FAYETTEVILLE — The Bryant Junior Hornets tangled with some of the best junior high cross country[more] teams in the south Saturday at the Chile Pepper Invitational in Fayetteville, placing sixth out of 36 teams. The Hornets scored a total of 231 points to finish behind Rogers, Fayetteville Woodland, Springdale Central, Bentonville Black, and Siloam Springs.
Ben Majors showed the way for the Junior Hornets, earning a top 20 finish with a 16th place time of 18:30 over the 5k (3.1 mile) course. Stephen Cockmon (40th in 19:09), Joey Colvert (62nd in 19:41), Jhorman Cruz (73rd in 19:54), Samuel Martin (79th in 20:01), Ian Britt (82nd in 20:01), Ricky Barrientos (99th in 20:16), Zane Pitman (101st in 20:18), Eric Stewart (107th in 20:23), Peyton Reber (118th in 20:31), Michael Higgs (119th in 20:33), and Chandler Reep (128th in 20:43) rounded out the Hornets who competed.
"I was very happy with how the boys competed,” said Bryant coach Steve Oury. “This was the first 5k that a lot of them have ever done and you can't underestimate how much difference that extra mile makes. They did a good job of gutting out that last mile and competing, even though they were hurting.
“Ben Majors ran a brave race and left it all out there on the course,” he noted. “Stephen Cockmon did a great job as well.
“I was very proud that we had three seventh graders who earned a spot on the squad for this meet,” the coach mentioned. “Jhorman Cruz, Ricky Barrientos, and Michael Higgs are very promising young runners. Coach Deanna Porter at Bryant Middle School and Coach Beth Daniels at Bethel Middle School are doing a great job with those kids."
The team is scheduled to compete at Oaklawn Park in the Lake Hamilton Invitational next Saturday.
