Photos courtesy of Cynthia Austin
FAYETTEVILLE — The Bryant Hornets competed Saturday at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, placing 52nd out of 81 teams. There were a total of 648 runners in the 5k (3.1 mile race). The Hornets placed 12th among teams from Arkansas.
Henry Terry was the first Bryant finisher, placing 162nd in a season best time of 17:16. The Hornets’ usual top runner, Chris Barrientos, was unable to finish the race due to some physical issues. The rest of the Hornet finishers were Nick Fowler (344th in 18:22), Edgar Tejada (355th in 18:27), Blake Shields (366th in 18:29), Chris Morgan (377th in 18:33), Christian Brack (391st in 18:38), and Decatur Austin (393rd in 18:39).
“This meet is always a unique experience,” said Bryant coach Steve Oury. “I hated that Chris Barrientos had to drop out. He was moving up toward the top 20 at the 2-mile mark, but he made the right decision in that circumstance.
“Henry Terry got off to a slow start and was able to pass over 100 runners after the mile mark, which is hard to do in that kind of traffic,” he noted. “The other boys did a good job of competing and not losing focus in the crowd. Having that experience comes in handy down the road at the conference and state meets.”
The Hornets host the annual Bryant Invitational this Saturday.
