FAYETTEVILLE -- Elise Reina had big plans for a big day at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival.
With perfect weather shining down on the Agri Park course, Reina got her wish and more.
Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival
At Agri Park, Fayetteville
Girls 5K
Team Results
Southlake Carroll, Texas^46
Jackson, Mo.^196
St. Joseph (Mo.) Central^250
Barthlesville, Okla.^252
Blue Springs (Mo.) South^303
Southlake Carroll, Texas JV ^309
Fayetteville^325
Kearney, Mo.^354
Hoover, Ala.^359
Deer Creek, Okla.^384
Individual
Chelsea Drum, Jackson, Mo.^17:46.23
Cheyenne Walden, Sand Springs, Okla.^17:58.97
Tori Findley, Blue Springs South, Mo.^18:10.28
Alison Esparza, Southlake Carroll, Texas^18:13.68
Ruth Wiggins, Briarcrest Christian, Tenn.^18:17.65
Gillian Mortimer, Southlake Carroll, Texas^18:23.34
Brooke Gilmore, Belton, Mo.^18:32.97
Elise Reina, Springdale Har-Ber^18:36.96
Antigone Archer, Southlake Carroll, Texas^18:38.49
Elaina Hubner, Blue Springs, Mo.^18:38.55
- For complete results, go to chilepepperfestival…
Reina, a senior at Springdale Har-Ber, posted a personal-record 5K time of 18 minutes, 36.96 seconds Saturday to finish eighth overall in a field full of top regional and national runners. A year ago, Reina's time of 18:54.3 was good enough for 12th place at the Chile Pepper, but the big improvement on the course Saturday was plenty of reason to celebrate as Reina was the top finisher among local runners.
"This was so important. This is my favorite race of the whole year, and it's just such a great environment," Reina said. "And to run a PR made it even better."
Reina is the defending 7A-West Conference and Class 7A state cross country champion. Performing well at Saturday's Chile Pepper should leave no doubt she's again the one to beat at this year's conference and state meets.
"The first mile I went through I felt good, and the last mile, which has been my weakness, I held through," Reina said. "So it was a pretty good day for me.
"This will definitely push me towards the rest of the year. I've already hit my PR so now I know I'm capable of more and I'm just excited to help my team. We have a good chance to finish top five at state, and I'm really proud of all of us."
Southlake Carroll, Texas, who most recently won the girls' team title in 2012, took top team honors Saturday in convincing fashion. Carroll scored 46 points with Jackson, Mo., finishing as the runner-up with 196.
Fayetteville was the top team from Northwest Arkansas with a 325 score to finish seventh. Junior Corrie Purcell led the Lady Bulldogs with a 24th-place finish in a time of 19:07.45. Sophomore Becca Boushelle added a 38th-place run in a time of 19:30.73
"I have four sophomores and one junior in my top five, so the sky is the limit for them," Fayetteville coach Michelle Fyfe said. "A couple of them thought they had a bad race today, and they were down. But I thought they had a good race, and I was proud of how well they competed."
Bentonville finished 11th in the girls' team standings with 396 points, and Rogers High was next among local teams in 13th with 402.
Sports on 10/04/2015