By Kyle Roberts
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — What was supposed to be a five-hour trip south turned into a three-hour trip north for Ruston High’s cross country squad.
Inclement weather off of the gulf canceled a race in New Orleans on Friday but led to an opportunity to run at the Little Rock XC Classic in Arkansas.
And never mind the last second swap in venues — Ruston put up a dominant performance, winning first place in both the girls’ and boys’ respective races.
“I’m really happy and really proud of our kids’ performances today,” Ruston High head coach Dustin Cochran said. “The kids and I were really excited for (the New Orleasn) meet, and the circumstances could have been a recipe for a letdown this weekend. However, our kids knew the standard and they were really excited to chase it, no matter where we were running.”
The race was a 5K trek held at the War Memorial Golf Course, which Cochran described as hilly and challenging.
“Our teams stayed composed, ran the first half together and closed really well passing a lot of other runners in the last mile,” Cochran said. “It was exactly what we needed to do week one. It was a total team effort. Everyone played a really important part today.”
High school races in Arkansas use official times from five kilometer races (3.12 miles). In Louisiana, the official times will be converted to three miles flat.
For the boys, it was a team entirely made of up juniors, with Ben Boudreaux finishing fifth at 16 minutes, 18 seconds. Al-Amin Wilson took sixth at 16:18 with Taylor Huddleston at seventh with a time of 16:18. Joshua Daulton finished 15th at 16:36, while Luke Braswell took 25th at 16:54.
Wyatt Hancock placed 35th at 17:24, while Dawson Baker finished 43rd at 17:36.
On the girls’ side, junior Hallie Hebert led the way for third place at 19:24, while freshman Eden Dawsey finished in fifth at 19:36. Senior Parker Nations finished 11th place at 19:57, while senior Sydney Owens took 13th at 20:03.
Sophomore Aydan Murry placed 35th with a time of 22:00, while sophomore Anna Claire Williams took 63rd at 23:39. Sophomore Josie Bishop rounded out the Lady Bearcat finishers at 117th with a time of 26:39.
