NOTEBOOK

Sophomore Sammy Casey was the top finisher for Springdale Har-Ber at the Rim Rock Cross Country Festival at Lawrence, Kan.

Casey came in No. 84 (17:28.90) in the 5,000-meter run while competing in a strong field that included some of the top high school boys and girls teams in the region. Junior Chris Sandoval finished 94 (17:34.60) followed by junior Noah Antony at 97 (17:36.30) and junior Peyton Wood at 113 (17:46.50).

“There’s not a pecking order with our boys team,” Har-Ber coach Brett Unger said. “That’s a strength because anybody can be our top guy at any given time. They all compete and cheer for each other and we’re happy for Sammy, our sophomore.”

On the girls side, senior Abbey Foreman placed No. 72 (16:59.30) in a race at 4,000 meters and sophomore Sheridan Ellis finished 109 (17:26.70).

“The conditions weren’t ideal and the course was tough, but Abbey and Sheridan both did a good job,” Unger said.

Har-Ber will return to action on Saturday in the annual Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival at Fayetteville.

LADY TIGERS EARN

FOURTH-PLACE FINISH

Bentonville’s girls cross country team used a balanced route Saturday to take a fourth-place finish during the Rim Rock Farm Classic in Lawrence, Kan.

The Lady Tigers, whose top four runners were either freshmen or sophomores, finished with 242 points and were just five points out of second place in the girls’ Crimson Division. Sophomore Cami Hedstrom led the team through the 5-kilometer race, finishing 41st with a time of 17 minutes, 1.7 seconds.

Freshman Katherine Andrews was right behind and took 42nd with 17:03. Rounding out Bentonville’s top five were sophomore Carmen Hedstrom (46th, 17:08.1), freshman Carly Flynn (55th, 17:12.2) and senior Rebecca Solis (68th, 17:21.7).

“It was a little rainy, but a great course to run on,” Bentonville coach Randy Ramaker said. “Cami Hedstrom and Katie Andrews ran well.”

Bentonville’s boys competed in the Gold Division and took 12th place out of 34 teams with 421 points. Junior Jacob Shiohira led the Tigers with a fi fth-place fi nish as he completed the course in 15:44.2.

Brennan Kotoucek was next, taking 77th in 17:24.5. Other Bentonville runners included Cameron Hill (78th, 17:25.4), Brooks Hedstrom (136th, 17:57.4) and Miguel Contreras (145th, 18:00.5).

“Jacob ran very well to get top five,” Ramaker said. “Cameron Hill also had another great day.”

Bentonville’s teams return to action Saturday when they travel to Fayetteville to compete in the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival.

— HENRY APPLE

• @NWAHENRY

UP AND DOWN WEEK

FOR PURPLE’DOGS TENNIS

A pair of tough 7A/6A-West Conference matches resulted in one win and loss for the Fayetteville boys’ tennis this week.

The Bulldogs opened the week with a 6-3 win against Van Buren on Tuesday. Clay Taylor sparked Fayetteville in singles with a 6-3, 6-4 win in the No. 2 match over Andy Turner. Cannon Kern, Trevor Mallioux, Robbie Lee and Ben Houston also picked up victories in singles play for the Bulldogs, while the team of Craig Smardo and Sameer Kameth delivered in doubles with a 6-4, 6-2 win in the No. 1-seeded match.

Fayetteville wasn’t as successful Thursday, dropping an 8-1 decision against rival Bentonville. The Bulldogs one win in the match came from Hans Corbell, who produced a victory in the No. 6-seeded draw in singles play.

Fayetteville faces both Springdale Har-Ber and Rogers High in conference matches this week.

— VERNON TARVER

ROGERS HIGH

RUNS STRONG

Ian Smith turned in a 16th place finish to help the Mounties cross country team finish to a 14th place in the Boys 5K Gold Varsity Race at the Rim Rock Classic is Lawrence, Kan., Saturday. Rogers finished with 436 points.

Smith covered the distance in a time of 16:27.2 while Austin Salazar was the second Mounties runner to cross with a 22nd place fi nish in 16:37.2. Jacob Mankin was the third Rogers fi nisher with a 58th place finish in 17:13.2. Jesse Garcia finished in 166th place while Erick Perea crossed in 193rd place.

The Lady Mounties also had a strong outing with a sixth-place finish in the Girls 4K Crimson Varsity Race. The Lady Mounties fi nished with 270 points.

Junior Braelyn Smith was the first Rogers fi nisher with a 21st place finish in 16:36.4. Lauren Harrell also had a top 30 finish by crossing in 27th place in a time of 16:49.1. Lisa Lauschke was next for Rogers with a 44th place fi nish (17:05) while Claudia Cichy (17:28.9) and Sydney Dorch (17:55.3) crossed in 83rd and 108th place, respectively.

Rogers will compete in the Chile Pepper Festival this Saturday in Fayetteville.

— PAUL NIELSEN

• @NWAPAUL

LADY WAR EAGLES

TAKE SEVENTH

Rogers Heritage cross country coach Jeff Shaw was hoping for a little more from his Lady War Eagles, but was still pleased with their seventh-place finish out of 27 teams Saturday in the top gold varsity division at the Rim Rock Farm Classic in Lawrence, Kan.

Senior Deirdre Sheets was the top Lady War Eagle, finishing 20th, but Shaw said she could have fi nished higher.

“Overall, I was pleased,” Shaw said. “I was looking for a little better finish. It was a tough course and kind of wet. We ran in a light rain, but so did everybody else. Deirdre didn’t start fast and got boxed in. She should have been in the top 12. Kesley Brown was our best runner today.”

The Lady War Eagles was the top team from Arkansas with 265 points, just behind Iowa City (Iowa) West. Sheets had a 4K time of 15 minutes, 59.9 seconds. Brown, a junior, finished 33rd., followed by Hannah Owen was 59th.

The War Eagles finished 14th out of 38 teams in the crimson division, led by senior Woodrow Murray’s 30th-place fi nish. Junior Jamil Hamidullah was the second War Eagle to cross, fi nishing 55th.

Shaw said the boys ran OK in the second division, but didn’t get five strong performances.

“We ran fairly well; our top would have competed well with Rogers and Bentonville,” Shaw said. “We just didn’t have a good fi fth today.”

Both teams will compete in the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville this weekend.

— PAUL BOYD

• @NWAPAULBSPRINGDALE HIGH

RED’DOGS CROSS COUNTRY

PROGRESSING

Springdale cross country coach Godfrey Siamusiye isn’t overly concerned about how his team will fare against other competition at the Chile Pepper Festival on Saturday.

He’ll be paying more attention to how the Bulldogs stack up against where they were last year.

“We are progressing a lot better than what we did last year,” Siamusiye said. “But at the same time, we are not quite where we need to be in terms of being able to compete with the other teams in the area. I have a goal for the team. And to tell if I’m getting closer, I have to look at where I was last year and where I am now. When I look at it in that regard, I can see a whole lot.”

Almost the entire Springdale team, boys and girls, will run at Chile Pepper. Springdale has been performing well as of late.

The Bulldogs boys team edged Bentonville 58 to 59 to win the Holiday Island meet. Jesus Galindo ran a 17:31 to finish second, while Gerson Moreno was fifth and Ricardo Solis eighth.

The Lady Bulldogs scored 50 points to finish second to Siloam Springs (28) at the Holiday Island meet while getting a one-two fi nish from Jessica Salas (22:01) and Liliana Araujo (22:08).

Kayla Naranjo finished fourth.

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