Reina, Sugg repeat as 7A state champions

HOT SPRINGS -- Elise Reina admits she loves how much competition Mount St. Mary's Alex Ritchey gives her any time they run cross country races against each other.

"I've raced against her for four years now, and I love it very much," Reina said. "She's awesome."

Class 7A state cross country championships

at Oaklawn Park, Hot Springs

Boys

Team totals — 1. Fayetteville 48; 2. Bentonville 67; 3. Springdale Har-Ber 79; 4. Rogers High 87; 5. Van Buren 155; 6. Little Rock Catholic 155; 7. Rogers Heritage 188; 8. Bryant 223; 9. Cabot 301; 10. Springdale High 315; 11. Conway 325; 12. Fort Smith Northside 339; 13. West Memphis 376; 14. Fort Smith Southside 437; 15. Little Rock Central 441; 16. North Little Rock 457.

Individuals — 1. TJ Sugg, Har-Ber, 15:48.8; 2. Camren Fischer, Fayetteville, 15:58.6; 3. Kieran Taylor, LR Catholic, 16:08.4; 4. Emilio Medina, Van Buren, 16:11.0; 5. Johnathan Prince, Bentonville, 16:12.3; 6. Collin Pilkington, Fayetteville, 16:16.7; 7. Toler Freyaldenhoven, Conway, 16:21.2; 8. Jessie Ramirez, Rogers, 16:29.9; 9. Sammy Casey, Har-Ber, 16:35.4; 10. Diego Contreras, Rogers 16:36.2 10

Girls

Team totals — 1. Bentonville 45; 2. Fayetteville 62; 3. Rogers High 64; 4. Springdale Har-Ber 160; 5. Van Buren 174; 6. Mount St. Mary 176; 7. Rogers Heritage 178; 8. Conway 192; 9. Bryant 220; 10. Cabot 274; 11. Springdale High 311; 12. Fort Smith Northside 332; 13. Fort Smith Southside 353; 14. Little Rock Central 403

Individuals — 1. Elise Reina, Har-Ber, 18:44.9; 2. Alex Ritchey, Mount St. Mary, 18:47.9; 3. Katie Andrews, Bentonville, 19:08.7; 4. Corrie Purcell, Fayetteville, 19:19.3; 5. Olivia Groeber, Rogers, 19:23.6; 6. Lisa Lauschke, Rogers, 19:25.6; 7. Rebecca Boushelle, Fayetteville, 19:26.3; 8. Merrill Leak, Bentonville, 19:26.9; 9. Cami Hedstrom, Bentonville, 19:29.7; 10. Hannah Shelby, Bryant, 19:35.6.

The Springdale Har-Ber senior, however, wasn't about to let a third consecutive Class 7A girls state individual cross country title get out of her grasp.

Reina pulled away from Ritchey during the final one-half mile and completed that feat during Saturday's race at Oaklawn Park. She finished with a time of 18 minutes, 44.9 seconds, exactly 3 seconds faster than Ritchey in the closest of the 12 races that took place.

"My goal was to just finish strong," Reina said. "This was my last cross country race ever, so I kept thinking in my head to finish as strong as I can.

"She kept pushing, and that one point -- I think after a mile -- we started slowing down. With my style of racing, I like to keep it safe. It was around the 400-600 meter mark when I felt confident and I could feel her dropping. Her breathing was faster, so I felt strong and took the lead."

Repeat performances were the trend during the Class 7A races. Har-Ber's T.J. Sugg came away with his second straight boys individual championship, and Bentonville's girls took the team title for the second consecutive year.

The Lady Tigers finished with 45 points, while Fayetteville edged Rogers High by a 62-64 margin for second place. Junior Katie Andrews led a trio of Bentonville runners in the top 10 with her third-place finish, turning in a time of 19:08.7, while sophomore Merrill Leak and Cami Hedstrom finished eighth and ninth, respectively.

"We had a decent race in conference, and that worked for us," Bentonville coach Randy Ramaker said. "We set up our presence up front and let our depth play a role. I don't know if we had as good a race as we did in conference, but that usually happens."

On the boys side, Sugg didn't allow the lead Bentonville's Jonathan Prince affect his game plan, but he stayed close before taking the lead within the final mile. Sugg finished with a time of 15:48.8, almost 10 seconds faster than Fayetteville freshman Camren Fischer.

"I kind of expected Prince or Kieran (Taylor) to go out and start the pace," Sugg said. "Prince did that, so the plan was to sit on their shoulder until it was time to go. I think it worked pretty well.

"My plan wasn't just to burn them right there. I was just going to increase the pace to where they couldn't keep up."

Fischer waited until the final one-half mile to make his move and wound up beating Taylor by almost 10 seconds. More importantly, he helped Fayetteville win the team title and complete an unbeaten run against in-state competition this year.

The Purple'Dogs, who also picked up a sixth-place finish from Collin Pilkington, finished with ahead of three other 7A-West schools with 48 points. Bentonville, behind Prince's fifth-place outing, took second with 67, followed by Har-Ber with 79 and Rogers High with 87.

"The game plan was for the boys to keep doing what they've been doing," Fayetteville coach Michelle Fyfe said. "We ran undefeated in the state of Arkansas, and this was one more day that we wanted to continue that.

"We just wanted them to run well and run the race they were capable of racing. Everybody carried that out. Our top five killed it and did exactly what we needed them to do."

Sports on 11/08/2015

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