CABOT — The Bryant Junior Hornets capped off an outstanding season with a dominating[more] victory at the Walmart Junior High cross country championships Saturday. The Junior Hornets placed eight runners in the top 20 and six in the top 13 to score a winning total of 39 points.
Russellville was runner-up with a score of 76, followed by Conway (78), Heber Springs (103), Lake Hamilton (114), Batesville (165), Cabot (167), Batesville Southside (211), Central Arkansas Christian (247), Hamburg (300), and Nettleton (332).
“This was a great way to finish what has been a great year for these boys,” commented Hornets coach Steve Oury. “They really came out focused on establishing our pack up near the front and setting the tone for the race. From the half-mile point on, there was no doubt that we were in control of the race.
Charlie Terry blazed the path for Bryant with a second place finish over the 2-mile course in a time of 11:13. Mark Winn (7th in 11:34), Nicholas Schmidt (8th in 11:39), Ben Majors (10th in 11:41), Jim Dellorto (12th in 11:50), Dru Wen (13th in 12:01), and Eric Stewart (17th in 12:14) completed the Jr. Hornets top 7 finishers.
“Charlie really ran a gutsy race and pulled the rest of the boys along with him,” Oury said. “Connor Wilson would have been in the hunt for the win with Charlie, but he was moved up to the senior high team and will compete at the State Meet for the Hornets next week.
“I would like to see these boys ride the momentum of this great season and carry it over to track season,” the coach mentioned. “They have a chance to be a very good senior high team down the road, but they have to make the commitment to do the hard work it takes to move up and compete at the senior high level. I have no doubt they can do it.”
Oury concluded, “This season was a true team effort. Our middle school coaches, Rhonda Hall and Deanna Porter, do a great job with the seventh and eighth grade runners, and we had several of their runners step up and help us out, which means we should be very good again next year.”
