Hornets senior duo earn honors
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HOT SPRINGS — The Bryant Hornets senior duo of David Stafford and Graham Linder earned all-conference honors by finishing second and third, respectively, at the AAAAA-South Conference cross country championships held Thursday, Oct. 25, at Oaklawn Park.
The Lady Hornets placed five girls in the top 10 but couldn’t overcome the Lake Hamilton Lady Wolves for team honors.
Lake Hamilton swept the league honors as the boys topped Bryant and four other teams (Benton and Sheridan failed to field full teams) to capture a title.
“I’m pleased with our effort,” said Hornets head coach Bodie Nance. “We ran hard and competed well. Graham and Dave made all-conference which was expected and they came through as two senior leaders should.”
Stafford finished with a time of 16:54.97. Linder ran a 17:07.52. Lake Hamilton’s Burt Hicks took individual medalist honors by running a 16:35.43. Lake Hamilton placed all five of its scoring runners in the top eight to finish with 24 points. Bryant had 54. Texarkana was a distant third with 100.
Cody Walker, the Hornets No. 3 running most of the season, finished 13th overall with a time of 18:21.27.
“A big bonus was freshman Austin Johnson finishing fourth for the team in 18:27,” Nance mentioned. “He cut one minute off his time from last week on the same course. That was incredible.”
Josh Wright completed Bryant’s scoring quintet, running a 20:15.34 to place 25th.
Lake Hamilton placed four runners in the top five and all five scorers in the top eight in the girls competition. The result was a winning total of 19 points to Bryant’s 36. Pine Bluff was a distant third with 90.
Junior Candice James broke up a Lake Hamilton sweep of the top four by finishing fourth in 17:11.35.
Beth Madson of Lake Hamilton was medalist with a time of 15:37.35.
“I was disappointed in our intensity in this race,” commented Lady Hornets coach Danny Westbrook. “As a whole, we did not show the kind of courage we should have. We did not race today. We just went out and ran around the course. Racing involves being competitive — we were not competitive as a team today.
“We did have two girls that showed improvement from last week,” Westbrook added. “Tonya Fowler and Melanie Steel were the only members of the team that ran faster today than last week on the same course.”
Jessica Graham finished sixth for the Lady Hornets with a time of 17:32.50. Mandy Medlin was seventh in 18:02.94. Fowler’s effort proved good for a top 10 finish. Her 18:37.08 took ninth with Melanie Butler completing the scoring quintet with a 10th-place finish at 18:49.07.
The teams will compete in the Class AAAAA State Meet this Saturday, Nov. 3, on the Razorback Cross Country Course in Fayetteville. The Lady Hornets will be represented by seniors Medlin and Steele, junior James, sophomores Butler, Fowler, Graham, Jamie Waldron, and Amy Whitworth along with freshman Nicole Sample.
For the Hornets, seniors Linder, Stafford and Ethan Thompson, juniors Mark Pagan and Walker, sophomore Zach Roberson, as well as frosh Johnson, Wright and J.P. Snyder will compete.
“Our goals are a top 10 team finish and to send at least two runners to the All-Star meet,” Nance said of the Hornets.
