Montoya, Lady War Eagles Tops Among 7A Girls

Morgan Spychalski, left, Bentonville, runs Saturday during early stages of the Class 7A State Girls Cross Country Championships at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.
Morgan Spychalski, left, Bentonville, runs Saturday during early stages of the Class 7A State Girls Cross Country Championships at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.

— The first few moments after the Class 7A State Girls Cross Championships were anxious ones for Rogers Heritage coach Jeff Shaw.

Web Watch

For full results, go to www.branchsportstech.com

He watched one of his runners struggle across the final stretch, then collapse shortly after she crossed the finish line. If that wasn’t enough, he had to endure the wait to see if the Lady War Eagles had done enough to win their first state title.

AT A GLANCE

Class 7A State Girls Cross Country Championships

Saturday at Oaklawn Park, Hot Springs

Team scores

  1. Rogers Heritage, 56; 2. Bentonville, 78; 3. Rogers High, 82; 4. Van Buren, 96; 5. Bryant, 128; 6. Springdale Har-Ber, 158; 7. Fayetteville, 161; 8. Cabot 237; 9. Mount St. Mary’s, 239; 10. Springdale High, 263; 11. Conway, 299; 12. North Little Rock, 320; 13. LR Central, 401.

Individual results

  1. Maggie Montoya, Rogers, 18:17.7; 2. Morgan Spychalski, Bentonville, 18:51.7; 3. Elise Reina, Har-Ber, 19:13.8; 4. Rebekah Gibbons, Van Buren, 19:19.7; 5. Hannah Owen, Heritage, 19:25.2; 6. Melinda Murdock, Bryant, 19:26.3; 7. Kesley Brown, Heritage, 19:28.2; 8. Deirdre Sheets, Heritage, 19:30.5; 9. Bethany King, Bentonville, 19:32.1; 10. Amanda Agana, Fayetteville, 19:36.6.

  2. Lauren Harrell, Rogers, 19:42.1; 12. Marlene Sheehan, Cabot, 19:43.6, 13. Lisa Lauschke, Rogers, 19:45.0; 14. Maria Valente, Van Buren, 19:49.1; 15. Emily Davis, Bentonville, 19:57.3; 16. Maria Garcia, Heritage, 20:03.2; 17. Micah Huckabee, Cabot, 20:05.3; 18. Maddie Chitwood, Van Buren, 20:07.2; 19. Sage Mackin, Van Buren, 20:07.6, 20. Bella Chavez, Heritage, 20:09.5.

Shaw began breathing easier once he found out Heritage had accomplished the feat. The Lady War Eagles, who put three runners among the top 10 finishes, captured the title with 56 points, followed by runnerup Bentonville with 78 and third-place Rogers High with 82.

“It was a close call, kind of what we thought,” Shaw said after the race. “We had a couple of runners step up, then our fourth and fifth runners finished the final mile where we expected them to.

“I thought we were in trouble about halfway through, but we’re pretty excited. We sort of lost count and didn’t know where we stood until the final results were posted. It was a nervous 30 minutes there.”

Hannah Owen was Heritage’s top runner, and her time of 19 minutes, 25.2 seconds was good for fifth place. Kesley Brown was close behind, finishing seventh in 19:30.5, while Deirdre Sheets — the runner who collapsed after finishing the race — was next in 19:30.5.

Sheets was treated and later released to go with her parents.

Meanwhile, Maggie Montoya had little problem in winning in the individual title for the second consecutive season. The Rogers High senior covered the 5-kilometer course in 18:17.7, 40 seconds faster than second-place Morgan Spychalski of Bentonville, while Springdale Har-Ber’s Elise Reina was third at 19:13.8..

Montoya didn’t pull away from the pack at the outset as many expected her to do. The reason was simple — she was obeying the coaches’ directions.

“It was a good race,” Montoya said. “I didn’t know if anybody noticed, but I was there at the top of the pack for the mile. Whenever the coaches told me, I was allowed to go. That was my plan. This course is fast, fun and a lot of curves.”

“The wind wasn’t that bad. I run in the wind a lot. The whole week, every time we got on the track, I swear the coaches did it on purpose. It was like 20 mph wind any time we got on the track.”

In earlier action, Siloam Springs earned a second-place finish in the Class 6A meet. The Lady Panthers finished with 44 points, while Lake Hamilton took the title with 34 points.

Adrienne McGooden led Siloam Springs as she took second with a time of 20:06.9 while teammate Sidney Avery was fourth at 20:28.6. Lake Hamilton’s Angel Crawford won the individual title at 19:35.1.

Upcoming Events