HOT SPRINGS — Jacob Shiohira ran away with the individual honors of Class 7A Cross Country meet Saturday morning, but the Bentonville sophomore did not think he has won so easily.
“I can’t believe it looked like that because it felt like the exact opposite on the inside,” Shiohira said. “I started off strong and every half mile ... it felt like I was wearing out.”
Shiohira completed the 5,000-meter course which was held on the infield at Oaklawn Park in a time of 15:37.8. Rogers sophomore Austin Salazar was second, almost 23 seconds behind Shiohira.
Running on a cloudly morning with temperatures in the low 60s, Shiohira’s toughest competition came from a stiff cool breeze.
“That wind got to be kind of tough, especially when I was running into it” Shiohira said. “But overall, this was a good race for me. I was only six seconds off my [personal record].”
Bentonville placed four runners in the top seven as the Tigers claimed their fifth state title. Bentonville won the meet with 34 points; Rogers placed second with 48 points.
Bentonville and Rogers have combined to win the last 11 cross country titles in the state’s largest classification.
The Tigers have won the last four.
“What pressure we had on us was put on by ourselves,” Shiohira said. “We know our coaches wanted us to win four in a row, but they didn’t put the pressure on us. The coaches [and] our parents, they just wanted us to come out here, run as can and have a good time.”
Little Rock Catholic, which won the 7A-Central Conference meet in dominating fashion, managed only a fourth-place finish on Saturday.
The Rockets had eight of the top 10 runners in the conference meet, but only two of the top nine runners on Saturday. Junior Brendan Taylor turned in Catholic’s top time in 16:18.6, which was good enough for sixth. Senior Noah Findlay, who was a back-to-back champion in the conference meet, was 18th on Saturday.
Mountain Home claimed its second consecutive Class 6A title, edging out host Lake Hamilton by 10 points, 50-60.
Lake Hamilton senior Grant Williams pulled away from Russellville senior Elijah Knight a mile into the race to claim individual honors. Williams won with a time of 16:03.9, 21 seconds faster than Knight.
“[Knight] was breathing hard and so was I,” Williams said. “But I’m not good with [a strong finish] so I figured I could beat him in the middle I could get enough of a lead on him to win.”
After Williams and Knight crossed the f inish line, Mountain Home followed with the next four runners to help claim its third state title since 2000. Sophomore Josh Kruse led the way for the Bombers with a third-place showing (16.27.8).
Sports, Pages 30 on 11/11/2012