ELKINS -- A muddy course wasn't enough to slow down a pair of strong Bentonville cross country teams Saturday, as both the Tigers and Lady Tigers opened the season with victories at the Elkins Invitational.
The Tigers used their typical strength in numbers to hold off rival Rogers High. Despite not fielding a full roster in the meet, Bentonville placed five runners in the top 11 spots in the Class 6A/7A division. Jonathan Prince led the way with a mark of 16:55.3 over the 5K course around Elkins High School, good enough for a third place finish overall.
Elkins Cross Country Invitational
Team Results
6A/7A Boys
Bentonville^38
Rogers^41
Fayetteville^72
Springdale High^98
Siloam Springs^109
6A/7A Girls
Bentonville^20
Fayetteville^61
Rogers High^87
Siloam Springs^87
Springdale High^119
4A/5A Boys
Berryville^31
Shiloh Christian^41
Huntsville^74
Gentry^78
Pea Ridge^132
4A/5A Girls
Shiloh Christian^29
Pea Ridge^40
Huntsville^58
1A/2A/3A Boys
Elkins^44
Green Forest^48
West Fork^64
Haas Hall^83
Greenland^114
1A/2A/3A Girls
Greenland^37
Elkins^45
Haas Hall^50
Green Forest^90
Individual Boys
Oliver Perez^Berryville^16:37.0
Jessie Ramirez, Rogers High^16:46.6
Jessie Garcia, Rogers High^16:48.1
Jonathan Prince, Bentonville^16:55.3
Michael Harris, Elkins^16:55.9
Individual Girls
Emily King, Shiloh Christian^19:43.8
Katie Andrews, Bentonville^20:01.5
Trinity Walker, Bentonville^20:03.5
Merrill Leak, Bentonville^20:05.9
Jessica Salas, Springdale High^20:09.2
"Obviously we have a lot of kids at Bentonville, so we have a chance to see how all of them stand up against whoever shows up to run against them," Bentonville cross country coach Randy Ramaker said. "But it was a good effort today, and we ran pretty hard.
"We're still in pretty heavy training, so we didn't expect tremendous things. But we asked them to go out and run hard, and they did."
Nathan Ley finished sixth overall and second for the Tigers with a time of 17:10.5, followed by teammates Miguel Contreras (17:13.1), Brooks Hedstrom (17:29.3) and Cameron Hill (17:32.4).
Rogers nearly got past the Tigers thanks to a 1-2 finish atop the leader board from Jesse Ramirez (16:46.6) and Jessie Garcia (16:48.1). But after posting four runners in the top nine, the Mounties fifth score finished just 29th in the 6A/7A division.
Fayetteville finished third in the 6A/7A boys division, led by Kaid Hurd, who shaved 20 seconds off his career-best mark with a time of 17:12.1
The Bentonville girls were even more convincing than the Tigers' boys. Katie Andrews won the 6A/7A girls division for the Lady Tigers with a time of 20:01.5, with teammates Trinity Walker and Merrill Leak finished second and third, respectively, in the division.
Shiloh Christian's Emily King was the individual winner in the girls' senior high race, posting a time of 19:43.6, to lead the Lady Saints to a win in the 4A/5A girls division.
"It wasn't a hilly race, so it was a really good course. There were some slick, muddy spots, but overall it was really good," King said. "Our goal as a team was to win, so we just want to keep it up."
Host Elkins won the Class 1A/2A/3A boys division, led by Michael Harris' time of 16:55.9. Greenland took the win in the girls 1A through 3A division, sparked by Kristin Larkan's run of 20:39.2.
"Getting this second race of the season under our belt and getting used to a big crowd, I was pleased with our effort," Elkins coach Beverly Mabry said. "Our course is relatively flat and the kids enjoy it. This is not a real big challenging course, other than the mud today."
In the junior high divisions, Siloam Springs won the junior high girls race and Rogers High was the team winner in junior high boys.
Sports on 09/07/2014