Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Lake Hamilton junior Pielemeier reigns
HOT SPRINGS — From the start, the question in the Class 5A girls cross country final at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort on Friday was not which individual would win, but which team would win.
Lake Hamilton junior Olivia Pielemeier was expected to win — perhaps it was expected that she would win by more than 16 seconds, but few, if any, questioned the fact that she should win. And win she did, crossing the finish line in 18:44.61 with Mountain Home senior Rylee Patterson finishing in 19:00.62.
But with the way Lake Hamilton, Mountain Home and Hot Springs Lakeside wrapped up the season, it was expected that one of the three would take the win. Mountain Home did not disappoint as Patterson’s second-place finish helped beat out Lakeside for the repeat state title.
Pielemeier picked up her first individual state title with the win, even though she was hoping for a better performance.
“I’m thankful I was able to win,” she said.”Body’s not feeling really good right now, but I’m OK. I’m thankful.”
Pielemeier never trailed, taking the lead in the first 200 yards and stretching to a 13-second lead in the initial mile that held fairly steady throughout to best her performance from a year ago by over a minute. Patterson, who finished 11th last year, trimmed just under 1:35 off her 2020 performance.
Lake Hamilton Coach Brandon Smith said while Pielemeier’s goal is to beat all runners on the course, she put in a solid performance.
“I know she was wanting to beat the girl from Bentonville’s time from yesterday [Madison Galindo 18:30.63], but, you know, she has nothing to be ashamed about because she ran an 18:44 today by herself. … She works so hard, super focused on what she always wants to do, and for her to come out in and finally get the win individually in cross country was just a huge, huge victory for her today. And so that’s just going to continue to boost her training moving forward,” he said.
Mountain Home Coach Wil Norris, who is in his second year leading a program he competed in a decade ago, said that he was thrilled that his girls took the win.
“Three great teams went head to head,” he said. “It was a privilege to be part of that kind of a race, especially when you know the kind of work, you know, as a coach that your kids have put in and you know those other teams have done the same thing. You know, it’s one of the things that makes this a very special sport.”
“I know she was wanting to beat the girl from Bentonville’s time from yesterday [Madison Galindo 18:30.63], but, you know, she has nothing to be ashamed about because she ran an 18:44 today by herself. … She works so hard, super focused on what she always wants to do, and for her to come out in and finally get the win individually in cross country was just a huge, huge victory for her today. And so that’s just going to continue to boost her training moving forward.”
Lake Hamilton Coach Brandon Smith on Olivia Pielemeier’s goal coming into Friday’s Class 5A girls cross country championship
CLASS 4A
Gravette sophomore Julia Whorton may have taken the win in 20:01.45 in her first-ever state appearance, but it was Valley View senior Elise Knight that helped to propel the Lady Blazers to their second straight state title.
Knight (20:15.97) finished third, but she was the second finisher in points as the Lady Blazers had four of the top 10 runners in points to win the school’s second state title with just 35 points. Arkadelphia’s Emelia Eriksson (20:09.20) was second.
Harrison and Gravette both ended up with 111 points with the Lady Goblins finishing second thanks to the team’s sixth runner, junior Vittoria Gratton, finishing ahead of Gravette’s sixth, sophomore Aryell Flores.
CLASS 3A
Jessieville junior Juliah Rodgers once again successfully defended her Class 3A state title, finishing in 19:01.42, a more than 45-second improvement over her sophomore performance.
Rodgers, who had not competed since the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville last month, had only been actively training with the team for about a week after contracting covid-19.
Episcopal Collegiate freshman Ella Gary helped lead the Lady Wildcats to the team win after her second-place finish of 19:13.76 was enough to push the team to a sixpoint win over Harding Academy. The Lady Wildcats had three of the top eight runners to finish with 61, while Harding Academy finished with 67 and West Fork was third with 97.