UA coaches pleased with cross-country results

After the University of Arkansas women’s track and field team won the NCAA indoor championship at the Randal Tyson Track Center on Saturday and the UA men’s team took seventh, the Razorbacks got two more top-10 finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Monday.

Arkansas’ men’s team finished fourth and the UA women were 10th at the cross country meet in Stillwater, Okla. Each race had 31 teams with 253 entrants for the men and 256 for the women.

Arkansas’ men had five runners Monday who also competed at the indoor meet.

Senior Amon Kemboi, who was 13th in the 5,000 meters Friday and fourth in the 3,000 Saturday, led the Razorbacks’ cross country effort by taking 11th and running the hilly, 10,000-meter course in 30:40.2.

“Amon was the glue,” Arkansas men’s Coach Chris Bucknam said. “He just did a great job of keeping our guys calm. When your best guy is loose and confident, it just bleeds over to the rest of the guys. He was huge for us.

“He went out a little more cautious than he normally would because of all that indoor running, but he finished strong. Next fall I think he’s going to be a contender for a national title.”

The Razorbacks’ 181 points were their lowest score at nationals since 2005 when they finished second to Wisconsin with 105.

Arkansas’ five scorers also included Luke Meade (38th), Gilbert Boit (40th), Jacob McLeod (57th) and Emmanuel Cheboson 63rd).

Boit ran the 5,000 and 3,000 indoors, and McLeod ran the 5,000. Razorbacks Matt Young (165th) and Ryan Murphy (207th) also ran at the NCAA indoor meet.

“Our guys did a phenomenal job,” Bucknam said. “It’s been a crazy few weeks with the SEC and NCAA indoors, and then this cross country meet on top of everything. I’m just super proud of them.”

Bucknam said he was appreciative the distance runners were ready to run in two national meets in a three-day span.

“The groups on a team can create their own little worlds with the distance runners, sprinters and hurdles, the field event people,” Bucknam said. “But that doesn’t happen here.

“Our guys wanted to run indoor track. They knew their points were going to be important at SECs and nationals. They weren’t selfish saying, ‘Hey, we just want to do cross country.’ Instead they said, ‘Hey, let’s do both.’ We have tough guys.”

Senior Krissy Gear, who took second in the mile Saturday after running a mile prelim and leg on Arkansas’ second-place distance medley relay Friday, led the Razorbacks on Monday by taking 21st and finishing the 6,000-meter course in 20:35.21.

“It’s a tribute to Krissy’s athletic gifts, but she’s also a consummate competitor,” Arkansas women’s Coach Lance Harter said. “With 700 meters to go, she was in 43rd. So she passed a lot of people.”

Arkansas’ next three finishers also ran indoors with Logan Morris (64th), Abby Gray (73rd) and Gracie

Hyde (104th). Corie Smith was 133rd, Meghan Underwood 187th and Kennedy Thomson 193rd. Thomson also ran indoors.

“I’m elated to finish 10th after we just won a national indoor championship,” Harter said. “The kids ran their tails off.”

The Razorbacks ran Monday without two of their top cross country runners from last fall — Lauren Gregory and Tayler Ewert.

Gregory took second in the 3,000 and third in the mile on Saturday, but Harter didn’t want to overextend her Monday. Ewert is recovering from a leg injury.

“Somebody told me, ‘This might be a ‘B’ team for you in cross country, but your ‘B’ team — because they’re so tough — will beat a lot of ‘A’ teams,’ ” Harter said. “But I never in my wildest dreams thought with all the teams that focused strictly on cross country that we could finish in 10th place. We had to beat a lot of good people.”

Northern Arizona won the men’s title with 60 points, and BYU’s Connor Mantz won the individual title. BYU won the women’s title, and Alabama’s Mercy Chelangat won the individual title.

The NCAA granted fall sport athletes another year of eligilbity because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Bucknam and Harter said all of their seniors are planning to be back next fall.

“We’ve got a lot of great runners coming back and some great recruits coming in,” Harter said. “We should be pretty formidable.”

BOYS

CLASS 1A WEST SIDE GREERS FERRY 66, IZARD COUNTY 62, OT

West Side Greers Ferry (27-6) got a goahead free throw from Ashton Klepko with 33 seconds left in the game as the Eagles broke free to punch their ticket to Thursday’s finals.

Malachi Miller powered home 25 points for West Side Greers Ferry, which was saddled with a 49-40 deficit to start the fourth quarter.

West Side Greers Ferry tied the game at 5656 on a free throw from Travis Gentry to send the game into overtime. The Eagles got a pair of free throws from Miller, the latter with 1:50 remaining in the extra session, to take a 61-60 lead. West Side Greers Ferry held on to that advantage the rest of the way.

Izard County (27-8), which missed two potential game-winning shots at the end of regulation, received 23 points from Caleb Faulkner. The Cougars also got 12 points from Coby Everett, and 10 points each from Chase Orf and Noah Everett.

VIOLA 65, NEVADA 58

A new champion will be crowned after Viola (36-6) put together a stellar outing from the free-throw line.

Gage Harris scored 22 points for the Longhorns, who hit 24 of 25 (96%) free throws in the second half. Kenneth Marberry had 13 points and Mason Luna totaled 11 points for Viola, which made amends for last season’s first-round exit by reaching the championship game for the first time since 2002.

Nevada (19-5) trailed 52-33 in the second half but closed the gap to 60-53 with 40 seconds left in the game. Free throws kept the Longhorns from relinquishing the lead.

Jared Todd had 17 of his 26 points in the second half for Nevada. Trevon Gulley scored 11 points and Javontae Pearson scored 10.

CLASS 2A MARIANNA 64, WHITE COUNTY CENTRAL 40

The No. 1 team in its class flexed its muscles to roll into the Class 2A semifinals.

Kevin Bowers delivered 19 points for Marianna (21-1), which scored a combined 41 points in the first and final periods. A 20-point second quarter allowed the Trojans to turn an 11-8 lead into a 31-15 advantage by halftime. It was 43-25 at the end of the third before Marianna outscored White County Central (24-8) 21-15 in the final frame to win comfortably.

Markese Bolden had nine points and Jamarion Westbrook added eight points for Marianna.

Dillan Hopkins scored 13 points and Blake Dickerson drained 4 three-pointers for 12 points for the Bears, who lost to the Trojans 45-43 in the quarterfinals a year ago.

CADDO HILLS 71, EARLE 51

Connor Kincannon’s 19 points led a host of double-digit contributors for Caddo Hills (31-4) in its runaway victory over last year’s runners-up.

Cameron Gaither and Matt Turner both had 15 points for the Indians, winners of nine of their last 10 games. Tate Dumont also landed with with 13 points.

Caddo Hills opened up a 43-28 margin by halftime and never allowed Earle (20-3) to make a serious run in the second half. The Indians will be looking for their first state championship since 1990.

Rholly Davis scored 20 points and Jermayne Johnson had nine points for the Bulldogs.

GIRLS CLASS 1A RURAL SPECIAL 56, VIOLA 53

The Lady Rebels were 14 of 20 from the foul line in the second half and got a huge fourth quarter from senior guard Abbey Linville to advance to the title game for the second time in three years.

Linville scored 16 of her team-high 25 points in the last period for Rural Special (30-4), which held a 25-24 lead at halftime but couldn’t shake its 1A-2 Conference rivals.

Viola (30-9) fought back in the third quarter and led 33-32 with less than 10 seconds remaining in the period on a layup from A.J. McCandlis. The sophomore then stole the inbounds pass and scored while being fouled. She knocked down the free throw to supply the Lady Longhorns with a 36-32 advantage at the end of three quarters.

Rural Special would wrestle that lead away midway through the fourth behind Linville. She followed up her go-ahead three-pointer with a basket inside with just over four minutes to go, giving the Lady Rebels a 44-40 lead. Linville also would hit 8 of 8 free throws over the final 3:27.

Brinley Morgan added 15 points for Rural Special, which won three of the four meetings this season between the two teams.

McCandlis got 28 points, and Lindsey Browning finished with 11 points for Viola.

NORFORK 54, WEST SIDE GREERS FERRY 48

The Lady Panthers made the right plays in the fourth quarter to fend off the host team.

Kiley Alman scored 12 points and Kylie Manes had 11 points for Norfork (22-11), which will have a chance to win its first state title when it faces Rural Special. Lisa Shaddy finished with 10 points and Hannah Bryant tallied nine points for the Lady Panthers.

Kamryn Sutterfield ended with a game-high 23 points for the Eagles.

West Side Greers Ferry (25-9) led 24-18 after two quarters.

CLASS 2A MELBOURNE 70, FORDYCE 33

The Lady Katz are heading back to Hot Springs to defend their crown after blowing through the semifinal round.

Kiley Webb scored 13 of her 17 points in the first quarter as Melbourne (31-1) outscored Fordyce (23-4) 27-9 in the first quarter.

Kenley McCarn led Melbourne with a gamehigh 23 points, 16 of which came in the first two quarters. Jenna Lawrence chipped in with 18 points to help the Lady Katz win their 30th consecutive game.

Caitlyn Bulliner scored 15 of her 18 points in the first half for the Lady Redbugs, who trailed 42-20 at halftime. Fordyce was limited to two points in the final quarter.

SALEM 51, BIGELOW 42

A monster game from Chelsea Hamilton gave Salem (22-7) the lift it needed to beat Bigelow (23-7) for the second time in 10 days.

Hamilton finished with 27 points for the Lady Greyhounds, who beat the Lady Panthers 62-48 on March 5 and are set to make their championship game debut. Marleigh Sellars had 14 points for Salem.

Aubrey Evans scored 14 points and Jill Nutt followed with 13 points for Bigelow.