Sophomore Tian Grant and junior Grandon Grant ran away from the field to finish first and second individually to pace the Blackhawk squad to a resounding victory in the season opening Shiloh Cross Country Invitational.
"The kids have been working hard and I'm very proud of our efforts!" head coach Heather Wade said.
The brothers broke away from the field to set the tone for a great day for the Blackhawk boys. Their 1-2 finish gave the Hawks an early 15-point lead over runner-up West Fork with the team's next three runners adding to the lead with Pea Ridge eventually winning by 23 points.
Tian Grant ran a fast 17:32 to top the 100 runners over the 5K course. Grandon Grant ran a quick 18:03 clocking to continue the onslaught. Troy Ferguson, a sophomore, finished 11th to push the Hawk lead out to 19, with junior Sebasttian Mullikin's 18th place in 20:31 adding 3 more points to the lead. Pea Ridge's sophomore Jacob Stein finished off the scoring, adding the final point to the lead as he finished 28th in 21:00.
Pea Ridge won with 47 points among the 17 schools competing. West Fork scored 70 to take second, with the remainder of the top 10 schools including: Farmington 120, NW Academy 125, Arkadelphia 147, Green Forest 157, Shiloh 157, Ozark Christian 162, Prairie Grove 176 and Huntsville 222.
Other runners for the championship boys team were: Zachary Etzkorn, 31st (21:00); Owen Reynolds, 67th (23:35); Garett Jacobs, 69th (23:37); Isaac Cruz, 70th (23.41); Joseph Peal, 72nd (24:11); Isaac Scates, 73rd (24:13); Phoenix Edmisson, 81st (25:38); Drake Satterwhite, 84th (26:43); and Davis Tenney, 88th (28:19).
Pea Ridge also competed with their high school girls and junior high teams with all three squads taking third place in the large fields. Coach Heather Wade's running Blackhawks were the only school to place all four teams in the top three.
Senior Liz Vasquez had the highest finish of the three teams, claiming fourth in the high school girls' 5K. Her time of 22:15 was just ahead of sophomore Rylee Raines who took fifth in 22:58 that gave the Lady Hawks a narrow 2-point lead over the field with Gravette the closest behind in points, after two runners in. Gravette then squeaked by the Hawks after three runners with a 4-point edge, with Harrison just two behind Pea Ridge. Gravette kept their 4-point lead after four runners but Harrison was now in second place, passing up the Hawks. The Goblins' fifth runner, outran the Lions' fifth as Harrison grabbed a tie for the title with both teams scoring 59. Pea Ridge gained ground on Gravette in the end but settled with 64 points for third place.
Teams scores were Harrison 59, Gravette 59, Pea Ridge 64, Shiloh 95, West Fork 127, Farmington 131, and Arkadelphia 135. The other 10 teams in the meet failed to finish five runners for an official score.
Kamree Dye had a high finish among the over 100 runners, taking 16th (24:12), with Ava Pippin finishing 18th (24:49); Allie King, 22nd (25:03); Kylie Tidwell, 30th (27:52); and Isabella Cruz, 47th (30:44).
Trey Bounds led the Junior High boys to a third place finish by landing in the top 10, placing ninth from among the 140 runners. Bounds ran the two-mile course in 12:18. The meet winner was Farmington 47, Shiloh 70, Pea Ridge 101, Berryville 104, West Fork 127, Huntsville 163, St. Vincent 194, St. Joseph 208, Eureka Springs 223, Arkansas Arts Academy 253, Haas Hall 273 and Prairie Grove 278.
Bounds was followed by Ayden Canada, 22nd (13:05); Cade Keith, 30th (13:38); Parker Tillman, 34th (13:45); Jackson Turner, 35th (13:48); Evan Escajeda, 55th (14:34); Mason Butler, 61st (14:38); Wyatt Dodson, 71st (15:11); Boston Powell, 90th (16:09); Sammy Wilkerson, 93rd (16:22); Gavin Ora, 97th (16:42); Jake Ryals, 105th (17:09); Liem Taylor, 107th (17:21); Camren Smith, 115th (18:58); Javier Salinas, 122nd (19:53); Isaiah Bott, 125th, (20:45); Chanon Nichols, 127th (21:43); Brandon Jacobson, 128th (22:38); Kyle Vermilyea, 130th (24:09), and Cade Cops, 131st (24:42).
The junior girls had nearly same score with an identical third place finish with Sadie Christenson being the Lady Hawks' No. 1 with a 13th place finish overall. She ran the two-mile course in 14:46. The team scores were St. Vincent 45, Farmington 89, Pea Ridge 103, St. Joseph 108, West Fork 125, Berryville 134, Shiloh 160, Gravette 205, Eureka Springs 211, and NW Academy 244. Eleven teams failed to qualify for a score.
After Christenson, the next finisher for Pea Ridge was Kennedy Fox, 23rd (15:38); then Isabelle Etzkorn, 28th (15:43); Emily Scott, 31st (15:55); Hallie Sexton, 36th (16:09); Bailey Walker, 40th (16:14); Wrynlee Nichols, 47th (16:30); Ashlyn Henson, 60th (17:31); Jennifer Burhus, 74th (18:59); Marlow Kelly, 78th (19:11); Brylee Hardy, 95th (21:48); Lillie Franz, 100th (22:59); Patricia Thorpe, 102nd (23:18), Anna Shmidt, 103rd (23:27); Chaselynn Jacobsen, 104th (23:29); Arianna Key, 105th (23:47); Rebecca Murray, 109th (24;30); Lacey Ayres, 111th (24:58); Hannah Ingalls, 112th (25:19), and Emilia Herd 115th (26:39).
The next action for Coach Wade's Hawks will be this Saturday in the Elkins Elks Invitational.
