‘Pack attack’ makes Bryant girls champs
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).
The Bryant Lady Hornets used their patented “pack attack” strategy to perfection Tuesday, and captured the inaugural 7A Central Conference Cross Country Championship. The Lady Hornets had previously won four-straight conference championships in the 5A Central Conference. This title makes it five in a row.
Bryant put nine runners in the top 20 places to score 49 points and outdistance runner-up Mount St. Mary who scored 66 points. Cabot was third with 79 points, followed by Russellville with 80 points. Conway finished fifth with 94 points, followed by North Little Rock with 161 points.
As the race developed, the Lady Hornets established their presence near the front of the race, sometimes packing six or seven together. By the second mile, it was obvious that barring a huge breakdown, the Bryant girls would prevail.
“We had talked all week about how important it would be to pack together and get the best possible place we could,” said Lady Hornets coach Danny Westbrook. “I never imagined we could minimize our gaps like we did. At one point halfway into the race, all you could see was a huge pack of Bryant blue and white. It was really nice to see.”
The Lady Hornets top three finishers of Sara Coker (7th, 21:50), Nicole Darland (9th, 22:10), and Brittany Hairston (10th, 22:14) all received top 10 medals and were named 7A Central All-Conference. Lennon Bates (11th, 22:17) and Melanie Bergen (12th, 22:28) despite just missing out on an individual medal, both played pivotal roles as Bryant’s fourth and fifth scorers.
Other finishers for Bryant were freshman Sammy Cyz (14th, 22:50), Chelsea Mansfield (16th, 23:04), M’Kenna Moore (17th, 23:13), Samantha Wirzfeld (20th, 23:35), Lola Fleming (21st, 23:43), Amber Westbrook (44th, 26:05), and Britnie Gortnie (72nd, 37:34).
“Today the Lady Hornets put on an awesome display of how you win a cross country meet,” Westbrook added. “We didn’t have anyone in the top 5 finishers of the race but starting with Sara Coker at 7th place the time gap for our scoring five was only 38 seconds and we only lost one place to an opposing team. I thought Lennon Bates did a great job of pacing our lead pack and Sara Coker did a great job of out-kicking a Russellville girl at the finish.”
