LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Resting top runner sophomore Ben Martin provided an opening, and senior Nathan Pearson filled the vacuum and paced the John Brown University men's cross country team to a fourth-place finish on Saturday morning at the Little Rock Invitational at the War Memorial Park.
Pearson crossed the finish line at 28 minutes, 11 seconds to grab the top JBU slot with a 25th-place finish, his highest of the season. The finish broke Martin's eight-race streak of pacing the Golden Eagle harriers.
John Brown finished with 137 points and a team time of 2:24:35, almost five minutes behind its previous race time at the Show Me State Showdown, as the runners had to compete with a number of hills throughout the circuit.
Jaron Hamilton led Central Arkansas to the team title with his medalist finish of 26:02. Host Little Rock grabbed second place, while the University of Louisiana finished in third. JBU was the top-finishing non-NCAA I program at the meet.
JBU freshman River Baker's time of 28:24 placed him in 29th overall, while freshman Jadin Whiting scored a personal record time of 29:07 to earn 40th. Junior Matthew Bloom and freshman Drew Birnbaum finished the scoring for the Golden Eagles, crossing the finish line in 44th and 46th places with times of 29:16 and 29:37, respectively.
Women
Sophomore Allika Pearson continued her streak of top 10 finishes and the John Brown University women's cross country team punched a sixth-place finish at the Little Rock Invitational.
Pearson also continued her streak of pacing the Golden Eagles in each collegiate meet competed in, this time by crossing the finish line at 19:12 to nab 10th place overall. John Brown turned in a team time of 1:46:01 (166 points) and finished as the top NAIA program behind a quintet of NCAA I programs. Central Arkansas took the team title (39 points) while unattached runner Julia Webb's 17:22 earned her medalist honors.
Junior Sarah Larson returned to the course to score for JBU, finishing at 20:56 (32nd), while freshman Madelyn Shasteen scored for the third time this year with a 21:49 - a 48th place finish. Freshman Korey Winter's mark of 21:54 was good enough for 49th, and junior Molly Brownell completed the scoring with a 53rd place finish at 22:10. Brownell has now scored for the Golden Eagles in back-to-back weeks.
Up Next
John Brown returns to the action on Saturday when it travels to Michigan to take part in the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge, hosted by Aquinas (Mich.), at Riverside Park.
Sports on 10/23/2019