HOT SPRINGS — With the senior high team taking the week off from competition, the Bryant Hornets junior high team competed at the Lake Hamilton Invitational on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. The Junior Hornets, missing four runners who have placed in their top five at various races during the season, finished third in the large school junior high division with a total of 118 points. Bentonville won the meet with 18 points and host Lake Hamilton placed second with 61 points.
Matthew O’Gary was the first Junior Hornet across the line, placing 22nd in a time of 12:31 over the 2.09 mile race. The rest of Bryant’s top seven were Ben Sellers (34th in 12:44), Logan New (37th in 12:46), Kakada Av (46th in 12:59), Blake Wilson (48th in 13:02), Christian Brack (61st in 13:19) and Jake Dreher (62nd in 13:19).
“We were short-handed so I thought we did the best we could with the crew we were running with,” said Hornets coach Steve Oury. “It’s frustrating when injuries and other circumstances affect some of your best athletes but that’s going to happen sometimes in all sports. It just means other athletes get the opportunity to step up. For us to still come in third in a meet this size is a credit to how hard the boys competed.”
