Hornets second in senior and junior divisions of home meet
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
Photos courtesy of Cynthia Austin
The Bryant Hornets hosted the Bryant Hornet Invitational on Saturday at Bishop Park, earning a second place finish out of 21 total teams. The Hornets scored a total of 132 points to finish behind team champion LR Catholic, which had 89.
Henry Terry led the way for the Hornets with a 16th place finish it a time of 17:41. Nick Fowler was the second Hornet across the line, placing 22nd in a new personal record time of 17:54.
The rest of the Hornet top seven were Alberto Rodarte (31st in 18:10), Decatur Austin (32nd in 18:11), Edgar Tejada (36th in 18:14), Blake Shields, (39th in 18:18), and Christian Brack (42nd in 18:30).
“We did a great job out there,” said Bryant coach Steve Oury. “We decided to hold out Chris Barrientos this week as a precautionary measure, so I thought we had several guys step up. Nick Fowler had a breakthrough race, as did Alberto Rodarte. Decatur Austin also ran a very strong second half of the race.
“We still have some work to do but I like the direction we are heading,” he added.
Bryant is scheduled to run at Conway, which is scheduled for next Saturday. The meet wraps up the regular season. The 7A-Central Conference meet is set for Monday, Oct. 23, at Western Hills Country Club in Little Rock.
Jr. Boys
Bresner Austin and Hagan Austin both finished in the top five overall to spark the Bryant Junior Hornets to a second-place finish in the team standings at the annual Bryant Invitational cross country meet at Bishop Park on Saturday.
The Junior Hornets scored 56 points to finish behind only Conway (31 points).
A total of 17 teams and 300 runners finished the race.
Bresner Austin took third place in a time of 10:54, with Hagan Austin finishing fifth in 11:00.
Rounding out Bryant’s top seven were Chris Herrera (13th in 11:48), Taj Van Tassel (15th in 11:55), Ammon Henderson (20th in 12:03), Johnny Chicas (23rd in 12:05), and Luis Martinez (24th in 12:05).
“The Austin brothers did a great job,” noted Oury. “It was a big breakthrough for Hagan Austin.
“Chris Herrera did a good job of battling through knee pain and Taj Van Tassel was solid as usual,” he added. “Ammon Henderson had a really good race to earn a top 20 medal.
“Our middle school coaches, Deanna Porter at Bryant Middle, and Denise Smith at Bethel, have done a great job,” the Oury said. “ Coach Lisa Dreher has really helped us on the high school campus with the ninth graders. Putting on a meet this size is a lot of hard work and we couldn’t do it without these coaches and the numerous parent volunteers who help to make it happen. Our booster club president, Lynn Dreher, does an amazing job, and was instrumental in organizing the concession stand and coordinating the parent volunteers.”
