SSHS, JBU compete at Chile Pepper Festival

FAYETTEVILLE — Siloam Springs cross country runners battled dusty conditions, hot weather and big crowds of runners this past Saturday at the annual Chile Pepper Festival held at Agri Park in Fayetteville.

The Lady Panthers finished 39th overall, while the Panthers took 63rd in the boys race.

Nearly 1,200 varsity runners participated in the “El Caliente” varsity races, while another 1,500 ran in the combined open races.

“It was so dry and dusty Saturday,” said Siloam Springs coach Sharon Jones. “That was definitely a factor for some of our kids. It warmed up nicely for me, but for the kids it was a little too much. So, we didn’t have a bunch of PRs (personal records) as we would all hope, but we did have some that I’m excited about. It was so stinking crowded, too. Look at the total number of runners in each of the races. Crazy! Isaac (Leachman) got elbowed at the starting line and shuffled back behind the crowd. He said he felt like he was running a warm-up for a good part of the race. He just couldn’t get past the crowds.”

Lady Panthers

The Lady Panthers finished 39th out of 74 teams in the El Caliente girls race, which had 550 runners complete the race.

Keller Blue finished first overall in the race.

Siloam Springs was the top 6A school in Arkansas, finishing ahead of Lake Hamilton, which was in 41st place, Benton 43rd, Russellville 50th and Mountain Home 51st.

“The girls ran really close together even though they probably couldn’t see their teammates most of the race,” Jones said. “They had a 49-second split from the first to the fifth runner.

Chloe McGooden led the Lady Panthers in 202nd place with a time of 21 minutes, 10.2 seconds, while Chloe Maxwell was right behind her in 205th at 21:13.4.

“Chloe McGooden has shown herself as the consistent leader,” Jones said. “She improved quite a bit from the last race.”

Allika Pearson finished 207th at 21:16.0, while Rebecca Rodgers was 226th with a new personal record by 27 seconds at 21:30.9 and Caroline Farine was 262nd at 21:59.1.

Brittany Pilcher was 287th at 22:13.5, while Kimberly Guillen finished 318th at 22:29.1 and Claudia Mercado 353rd at 22:58.3.

Four varsity girls competed in the 5K Open race.

Kailey Pentz ran a 22:45.2 and finished 62nd out of 582 runners, while Megan Rush was 205th at 24:55.5, Chloe Rocha 240th with a new personal record by 11 seconds at 25:29.4 and Mary Grace Green 401st at 28:44.2.

“Chloe Rocha continues to show improvement,” Jones said. “She PR’d by 11 seconds. More importantly, she showed great character by improving her last race by over four minutes. Mary Grace met her goal time as well and improved her last race by almost three minutes.”

Boys

The Panthers had 1,721 points and finished 63rd out of 81 teams in the El Caliente boys race.

Smithson Valley placed first with 207 points.

Lake Hamilton was the top 6A team from Arkansas, placing 24th overall, while Benton was 65th and Russellville 70th.

Siloam Springs’ Kerrig Kelly placed 211th out of the 648 runners with a time of 17:33.1.

“Kerrig Kelly ran really well,” Jones said. “A great time considering the conditions. It’s fun to see how much he has grown as a runner since last year at this time.”

Samuel Granderson was the Panthers’ second finisher, placing 326th overall with a new personal record of 18:15.8.

“I’m really excited how well he’s coming along,” Jones said.

Leachman, after catching the early elbow, finished 433rd at 18:54.0. Caleb Ellis was 448th at 19:00.8, while Isaac Price set a new personal record in 480th place at 19:12.4.

“I’m ready for (Price) to break that 19 minute mark anytime,” Jones said.

Adam Kennedy was 539th at 19:47.1, while Ransom Van Asche finished 600th and improved his personal record by nearly a minute with a time of 20:58.2. Blaise Becan, who finished 621st at 22:01.2, missed a new personal record by one second, Jones said.

Three varsity boys ran in the 5K Open Race, which had 887 runners.

Nathan Blair set a new personal record at 22:51.5, while Avery Della Rosa finished in 23:02.1 and Julian Labitad 25:14.9.

Up next

The Panthers and Lady Panthers are scheduled to run at Greenwood on Saturday.