The Russellville Cross Country teams traveled to War Memorial Stadium on Saturday for The Little Rock Classic and achieved great success. The junior girls
won the meet, the junior boys and varsity girls were runners-up and varsity boys 5th in the 33 team field that had a whopping 1600 runners.
Sophomore Carson Walker continues his rise as one of the best in his class in the entire state finishing 6th in 16:40 for Cyclones. This is always a tough course and hot conditions made it worse. Junior Jaxon Smith is always getting better. He also medaled in 11th. Sophomore Jeremy Amaya was third for the team. He is seeing results for good practice habits. Steady senior Jake Linton was fourth. He always sets a tremendous example. Sophomore Anmol Shrestha rounded out the scoring.
The Lady Cyclones were second after receiving medal winning performances from Madelyn Honghiran (6th), Paxtin Lawlis (10th) and Alyvia Davis (15th). These three can always be counted on to lead the team. Junior Emma Morris had her best race in two years and newcomer to the team Harper Miller rounded out the scoring. Both high school teams are progressing. Developing much better quality depth is going to be huge as we move closer to championship season.
The Junior Boys should have won the meet but there were course direction issues that adversely affected the times of a couple of scorers. 8th grader Issac Paul (5th) is a rising star, Freshman Cooper Rogers (6th) has really matured and is having a breakout season. Oliver Castro (14) is very talented. Having two 7th grade boys in your top five is tough to do. Austin Lindsey and Tony Acosta did just that.
The Junior Girls were the Champions of the day! Grace Ruple (6th) and Haylinn Arias (14) led the team last year and did so again on Saturday. 8th grader Rowan Lawlis works hard and it is paying off. She also medaled. Classmate Emerson was right behind her in 23rd and talented 7th grader Shaleigh Jackson rounded out the scoring.
All four teams return to action on Saturday at ATU when Russellville hosts The Cyclone Invitational. Senior Girls kick things off at 8:30AM.