Photos courtesy of Cynthia Austin
RUSSELLVILLE — The Bryant Hornets took a partial squad to the Cyclone Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, placing 11th out of 23 teams. The Hornets rested their top runners for next week’s Chile Pepper Invitational in Fayetteville, in which only eight runners will participate. The Hornets scored 259 points. Team champion Catholic High scored a total of 62 points.
Edgar Tejada was the top Hornet across the line, placing 34th in a time of 18:40 followed by Joey Colvert (44th in 18:55), Decatur Austin (57th in 19:10), Ricky Barrientos (61st in 19:14), Colby Harvey (69th in 19:30), Issac Resendiz (78th in 19:43), and Justice Pryor (81st in 19:49).
“I thought we fought hard on a difficult course in warm conditions,” commented Bryant coach Steve Oury. “These guys were running their fourth meet in a row, so now they will have a chance to get their legs back under them.
“Edgar Tejada and Joey Colvert are both running strong and are poised for a breakthrough,” he added.
Junior boys
Running without the services of top runner Chris Barrientos, who will join the senior high team at next week’s Chile Pepper Invitational, the Junior Hornets earned a fourth place finish in the junior boys division. 
The Junior Hornets scored a total of 119 points to finish behind team champion Catholic (80), Lake Hamilton (89), and Russellville (116).
Luis Lara led the way for the Junior Hornets with a 13th place finish in a time of 12:00 over the two-mile course. Matthew O’Gary (19th in 12:12), Chris Morgan (23rd in 12:18), Ben Sellers (28th in 12:28), Kakada Av (36th in 12:36), Dylan White (37th in 12:36), and Blake Wilson (39th in 12:39) completed the team’s top seven.
“We ran a solid race,” Oury said. “We only had a 35 second gap from our first to fifth runner, so that was very good. We just needed to have some runners closer to the front to have a chance to finish higher but, overall, I thought we ran well.
“Coach Deanna Porter at Bryant Middle School, Coach Denise Smith at Bethel Middle School, and Coach Debbie Clark at the high school are doing a great job working with our junior high athletes,” he added.
