Lindsley second for the fourth time; this time by less than a second
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).
HOT SPRINGS — Luke Lindsley earned his fourth consecutive runner-up finish to lead the Bryant Hornets to a sixth-place showing out of 24 teams at the Lake Hamilton Invitational on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.
Lindsley, LR Central’s Jerry Melnyk, and Marion’s Jacob Schultz broke free from a large lead pack about halfway through the 5 kilometer (3.1 mile) race. Melnyk, who won last week’s Russellville Invitational, opened up a 20 meter lead on Lindsley with about 800 meters to go, only to see the lead shrink in the closing meters. Melnyk held on for the victory in a time of 16:25.83, with Lindsley less than a second behind (16:26.73) and Schultz just under three seconds back (16:28.72).
“What can you say about Luke?” said Hornets coach Steve Oury. “He is running great races week after week, and I know it is probably frustrating him that he is getting second over and over, but in yesterday’s race he beat 277 runners and only lost to one. Lots of guys would like to trade places with him right now. There are no guarantees in running, but if he keeps running the way he is, then good things are going to happen.”
Russellville won the meet with a score of 59, followed by LR Catholic (85), Lake Hamilton (90), Ruston, La. (92), Heber Springs (152), and Bryant (167). Other 7A Central teams competing in the meet were Conway (9th with 289) and North Little Rock (10th with 317).
Rodrigo Rodarte earned a top 30 medal with an 18th place finish in a time of 17:37. The rest of the Hornet’s top 10 runners were Kevin Nalley (58th in 19:08), Jesse Wolf (61st in 19:19), Michael Smith (64th in 19:22), Peter Alverio (78th in 19:39), Josh Pultro (81st in 19:42), Dylan Ball (89th in 19:54), Tyler Nelson (96th in 20:06), and Forrest Fowler (98th in 20:09).
“Teamwise, we really struggled,” Oury acknowledged. “I think it was a combination of factors that caused some of the guys to struggle, not the least of which was the heat. We also had a hard workout on Wednesday that probably left some of the guys a little tired. I would rather have it happen now than at conference or state.”
The Hornets head to Fayetteville next week for the annual Chile Pepper Invitational.
