ARKANSAS STATE MEET

Bentonville Wins 7th Straight 6A Crown With 17 Points

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

The Bentonville boys ran close to perfection Thursday at the Arkansas State Cross Country Championships.

Led by Matthew Shelly’s winning time of 15 minutes, 19.43 seconds, Bentonville scored an impressive 17 points to claim the Class 6A title, the program’s seventh straight championship. The Tigers captured the top three spots as Owen Kelley was second (15:21.61) and James American Horse was third (15:29.20).

In total, Bentonville had all six in the top 10 and seven in the top 22 in the 5,000-meter race held at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs. 

On the girls side, Bentonville’s bid for a sixth-straight state title was cut short. Rogers edged out the defending champs by five points, 35-40. Bentonville's Haley Loewe, who set a meet record last year, easily defended her individual title in 17:49.77. 

The Mountain Home boys had four runners place in the top 10 to score 39 points and defend the 5A title. Lakeside's Joseph Bariola dominated the race, winning in 15:22.06, nearly 50 seconds faster than the next finisher. 

After winning the program’s first state title, the Greenwood girls claimed their second in a row. Led by Carole Werner’s third-place finish, Greenwood tallied 65 points to claim the crown. 

Aubrey Minton of Valley View claimed the 5A individual win in 19:14.89.

After placing third a year ago, Pea Ridge’s Tian Grant took over more than 30 seconds from his time to win the 4A title in 16:20.25 and help his team to another state title with 72 points. 

The Gravette girls did just enough — three in the top seven — to defend their 4A title with 60 points as Clinton was runner-up with 62 points. Clinton’s Maddie Cabana won the race in 18:36.80, more than 90 seconds ahead of the next runners. 

3A-1A - Friday, November 3

The Episcopal Collegiate girls did just enough to defend their 3A title with 42 points, Harding, which was led by Elle Williamson’s first-place finish in 19:53.29, was second with 45 points. 

West Fork scored 73 points to win the 3A title with four runners in the top 20. Bald Knob’s Owen Shafer won his first individual title in 16:49.82. 

Jacen Heiner led Haas Hall to a 2A title winning in 17:37.07. Haas Hall had five runners in the top 19. 

The Quitman girls won the 2A team title again with 31 points, placing five in the top 15. Individually, Bella Tedder of Acorn won the 2A girls title in 20:36.37. 

Isaac Pohlmeier of Ozark Catholic led his team to another 1A crown winning the race in 16:31.04 as all five finished in the top 10. 

In 1A girls, Missy Wilson of Viola won in 20:44.29 while Kingston placed five runners in the top 15 to defend their title. 

TEAM CHAMPIONS

Class 6A: Bentonville boys 17 points; Rogers girls 35 points - RESULTS

Class 5A: Mountain Home boys 39 points; Greenwood girls 65 points - RESULTS

Class 4A: Pea Ridge boys 72 points; Gravette girls 60 points - RESULTS

Class 3A:  West Fork boys 73 points; Episcopal Collegiate girls 42 points - RESULTS

Class 2A: Haas Hall boys 40 points; Quitman girls 31 points - RESULTS

Class 1 A: Ozark Catholic boys 32 points; Kingston girls 37 points - RESULTS