HOT SPRINGS -- Damion Brown surprised himself.
The Jonesboro sophomore knew he had improved since last season's Class 6A boys state cross country meet, but shaving two minutes off of his 2016 time Friday came as a total shock.
"I didn't think I would win this year," Brown said. "Before the race I was nervous. I felt tired. But my coach, Matt Williams, put me through a lot of hard workouts to prepare for this meet. It worked."
Brown ran the 5K course, which was spread out over the Oaklawn Park infield, in 16 minutes, 48.7 seconds. He was 10 seconds better than Greenwood senior Joseph Wittig, who finished second.
Defending champion Colby Swecker, a junior from Lake Hamilton, finished third in 17:09.8.
A year ago, Brown finished in 32nd place in the state meet, running the same course in 18:49.1. Brown said his best 5K time before Friday was 17:15.
"The first mile I ran today was my fastest ever," Brown said. "The hills here are tough. I survived by taking short steps and controlling my breathing."
Lake Hamilton placed five runners in the top 10 and won the team title with a score of 31. Benton finished second with 76 points.
Morrilton junior Alex Zangara repeated as the Class 5A champion with a 16:17.3. His time Friday was one second better than his 2016 finish.
"I wasn't really shooting for a specific time today," Zangara said. "I was just wanting the win."
Nettleton junior Kazdyn Chandler was a distant second at 16:52.7.
Zangara trailed until the final half-mile. From there, he was at the top of his game.
"I've been training 26 weeks for this, ever since May," Zangara said. "I ran as many as 60 miles a week. I've trained hard for this.
Maumelle repeated as the team champion, scoring 47 points. Runner-up De Queen scored 76.
Parker Ables was also a repeat winner Friday. The Heber Springs junior won the Class 4A event with a time of 16:49.9.
"I don't know what I wanted to run, but I wanted to run it faster," said Ables, who won the 2016 race in a time of 16:38.7. "This course is tough, especially when you're nervous and don't have anyone to give you a good pace. I thought I could run it in 16:30, but I was kind of far off from that."
Cave City freshman Luke Walling placed second with a time of 17:03.4, leading the Cavemen to the team title. Cave City finished with 68 points, three better than runner-up Heber Springs. The two schools combined to place seven individuals in the top 10.
Jessieville senior Noah Eskew completed his perfect run through the Class 3A meet. Eskew won with a time of 16:31.6, giving him his fourth consecutive cross country title.
"It's amazing," Eskew said. "I've had a lot of competition push me during my time in cross country. It's been a lot of fun."
Jake Carter, Eskew's senior teammate, finished second with a time of 17:28.6.
"My time wasn't important," Eskew said. "We were just wanting to win it. The weather really wasn't on our side and the course itself is a little bit difficult. It was a matter of seeing how everyone else was feeling and base our race off of that."
Genoa Central placed four runners in the top 11 to earn the team title. The Dragons scored 49 points. Jessieville was second with 89 points.
Sloan-Hendrix sophomore Fischer Miller captured the 2A/1A meet with a time of 16:48.5. He was 21 seconds better than Salem senior Anthony Puerta.
Miller was fifth in the 2016 meet.
"I was hoping to beat 16:30," said Miller, who ran the Oaklawn course in 17:56 a year ago. "I ran as much as I possibly could to improve."
Ouachita claimed the team title with 65 points. Sloan-Hendrix finished second with 79.
Sports on 11/04/2017