Photos courtesy of Cynthia Austin
CONWAY — For the second consecutive meet, the Bryant Junior Hornets earned a runner-up finish in a meet. This time, they placed only behind team champion Conway, the host of Saturday’s meet at Beaverfork Park Lake.
Conway had a team score of 39, with Bryant 15 points back at 54. There were a total of nine complete teams and 164 runners in the race.
Hagan Austin led the way for the Junior Hornets with a third-place finish in a time of 10:48. The rest of the Bryant top seven were Ammon Henderson (10th in 11:13), Taj Van Tassel (11th in 11:23), Johnny Chicas (14th in 11:33), Luis Martinez (16th in 11:32), Jessie Ibarra (17th in 11:34), and George Terry (19th in 11:41).
“We did a nice job of responding to competing without Bresner Austin,” said Bryant coach Steve Oury. “Hagan Austin did a good job and Ammon Henderson had his best meet of the year.
“Hats off to Conway,” he continued. “They moved up a couple of their best ninth graders to the senior high team and they still handily won the meet.
“I thought Johnny Chicas, Luis Martinez, and Jessie Ibarra all did a great job,” the coach mentioned. “We will need them all to run at their highest level to have a chance at the Walmart Junior High Championship Meet in two weeks.”
