By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Only three teams competed in the Cabot Panther Cross Country Invitational last Tuesday, but the Lady Panthers dominated the action, taking four of the top five spots at the Austin Activities Center cross country course.
After struggling through a series of races in which health issues surfaced, Cabot senior Samantha Nickell won her first race of the season, finishing with a time of 20:51.55 to beat out Hot Springs Lakeside’s Emily Milboun by 12 seconds.
Three Cabot sophomores rounded out the top five, including Casey Gore, who finished third with a time of 21:10.60. Bailey Lebow, who had been the team’s fastest runner at two previous meets, was fourth with a time of 21:39.28, and Brayden Giesler was fifth at 22:04.54.
Searcy’s Jessica Mitchell finished sixth. Cabot’s Chloe Thompson and Erin Bowie were seventh and eighth. Searcy’s Lauren Ramey finished ninth and Lakeside’s Carley Geraci rounded out the top-10.
The Cabot boys dominated the top-10 of their race as well, but it was Lakeside’s Nikolai Whelpley who won the race with a time of 17:24.12. Only one other non-Cabot runner finished in the top-10.
Cabot’s Jordan Woodson was second with a time of 17:33.86. Sophomore Greyson Kaufman finished third for the Panthers while sophomore Blake Scott was fourth. Gardner Howze, another sophomore, had a better outing as he works back from hip problems that have hampered his performances recently. He finished fifth with a time of 18:56.83.
Stuart Nickell took sixth. Cabot’s Guyor Wells was seventh while Lakeside’s Nathan Hugentobler was eighth. Cabot’s Alex Robinson and Tyler Thompson were ninth and 10th.
Three Lakeside runners swept the top-three in the junior boys’ 3,200-meter race. Gideon Drake won by a wide margin with a time of 11:26.14. Nathan Reynolds was second at 12:00.70. Jonathan Lockhart was the top Cabot finisher at fourth place. Collin Hines and Thomas Jasmin were fifth and sixth for Cabot.
In the junior girls’ 3,200, Lakeside’s Claire Evans won with a time of 12:12.96 and Searcy’s Mia Maples was second at 13:47.08. Cabot’s Katelynn Burnett took third place with a time of 14:06.20.
After two more HSL runners, the Cabot trio of Ashlynn Ball, Ashley Killingsworth and Stephanie Thomas finished sixth through eighth, respectively.
AT BRYANT
In other cross country races, the Beebe and Sylvan Hills teams took part in the Bryant Hornet Invitational on Saturday. That meet featured 15 teams from around the state. Beebe’s Taylor McGraw finished 13th out of 185 competitors in the varsity girls’ competition. Elizabeth Gillette won the race and was one of three Trinity Christian runners to finish in the top-10.
Natalie Childress finished 26th for Beebe while Gabriella Marquez was Sylvan Hills’ top finisher at 29th.
Gus McCoy finished 22nd for Beebe out of 232 runners. He was 1:27 behind winner Auggue Morgan of Sheridan, who finished in 16:50.96.
