Ahead Of The Pack

Shiohira Works Way To Top Spot

Jacob Shiohira of Bentonville is the NWA Media 7A Runner of the Year.
Jacob Shiohira of Bentonville is the NWA Media 7A Runner of the Year.

— Jacob Shiohira entered the cross country season with some personal goals in mind, and there were no shortcuts for him to take to get there.

“I put in the work every day because I knew what I wanted,” the Bentonville sophomore said. “I didn’t cut any corners.

“When everybody else wanted to go two miles shorter, I maybe went two miles longer. It’s just that little bit of extra you have to put in, day in and day out, and it ended up working out.”

NWA Media All-Big 7 Boys Runner Of The Year

Jacob Shiohira

SCHOOL: Bentonville

CLASS: Sophomore

HEIGHT: 5-8

WEIGHT: 140

NOTABLE: Won the 7A-West Conference and Class 7A State meets this year and helped Bentonville’s boys win their fourth straight state title. ... Finished seventh at the NXN South Regional at The Woodlands, Texas and qualified for the NXN Cross National. ... Trimmed approximately 45 seconds off his personal-best time with his 15 minutes, 29.09 seconds, which was set at the NXN South Regional.

Shiohira reached one goal when he became the Class 7A individual champion last month in Hot Springs, but he fell short on a couple of other goals. He took seventh at the NXN South Regional when he wanted to finish in the top five, and his personal best time of 15 minutes, 29.09 seconds was just off the goal he had set.

Those accomplishments were enough to honor Shiohira as the NWA Media All-Big 7 Boys Runner of the Year.

Bentonville coach Randy Ramaker said Shiohira benefited from last season, when he ran with some seasoned veterans while other freshmen ran on junior high teams. The rest lied in Shiohira’s talents and work ethics.

“We actually knew he was going to be our number one runner this year because of how he’s trained, how he’s worked and how he’s motivated,” Ramaker said. “God has blessed him with some talent.

“From that standpoint, some kids do lead by example, and he works hard day in and day out. He puts in the miles, and if that’s a good way of leading — even though he’s not a senior — that’s great with me.”

Shiohira said his biggest improvement was the ability to keep a steady pace throughout races, particularly when he felt he needed to do it the most. A lot of that came from the pressure that he placed on himself in order to achieve those personal goals.

He was strictly business on the courses, particularly in the bigger meets. A prime example was the Class 7A state meet in Hot Springs, when he pulled away from everybody else after the opening mile and finished the 5-kilometer race more than 22 seconds faster than his closest competitor.

“I just wanted to go out there and get it over with,” he said. “It had been a long week leading up to that race. But at meets like Nike South and Nike Nationals, you can’t do that.

“Everybody there is good and deserves to be there. You just have to go out there, run your race and see where you end up.”

Ramaker witnessed Shiohira cut 49 seconds off his personal-best time this season, which he called “a substantial improvement” for a 5K race. The good part is that he hopes to see two more years of improvement from his runner.

“Two years will be interesting,” Ramaker said. “Jacob will be the first to say that it isn’t going to get any easier.

“He was subjected to a couple of individuals at Nike South and Nike Nationals, so he knows the levels that are out there and the amount of talent it takes to be successful out there. He has another level to reach, and that will be his goal.”

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