Hawks compete with 5A, take second at Elkins
The defending 4A state champion Pea Ridge boys took second in the 4A-5A division of the Elkins Invitational behind perennial state cross country power Siloam Springs.
The Hawks’ sophomore Tian Grant added another title to his resume, running the 5K course in 17:31 to best Siloam Springs’ best runner by 20 seconds. Grants’s brother Grandon took fifth in 18:11 to solidify the Hawks’ hold on second, with a ninth place finish by sophomore Troy Ferguson in 18:38 giving the team a 20-point edge on third place finisher Farmington.
Jacob Stein finished 21st (20:34) to defeat his Farmington counterpart with the Hawks’ fifth scorer Elijah Wiggins finishing 23rd (20:41) to cap the taking of the second place trophy.
Siloam Springs won the meet with 22 , followed by Pea Ridge 55, Farmington 77, Prairie Grove 152 and Huntsville 177. The Cardinals’ efforts likely make them the top team to challenge the Hawks for the 4A-1 title later this season.
Other runs for the Hawks were: Sebasttien Mullikin, 25th (20;45); Zachary Etzkorn, 30th (21:07); Owen Reynolds, 40th, (22:07); Hunter Singh, 43rd (22:38); Phoenix Edmisson, 45th (22:46); Nikolas Galbraith, 46th (22:48); Isaac Cruz, 50th (23:04); Joseph Peal, 52nd (23:08); Julian Eberle, 60th (24:26); Drake Satterwhite, 61st (24:39); Isaac Scates, 62nd (24:42); and Davis Tenney, 70th (27:46).
The girls’ squad was in a four-way battle for the championship with Gravette’s girls eventually winning the title with 56, Shiloh taking second with 69, Siloam Springs third with 71, and Pea Ridge fourth with 72. The Hawks were far ahead of fifth place Farmington which scored 114.
Shiloh led by 5 points after the first three runners, but Gravette’s last two runners bested Shiloh’s last two by 19 points. Pea Ridge was ahead of Siloam by 2 after three runners but the Panthers’ depth was just enough to beat the Hawks by 1.
Pea Ridge was again led by Liz Vasquez who ran 22:05 to claim third overall. Kamree Dye was the next in, taking 11th in 23:29 with Ava Pippin right behind in 13th (23:36). The other two scorers were Allie King, 18th (24:50) and Kylee Tidwell, 27th (26;35). Close to the leaders were Rylie Galbreath, 32nd (27:43) and Isabella Cruz, 34th (28:15).
The Pea Ridge junior girls took second with 72 behind Siloam Springs’ winning total of 44. Farmington finished third with 94, Berryville was fourth with 100 and Gravette took fifth with 140.
The Hawks had two Top 10 runners in Brenna Walker, fourth (14:51) and Bailey Walker, seventh (15:14) in the two-mile course. Kennedy Fox, 18th (16:30); Isabelle Etzkorn, 22nd (17:02);and Emily Scott, 24th (17:10) rounded out the five scorers for the team total.
Also competing were: Halle Sexton, 27th (17:29); Wrynlee Nichols, 37th (18:12); Zoey Hinojosa, 42nd (18:37); Zoeyanne Timmons, 43rd (18:50); Hailey Westlin, 56th (19:53); Marlow Kelly, 59th (20:07); Jennifer Burhus, 65th (22:26); Brylee Hardy, 66th (23:34); Lilie Franz, 68th (24;15); Chaselynn Jacobs, 69th (24:21); Arianna Key, (24:23); Patricia Thorpe, 71st (24:34); Rebecca Murray, 72nd (25:21); Ana Schmidt, 74th (25:55); Emilia Heard, 75th (26:04); Hannah Ingalls, 78th (26:05); Lacy Ayres, 79th (26:34), and Ruth Martinez,80th (26:57).
The Pea Ridge junior boys finished fourth with 126. Siloam Springs won the meet with 32, Farmington was second with 49, Shiloh was third with 84 and Huntsville finished fifth with 128.
Trey Bounds was the best Hawk runner, placing sixth with a good time of 12:54. He was followed by Ayden Canada, 31st (14:28); Cade Keith, 33rd (14:32); Parker Tillman, 36th (14:40) and Jackson Turner, 39th (14:50) to round out the Hawk scorers.
Other runners for the Hawks were Wyatt Dodson, 40th (14:52); Evan Escajeda, 45th (15:03); Mason Butler, 52nd (16:02); Kaleb Taylor, 54th (16:04); Colin Slocum, 55th (16:08); Gavin Ora, 65th (16:29); Liem Taylor, 67th (16:34); Boston Powell, 68th (16:35); Chase Dancer, 69th (16:50); Jake Ryals, 74th (17:14); Sammy Wilkerson, 76th (17:19); Camren Smith, 78th (17:21); Logan Tucker, 83rd (18:34); Brandon Jacobson, 90th (20:04); Harper Geren, 91st (21:38); Chandon Nichols, 94th (24:25); and Cade Cops, 95th (26:30).
Next up will be the Siloam Invitational with more than 20 teams entered in the 1A-4A division along with the Blackhawks. The boys team will be looking to stay undefeated against 4A competition.