Bryant boys teams finish second in respective divisions at first meet of ’19
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Photos courtesy of Cynthia Austin and Sherri Brack
LITTLE ROCK — The Bryant boys varsity and junior high teams each finished second in their respective divisions as they opened up the 2019 cross country schedule at the Little Rock XC Classic at War Memorial Stadium.
Conway won the senior boys division with 46 points with Bryant second with 81, led by top 10 finishes from the Austin twins, Bresner who was second overall in 16:29.29 and Hagan, who was 8th in 17:27.02.
Lake Hamilton was third (94), Lakeside fourth (112) and Cabot fifth (120) in the 21-team competition, which included runners from 12 other schools too. Dominic Ward of Greenbrier was individual medalist with a time of 16:22.13, though the Panthers finished 12th in the team standing.
The Hornets’ top seven included Ammon Henderson, who was 18th in 18:23.38; Chris Herrera (22nd in 18:32.15); Christian Brack (31st, 18:44.06); Ethan Saffle (43rd (19:16.39)’ and Luis Martinez (44th, 19:17.66).
“It was a tough day with the heat and a challenging course but I thought we competed very well,” said Hornets head coach Steve Oury. “Bresner Austin ran a great race to place second and set a personal record. Hagan Austin also ran a very smart race and kept passing runners throughout the race. He did a great job of moving up in to eighth place.
“We have some time gaps we need to close down, but given the circumstances for the first meet of the year, I thought we did a very good job,” he added.
In the junior high division, Lake Hamilton won with 63 points including individual medalist Nathan Miller, who ran an 11:29.47. Bryant was second in the team scoring with 77 points. George Terry paced the effort with a 12:04.04 to place sixth overall. Brady Bingaman’s 12:16.25 was good for 10th.
Alex Skelley also played in the top 20. His 12:41.73 was good for 16th followed by Mason Lewis (21st, 12:52.20), Sam Herring (24th, 12:53.73); Mitchell Elmore (29th, 12,58.19); and Layton Baugh (35th, 13:06.09).
“Coaches Brooke Meister and Nicole Bradbury at Bryant Junior High, along with Coach Denise Smith at Bethel and Deanna Porter at Bryant Middle School, are doing a great job with our junior high program,” Oury stated. “The junior boys competed very well.”
The Hornets will compete next at the National Guard “Be Your Best” meet at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock on Saturday, Sept. 21.
