By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Cabot senior Micah Huckabee won the Minuteman 5K/2M Saturday in Little Rock by a wide margin. One other Lady Panther, Ashley Gore, finished in the top 14 while Beebe’s Tori Colbert turned in a good finish at 27th.
The Sylvan Hills girls, competing in the school’s first-ever cross country meet, had four runners finish in the top half of the 114-runner field.
“Not bad for a first meet,” said Sylvan Hills coach Grover Garrison. The Lady Bears’ lone senior, Justis Jakes, was Groverson’s highest finisher, coming in at 24:25.98 to finish 42nd.
But it was Huckabee that dominated the field. She completed the course in 19:20.94, more than 30 seconds ahead of second place Lauren Campbell of Conway. The next seven competitors after Huckabee finished within 20 seconds of each other. Gore turned in a 22:10.26 time and Colbert turned in a 23:27.16.
Cabot’s Emily Dey and Brayden Giesler were 32 and 33 and Ashley Odom of Cabot took 36th place.
Sylvan Hills freshman Erykah Sanders took 47th, Cabot’s Rachel Murtishaw and Hailey Gorecke were 49th and 50th. Sylvan Hills freshman Chanel Miller was 52nd and junior Gabriella Marquez took 54th.
Vilonia’s Zach Rail won the boys’ race with a time of 15:55.78. Beebe’s Chris Owen was the highest local finisher at 20th. He finished with a time of 18:11.81. Cabot’s Caleb Schulte was only two places and five seconds behind Owen with a time of 18:16.37. Cabot’s Nick Davis turned in a top-30 performance as well, finishing in 18:32.87, good for 29th in the 143-man field.
Cabot will be back in action on Sept. 16 in Searcy while Cabot and Sylvan Hills will take part in the Conway Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 20.
