Murdock sets school mark; Lady Hornets 7th at State

Photos by Jason Majors and Julie Shelby

HOT SPRINGS — With a fourth-place finish in school record time, Bryant senior Melinda Murdock earned all-State honors, leading the Lady Hornets to a seventh-place finish at the Class 7A State cross country meet at Oaklawn Park Saturday.

Sydney Wilson

Fayetteville took the team title with a score of 69 points. Rogers Heritage was runner-up with 75 points. Rounding out the rest of the top 10 teams were Rogers (77), Bentonville (95), Sprindale Har-Ber (127), Mount St. Mary (160), Bryant (188), Van Buren (212), Springdale (237), and Cabot (240).

Murdock’s school record time was 19:17. Along with receiving a top 10 medal and all-State honors, Murdock was named a member of the Arkansas All-Star team that will face Oklahoma’s All Stars in Rogers next Saturday.

“Melinda ran a great race,” said Lady Hornets coach Danny Westbrook. “She went out and stayed with the leaders and had a great kick at the end.”

The Lady Hornets’ remaining runners were Caitlyn Bell (32^nd, 20:47), Hannah Shelby (47^th, 21:12), Talyn Billins (58^th, 21:36), Gabby Crabtree (60^th, 21:42), Sydney Wilson (65^th, 22:05), Delaney Hunter (69^th, 22:12), Rachel Curtis (79^th, 22:43), and Reagan Smith (80^th, 22:52).

“Even though we did not score well as a team, I was proud of the effort today,” Westbrook said. “We had several girls run personal-best times for the season. Despite not feeling well, I thought Caitlyn Bell did a good job battling all the way to the finish. I thought Hannah Shelby also had an outstanding performance today.”