BY JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Beebe almost defended its state cross country championship on Sunday at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs. The Badgers finished second overall, 35 points behind new champions Siloam Springs. The Badgers also had two standout performances during the event. Jacob Hendricks finished second, and Cody Weimann had one of his best times of the year to take third right behind his teammate. Both Hendricks and Weimann earned spots in this Saturday’s all-star run at Fayetteville, where the top 25 runners from Arkansas will take on the 25 best that Oklahoma has to offer.
Beebe cross-country coach Johnathon Lindsay expected Hendricks to be strong, but Weimann exceeded all expectations with his strong run. “That was Cody’s best run all year, he really surprised us,” Lindsay said. “Jacob Hendricks has consistently been one of our strongest runners all year. It’s something special for the two of them to be invited to the all-star run, there has never been anyone from Beebe to go, so it is something to be proud of.”
Hendricks finished with a total time of 17:18.93, less than 30 seconds behind winner Luke Allen of Harrison. Weimann was right there with his teammate for the entire event, finishing less than a second behind Hendricks with a final time of 17:19.71. The pair finished 10 seconds ahead of fourth-place runner Seth Freeman of Greene County Tech.
The Badgers were hoping for a repeat after capturing the state title last year, but Siloam Springs had different plans. The Panthers finished with only 50 points, compared to 85 for Beebe. The gap between second and third in the final standings was a significant one, with GCT trailing the Badgers with 148 points for the meet.
Among other notable performances for Beebe was Colton Weimann finishing 22nd with a total time 18:25.94. Christian Garcia finished 27th with a time of 18:37.58 and Roz Gonzalez with 31st with a time of 18:48.77.