Rogers’ Montoya defends 7A crown

Maggie Montoya of Rogers defended her individual title when she won the Class 7A girls state cross country meet with a time of 18 minutes, 17.7 seconds Saturday at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.
Maggie Montoya of Rogers defended her individual title when she won the Class 7A girls state cross country meet with a time of 18 minutes, 17.7 seconds Saturday at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.

— Maggie Montoya received some false information as she neared the finish line of the Class 7A cross country meet Saturday morning, but it did not stop the Rogers senior from turning in the best time of the day on the Oaklawn Park infield.

Montoya successfully defended her individual crown at the state meet, winning the 5,000-meter course in an impressive 18:17.7.

“There was a guy back there that lied to me,” Montoya said. “He told me I was at 17:20, so I was counting down the seconds and thinking I was going to break 18 minutes. When I crossed, the timer read 18:18. I was thinking ‘That’s a little depressing.’ ”

Montoya had nothing to be depressed about. She was one of only two girls who managed to break the 19-minute barrier all day — the other being Bentonville senior Morgan Spyschalski, who clocked in with an 18:51.7 to finish second in the 7A race.

“She’s very tough to catch,” Spyschalski said.

Rogers Heritage placed three girls in the top eight to claim its first cross country state title. Heritage finished with 56 points, beating runnerup Bentonville by 22 points. Two-time defending state champion Rogers finished third.

Montoya was quick off the starting line and shook off an early challenge from Van Buren senior Rebekah Gibbons — who would eventually finish fourth — but Montoya was clearly in front of the pack a mile into the race.

“I was on top of the pack for the first mile, trying to help my teammates,” Montoya said. “When I hit the mile marker, I knew it was time to go.”

Although she finished 34 seconds out of first place, Spyschalski said she was pleased with the race she ran.

“My goals were to get into the 18s and at least get second,” Spyschalski said. “I was just happy to get into the 18s period. I had been reaching for the 18s for so long and I finally got it.”

Lake Hamilton junior Angel Crawford turned in a time of 19:35.1 to win the Class 6A race and help the Lady Wolves defend their team title.

Lake Hamilton held off Siloam Springs, winning the event by 10 points (34-44). It was the seventh state title for the Lady Wolves.

Sports, Pages 30 on 11/11/2012

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