By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Cabot boys cross country team couldn’t rack up another win in the massive Fayetteville Chile Pepper 5,000 High School Invitational on Saturday, but it was able to get a top-20 team finish. The boys squad finished 15th out 59 teams and 479 competitors. The girls squad finished 28 of 49 schools in a race featuring 380 runners.
The invitational was only half of the high school event. There was also an open event for junior varsity runners, which consisted of 500 more runners from 42 schools on the boys side. The Cabot JV took 18th in that event. The girls did not participate in the open.
The four races included nearly 2,000 runners from eight different states, including Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama and Virginia.
Although the Cabot girls did not finish as highly as the boys in the team standings, senior Emily Myers and sophomore Allison Sinning had the top two individual performances for Cabot at the event.
Myers finished 18th out of 380 with a time of 18:52.2. Sinning was 27th with a time of 19:17.4.
For the boys, Scott Foltz was Cabot’s top finisher, crossing the finish line 53rd with a time of 16:35.5. Junior Casey Vaughan finished 74th of 479 with a time of 16:47.7
Also finishing in the top half of the invitational field for Cabot was senior Reed Harrell, who crossed the finish line in 17:14.8 for 120th, and senior Forrest Lair, whose time of 17:20.4 was 138th best.
Southlake Carroll High School in Texas dominated the event. The school had six of the top 10 boys finishers, although Cale Wallace of Cypress Ranch High School in Texas won the event with a time of 15:00.5. Carroll’s 22 total points far exceeded second-place Bentonville’s 155. Edmond Memorial High in Oklahoma was third while Colonial Forge High School of Virginia was fourth and Houston High of Houston, Tenn., rounded out the top five. Bishop-Kelly, Okla., was sixth; Hewitt-Trussville, Ala., was seventh; Cordova, Tenn., was eighth; Deer Creek, Okla., ninth; and St Mark’s School of Texas finished out the Top 10 in the boys invitational.
Southlake Carroll also won the girls invitational with 28 points. Colonial Forge was second with 107. Cy-Fair, Tex., was third and Branson, Missouri was fourth.
Arkansas schools fared better overall in the girls race. Bentonville was the highest in-state finisher, coming in fifth. Rogers was seventh, Rogers Heritage finished eighth and Lake Hamilton took ninth-place. Platte County, Mo., rounded out the Top 10.
Southlake Carroll and Bentonville finished first and second in the boys open as well. Southlake Carroll made it a sweep with a win in the girls open race. Batesville finished fifth in the girls open, topping the Arkansas schools.
