hills at least once a week right now and build some strength. Right now this is where we're building a base."

Teachers' meetings begin on Aug. 5 and practices will move to the evening, which will force the cross country teams to adapt a little earlier than usual.

"That is a tough week because that is the first week we practice in the heat of the day," Jones said. "It's almost like we have to step back a little bit to allow the kids time to acclimate."

Jones said the same will be true when school starts on Aug. 13.

"On top of afternoon practices now they're in school all day and probably not getting as much sleep because their sleep schedule is all messed up," she said, "and they're probably not drinking as much water. Those first couple of weeks going into school are usually kind of acclimating to a new schedule. Then it just seems like after the first couple of weeks, we just get into a rhythm and everything works."

The season is scheduled to begin with the Fort Smith Invitational on Sept. 7 followed by the Siloam Springs Cross Country Classic Sept. 14 on the grounds of Simmons Foods.

"It almost always happens that first week of September or second week, we get a little bit of cooler weather and that's when we really start pushing," Jones said.

On the high school girls side, the defending five-time state champion Lady Panthers have some spots to fill from last year's state title team.

Of the nine state runners, only five are back in the mix this year in seniors Candy Dubon, Rebekah Rodgers, Claudia Mercado, junior Quincy Efurd and sophomore Jaclyn Weilnau.

The good news is, there is plenty of depth -- with 19 girls on the roster -- and opportunity for new leaders to step up

"Our numbers are there," Jones said. "We graduated a lot of talent last year. I think not only that, we graduated some leadership. I just feel like the girls are still trying to find their footing with missing Chloe (McGooden) and Brittany (Pilcher) and some of our other girls."

Jones said sophomore Kadynce Hilburn has been leading the group during the summer, while seniors Kailey Pentz, Jordan Rush and junior Bethany Mejia have also come on strong.

"We are finding new leaders right now and we are finding girls like Bethany, who hasn't been up in that top five, all of the sudden making an appearance," Jones said. "Hopefully, right now, we're developing some confidence whereas their job on the team has become a lot more important than it's been in the past. We're going to be OK. I think our girls are going to be great, and I hope we surprise some people because I don't think some people are expecting us to do as well this year just because of us graduating a little bit."

"I think our girls are going to be fine. They've got to be feeling the pressure, because I know I'm feeling the pressure. Wow, five (state titles in a row) is a lot, can we do six? I don't know. You know everybody is trying to knock us off."

On the varsity boys side, the Panthers' numbers are back up after finishing the 2018 season with low numbers and having to supplement their state roster with two freshmen to field a full state squad. The Panthers finished fourth overall.

Siloam Springs currently has 23 boys running in summer workouts.

"I think our boys' attitudes and their excitement level is through the roof right now," Jones said. "They feel it. Last year, we had eight boys. We lost 12 varsity boys during the summer for different reasons. Our numbers are back up -- 23 varsity boys this year. That's huge for their confidence and their motivation just having those numbers again."

The Panthers return seven of their eight runners from last year, including senior Kerrig Kelly and junior Michael Capehart, who both finished in the top 10 overall at state last year. Also returning from state are sophomores Javier Chavez and Jordan Baskins, juniors Luke Fields, Blake Morrison and Ben Humphries and senior Adam Kennedy.

The Panthers have seen some surprises in preseason workouts from Ricardo Montano, who is second in summer times, and sophomore Liam Scott, who is also in the top seven.

"The talent level right now is so good," Jones said. "We've got boys coming in after that that could push some of those out of the way because we're deep. We're deeper in the boys than we have been in years, and I'm really excited about that."

The numbers in the seventh, eighth and ninth grade are also strong with more than 70 kids combined.

"Really solid numbers in junior high," Jones said. "Both girls and boys, we've got great kids coming up. Cross country in Siloam is good. I'm not sure how to keep it going, but man if we just keep pulling kids in that like to run and want to be a part of something, our future is looking really good. Our junior high program this year is going to be really, really good."

Sports on 07/28/2019