Varsity boys win Berryville Bobcat Back 40

The Siloam Springs boys cross country team finished first for the third straight week as the Panthers won the 4A-5A division of the Berryville Bobcat Back 40 on Saturday in Berryville.

The Panthers had the top three finishers overall and eight of the top 20 as Siloam Springs recorded a team score of 26 to beat out Pea Ridge 47, Berryville 77, Green Forest 103, Prairie Grove 135, Shiloh Christian 142 and Gentry 201.

Michael Capehart ran a time of 17 minutes, 5.32 seconds to finish first overall and lead the Panthers.

“Michael was coming off an illness this week and ran well to lead our division,” said Siloam Springs coach Sharon Jones. “He placed second (in all races) behind a talented Haas Hall runner.”

Levi Fox placed second at 17:25.80, while Wilson Cunningham was right on his heels at 17:25.86 — both new personal records.

“I love watching Wilson and Levi race,” Jones said. “They are best friends but have a fun rivalry when it comes to running. They run their best when they run together. Wilson has been running in front of Levi most of the year. Wilson had to sit out the first two meets due to being quarantined. Wilson beat Levi last week, but Levi edged him out on Saturday.”

Jason Flores finished ninth at 18:53.39 with Billy Samoff setting a new personal record at 19:11.58 in 13th place, Luke Fields a new PR at 19:13.50 in 14th and a new PR from Cade Gunter of 19:51.11 to finish 18th and round out the Panthers’ top seven scores.

Caleb Rodgers set a personal record of 19:53.49 and finished 19th overall, as did Cooper Shaw, who finished 21st at 20:19.43.

Ben Humphries placed 25th at 20:41.56, while Jordyn Baskin placed 26th at 20:51.38, Riley Harrison 30th at 21:12.02, Daxton Spence 31st at 21:12.47, Barrett Eldridge 32nd with a PR of 21:15.08 and a PR from Ben Stout of 21:27.68 for 36th place.

Nathan Thurstenson ran a time of 21:47.71, while Nathan Rostoni finished in 22:03.84, Samuel Herndon 25:13.96, Rustin Shirley 25:59.80 and Layton Spence 27:04.58.

“Most of our boys showed improvement Saturday,” Jones said. “Again, it wasn’t an easy course and the distance seemed to be accurate.”

Varsity girls

Quincy Efurd was the top overall finisher in all classes as the Lady Panthers finished second overall in the 4A-5A girls division of the Berryville Bobcat Back 40.

Pea Ridge won the 4A-5A girls race with 25 points, while Siloam Springs had 30 and Prairie Grove 77.

Efurd ran a time of 20 minutes, 23.87 seconds, beating out Springdale’s Esperanza Trejo by more than 25 seconds.

“Quincy came through the first mile in second place behind Springdale, then in the second mile, she took the lead and put some distance on her,” Jones said. “Quincy always looks for someone challenging to try to beat from the other teams. Saturday, it was left up to her to set the pace for the entire race. She just cruised to the finish line, too. She looked in control and confident the whole race.”

Macie Herrel finished fifth at 22:14.34, while Shayla Conley was sixth at 22:35.28.

“Macie really looked good, too,” Jones said. “She ran her best race on a really tough course. If you’ve ever been to Berryville, then you know. It’s not flat. Shayla looked labored the second half of the race but held on to almost set a new PR. She showed tremendous guts.”

Jacilyn Weilnau placed ninth at 22:50.27, while Emily Brown battled through shin splints to place 12th at 23:43.49.

Brooke Ross finished 22nd at 25:44.13, and Kendra Reimer finished 23rd at 25:50.24 to complete the Lady Panthers’ top seven scores.

“Kendra improved again and continues to show more and more confidence in her ability to race,” Jones said. “Brooke improved almost two minutes over her time last week. She is looking better and better as a runner.”

Anna Floyd set a new PR with a time of 28:09.82 and was the Lady Panthers’ most improved runner of the week by 2:23, Jones said.

“She has a huge desire to be competitive,” Jones said.

Leslie Cea placed 34th at 28:24.48, with Sidney Pfeiffer in 36th at 29:27.03 and Jordan Rush 38th at 30:29.93.

Junior high girls

The Siloam Springs junior high girls placed first in the 4A-5A division as well.

Siloam Springs placed first with 28 points, followed by Farmington 67, Berryville 73, Pea Ridge 78 and Shiloh Christian 119.

Vanessa Frias led the Lady Panthers with a time of 13:43.78, while Ellen Slater placed second at 14:05.33 and Shelby Smith fourth at 14:21.93.

Caroline Dewey placed 11th at 15:01.51, the first in a string of seven straight Lady Panthers, as Hannah Bergthold was 12th at 15:04.55, McKinley Boyd 13th at 15:08.49, Brooklyn Hardcastle 14th at 15:09.52, Avery Carter 15th at 15:10.52, Avery Speed 16th at 15:15.47 and Bailey Church 17th at 15:16.54.

“I love that we had (seven) girls come in right together with Caroline,” Jones said. “That’s pretty intimidating.”

Addison Harris placed 22nd at 15:47.16, while Annika Timboe placed 23rd at 15:47.16, Lillian Wilkie 25th at 16:13.99, Hailey Fox 27th at 16:27.39, Ava Jones 29th at 16:37.51 and Laura Fields 33rd at 16:52.38.

Also running for Siloam Springs was Elizabeth Humphries 17:10.98, Danielle Brisson 17:12.65, Kathryne Hilburn 17:42.71, Naomi Seauve 17:52.73, Abby Herndon 18:26.03, Malia Lykins 18:51.29, Sophia Atkisn 20:56.67 and Katelyn Cottrell 21:01.57.

Junior high boys

Noah Granderson won his fourth straight race to start the season, leading Siloam Springs’ junior high boys to a first place finish in the 4A5A division.

Siloam Springs finished with a score of 19, followed by Pea Ridge 88, Farmington 89, Berryville 100, Green Forest 110 and Huntsville 114.

Granderson ran a time of 11:10.35 to finish first in the division.

Nathan Hawbaker placed second with a time of 11:20.64, while Charlie Hyde placed fourth with a new PR of 12:07.22 and Tyler Cottrell fifth at 12:07.44.

“Noah was our leader yet again,” Jones said. “He’s proving to be a machine!

“We love that Nate Hawbaker is running so close to him after being out the first two meets due to contact tracing. And Tyler and Charlie are both running close behind him.”

Chance Cunningham ran a PR time of 12:14.49, while Jared Brewer finished in 12th place with a PR of 12:26.51, followed by Tommy Seitz in 18th at 12:38.66 (PR), Sterling Maples 20th at 12:47.10 (PR), Jacob Seauve 21st at 12:48.62 (PR) and Cayden Hansen 22nd at 12:50.08.

Boone Eldridge was the most improved in 30th place with a time of 13:22.38, setting a new PR by 35 seconds. Jack O’Brien placed 31st at 13:25.28, while Sebastian Romero placed 34th with a new PR at 12:28.96, Bennett Naustvik 38th at 13:34.74, Korbin Rogers 43rd at 13:47.35, Reese Hardcastle 44th at 13:52.41 and Parker Malonson 46th at 14:02.75.

Also running for Siloam Springs was Corbin Stephenson 14:18.29, Max Lane 14:23.87, Ivan Parra 14:24.15, Blake Kuykendall 14:37.90 (PR), William Bowles 15:34.19, Decan Maples 15:42.77, Morgan Lloyd 16:25.03 and Corban Timboe 16:25.30.

Up next

The varsity cross country teams are scheduled to compete Saturday in the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, while the seventhand eighth-graders are running Tuesday at Rogers.