El Dorado's varsity boys' cross country team finished third Saturday in the Lois Davis Invitational, hosted by Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. Parkway (46) won followed by Ouachita (61) and El Dorado (89).
Jadon Cunningham led the Wildcats, finishing second overall.
Barton's Clarabeth Black finished third in the junior high girls division and Parkers Chapel's Ali Looney finished fifth in senior girls.
“Today was a great day for our runners,” said El Dorado coach John Koonce. “We had some great results in the varsity boys race.”
Cunningham, who finished behind Genoa Central's Dalton Jones, ran a personal best time of 16:53.
“This may be an EHS school record. I am confident that it is a school record for the SAU course,” Koonce said. “I am still researching to see if it is the overall record, but it is an outstanding result regardless.
“JD Halstead ran an 18:17. He just missed out on an individual award with a 12th place finish. He is continuing his upward trajectory and really returning to the form we new he was capable of. Rodrigo Torres placed 20th with an 18:59 finish. Eloy Rodriguez was 24th at 19:15, and Calvin Huang rounded out our top 5 with a 20:14 for 41st place. Alvin Gonzalez was 44th , Edwin Gonzalez was 50th, and Christian Rivas was was 66th.”
Melanie Miller led El Dorado's senior girls with a 24th-place finish in a time of 23:35. Addy Taylor was 31st in 24:18 followed by Eliza Brewster (40th), Priya Dod (52nd) and Iankel Gonzalez (56th).
“All of the girls ran their best times of the year. This was a fast course with ideal weather, and the girls' hard work in practice this week resulted in some great times,” said Koonce. “Iankel Gonzalez broke 30 for the first time with a 28:32. I'm proud of all the girls. Those top three took big jumps. Eliza has improved significantly the past month or so.”
The Lady Wildcats finished seventh.
Black, a seventh grader, led the Lady Wildkittens, running a 12:43 on the 1.85-mile course.
Carly Meadows was 12th followed by Madeline Kneeland (16th), Haven Margis (21st) and Hadley Margis (28th).
“This was a much better week for Madeline and Haven and that is the reason that we closed the gap some with those two teams in front of us,” said Koonce of Barton's third-place finish behind Genoa Central and Monticello.
Katelyn Hayden was 30th followed by Layla Webb (31st), Aubree Ezell (39th), Aubree Orr (43rd), Hannah Gatson (68th), and Crystal Flores (79th).
Jacob Neugebauer led Barton's boys, taking an individual award with his eighth-place finish in a time of 11:22. Jay Cooper Reep was 15th followed by Nic Harvey (17th), Zachary McMillon (49th) and Jy'Nickalus Wilson (50th).
“It was good to have Jay back this week after the asthma spell from last week. That helped bump the team score a little bit,” said Koonce.
Hunter Nutt (52nd), Samuel Odom (57th), Tony Vartenian (60th), Ismael Gonzalez (62nd), Lex Nash (68th), Michael Moore (73rd), Eli Rodriguez (77th) and Carson Chambers (79th) rounded out the Wildkittens' runners.
Parkers Chapel's Looney ran a personal best time of 20:46.1 to finish fifth in a field of 66 runners in the senior girls division.
Smackover's junior high girls placed fourth, led by Emily Camacho (26th), Abby Brewer (29th) and Tatum Watson (34th).
Smackover's junior boys were led by Evan Phillips (26th) and Zach Walthall (33rd).