Bentonville Continues Its Title Run In Arkansas

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

The legacy of the Bentonville cross country program continued Thursday at the Arkansas High School Cross Country Championships at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs. Headlined by a dominating performance by the girls team, Bentonville swept the 6A titles for the fourth consecutive year. 

Madison Galindo led the way for the Bentonville girls, winning the 5,000-meter race in a personal best time of 18 minutes, 30.6 seconds. Bentonville had six runners in the top eight to score 27 points.

On the boys side, Bentonville raced to its fifth-straight title, scoring 47 points. Individually, Fayetteville’s Hudson Betts won in 15:50.28, guiding his team to a second-place finish. 

In 2A, the Acorn boys and Quitman girls both repeated as champions. Quitman placed four runners in the top 4, as Cedar Ridge’s Kate Provence won the individual crown in 20:15.02. 

After a runner-up finish last year, Acorn’s Justice Neufeld came back strong in 2021 to win the individual title in 16:48.95 to lead his team to a state title. 

Led by Aubrey Henderson’s first-place victory (21:24.72) the Kingston girls easily ran away with the 1A crown, scoring 27 points. Kingston placed five runners in the top 20.  

The boys 1A title was claimed by Ozark Catholic (54 points) as Isaac Pohlmeier finished runner-up (17:37.23) for Ozark. The individual title was won by Hermitage’s Joseph Garay in 17:24.97 as he defended his title, cutting 20 seconds off his time from a year ago. 

5A-3A Friday

A close race across most of the 5K course, it was Mountain Home senior Andrew Westphal, winning the 5A boys title in a time of 15:41.62. The team title was won for the second straight year by Lake Hamilton with 48 points as Evan Armitage was second individually (15:53.32). 

The Mountain Home girls defended their 5A team title with 72 points, as Olivia Pielmeier of Lake Hamilton clocked an impressive time of 18:44.61, the only runner to go under 19 minutes. 

In 4A action, Clarksville junior Matthew Dunsworth defended his title, running 16:34.16, an improvement from 2020. The team title was won by De Queen, its first state title since 2011. 

The girls 4A was another dominating performance from the Valley View girls. The team defended its title, scoring 35 points with four runners in the top 10. Individually, Julia Whorton of Gravette won in 20:02.45. 

The Jessieville boys team won the program’s first state title winning the 3A led by sophomore Kaleb Eskew’s first-place victory in 17:01.58.

The girls 3A team title was claimed by Episcopal Collegiate with 62 points. Juliah Rodgers of Jessieville made it a program sweep individually, as she won in 19:01.42.

Team Champions

Class 1A: Ozark Catholic boys 54 points; Kingston girls 26 points

Class 2A: Acorn boys 44 points; Quitman girls 36 points 

Class 3A: Jessieville boys 52 points; Episcopal Collegiate girls 62 points

Class 4A: De Queen boys 78 points; Valley View girls 35 points

Class 5A: Lake Hamilton boys 48 points; Mountain Home girls 72 points

Class 6A: Bentonville boys 47 points; Bentonville girls 27 points