By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Two Cabot runners placed in the Top-12 at the Minuteman 5K Cross Country meet Saturday at Western Hills Park in Little Rock. There were 289 senior high boys and 201 senior high girls competing at the massive event. Cabot junior Lauren Turner turned in a seventh-place performance, finishing in 20:47.82. Panther senior Greyson Kaufman was the highest local boys’ finisher, taking 12th place with a time of 17:28.52.
Carter Reynolds of Maumelle won the boys’ race with a time of 16:46.07. Josie Carson of Lake Hamilton took first place in the girls’ division with a time of 19:19.73.
Junior Lilly Loe was the next best Cabot runner for the girls. She ran a 23:27.35 to finish in position40, the top-20 percent. Sophomore Dewey Piper and junior Shannon Gardner were numbers 65 and 69, while sophomore Adrianna Peterson finished in 77th place.
Also finishing in the top half of the race was the Beebe duo of junior Marianna Richey and senior Courtney Smith. They were 95 and 96 respectively.
In the boys’ event, after Kaufman, the next best local finisher was Beebe junior Alex Burrow, who ran a 17:52.66 to finish and place 22 in his first time competing at the Minuteman. A pair of Cabot sophomores, Braden Leonard and Nicholas Wells, were 25 and 26 respectively, turning in solid efforts in their first varsity event.
Cabot junior Nick Blanford and his sophomore teammate Thomas Jasmin were 34 and 35, also finishing in the top 15 percent of all competitors. Cabot senior Blake Scott finished in 48th place. Junior Garrett Hardcastle, junior Sam Savage and sophomore Easton Usery were 71, 73 and 74 respectively.