“Promoting participation in and support for cross-country
and track and field in Arkansas secondary schools.”
2000 ARKANSAS-OKLAHOMA HIGH
SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY ALL-STARS MEET
MEET RECAP
On a
gorgeous day in Fayetteville, Arkansas the Arkansas-Oklahoma High School Cross
Country All-Stars renewed their annual rivalry at the Razorback Cross Country
Course. Each state was represented by
25 of their top girls and boys. With partly cloudy skies, a 10-15 breeze from
the east and a low 40s temperature, the course and weather cooperated to
provide conditions for a fast race.
The
runners did their part as well.
In the
Girls 4K race, Jessie Gordon of Plainview, OK took the early lead and passed
the mile marker at 5:43 followed by Oklahoma’s Amanda Jordan of Bishop
McGuinness and Beth Madson of Lake Hamilton who was the first Arkansas runner
trailing slightly. Madson, a freshman,
showed the crowd what she could really do after a sub-par performance at last
week’s Arkansas State 5A Championship where she toughed out a 29th
place finish in the mud and rain at Hot Springs where she ran with the
flu. Not today.
As the
race played out, Oklahoma began to solidify their lead while Mt. Home’s (AR)
Dawn Crawford, moved into 4th trying to chase down Madson. Hot on Crawford was Kimbri Lettkeman of
Watonga, OK. In a race where the first
10 finishers from each team determined the score, Oklahoma put five in the Top
7 and four in the next seven.
At the
finish, Gordon won in an impressive 14:37 (about 5:51 per mile) over 2nd
place Jordan’s 14:58 and 3rd place Madson who crossed in 15:12. Crawford was 4th in a hard finish
with 15:20 with Lettkeman close behind in 15:23.
Oklahoma
won the Girls team results 84-130.
The
Boys blasted out of the starting boxes then settled down to hit the first mile
in only 5:05 with a large pack within 15 yards. By the 1.5 mile mark Eric Gross of Mt. Home, Arkansas Class 5A
State Champion and winner of the Chile Pepper Race on this same course earlier
this year, began to surge ahead and separate from the pack. The halfway mark saw Arkansas runners Logan
Thomas (Mt. Home), Scott Swearengin (Rogers), Chris Behrens (Cabot) and Eric
Brock (Russellville) forming a pack with Peter Marston of Mt. Home about 10th.
Gross
continued his charge by opening a 15-20 second lead at the two mile mark
cruising by in about 9:55 for a 4:50 second mile. By now Marston had put on a surge that brought him up with the
trailing pack while 10-15 runners were still in the hunt for the Top 5 spots.
The
finish line found Gross taking first in a season’s best 15:11 (about 4:54 per
mile) indicating the last mile at a quick 4:47 pace. The Mt. Home runners proved once again why they won the Arkansas
5A in 2000 as Logan Thomas grabbed 2nd with 15:46 and Peter Marston
took third in 15:54. Right behind
Marston was a stride-for-stride sprint the last 200 with Justin Edsell of
Watonga, OK winning a photo finish over Scott Swearengin of Rogers, AR with
both runners timed in an identical 15:57.
Chris Behrens of Cabot, AR was close behind for 6th at 16:00
and Erick Brock of Russellville, AR took 7th at 16:05. Five runners raced the last 400 within yards
of one another to finish within a span of 16:08 to 16:12 as Marco Jimeniz of
Capitol Hill, OK claimed 8th, Tyler Schneideberg of Edmond Memorial
took 9th, Marshall Medicine Bear of Watonga, OK came in 10th
and Jake Conley of Rogers, AR edged in at 11th.
The
Arkansas Boys put six in the Top 7 to grab a 80-130 win.
©ArkansasTrackStats.com
November 2000