Hornets finish 6th at State meet

Photos by Jason Majors

HOT SPRINGS — Sophomore Charlie Terry earned all-State honors with a personal best time and the Bryant Hornets finished the 2013 season with a sixth place finish in the Class 7A Boys State Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Oaklawn Race track.

Charlie Terry

Terry’s personal record time of 16:17 was good for a place sixth overall.

There were a total of 128 runners and 14 teams in the race. Rogers earned the team championship with a total of 32 points, followed by Bentonville (56), Springdale Har-Ber (100), Fayetteville (110), Little Rock Catholic (137), and Bryant (179). Rogers Heritage (222), Springdale (223), Van Buren (246), and Cabot (282) rounded out the top 10 teams.

The Hornets remaining runners were Connor Wilson (34th in 17:20), Tyler Purtle (45th in 17:32), Ben Majors (49th in 17:36), Nicholas Schmidt (54th in 17:44), Stephen Cockmon (65th in 18:11), Nathan Stewart (67th in 18:12), Dru Wen (70th in 18:20), and Derek Vos (96th in 19:13).

“I’m very pleased with our performance today,” said Hornets coach Steve Oury. “Charlie Terry ran a spectacular race, beating his personal record time by over 30 seconds. He got off to a strong start and never let up. We knew he was ready for a breakthrough race and he picked a great time to have one.

Tyler Purtle

“I’m also very happy for Tyler Purtle,” he continued. “He has worked so hard to recover from a stress fracture in his foot and he came through as our third runner today, running over 30 seconds faster than he did at conference.

“All of the guys have a lot to be proud of, and with the exception of Purtle, who is a senior, they all have the chance to come back next year,” Oury noted.