El Dorado opened its cross country season Saturday with the Wildcats finishing sixth in the Warrior Invitational in Texarkana. El Dorado was led by Jadon Cunningham and Hayden McDiarmid, who placed second and third, respectively, in the varsity boys race.
“This was a great way to start the 2019 cross country season. The kids ran against some great competition and really stepped up to the challenge,” said El Dorado coach John Koonce.
Genoa Central's Dalton Jones won the 5000-meter race with a time of 17:51.29. Cunningham was second with a time of 18:09.34 followed closely by McDiarmid, who turned in a time of 18:17.30.
“I can say with confidence that those two put down the best individual performances ran by an EHS athlete since I arrived here,” Koonce said. “They both have the goal to break 18 this year and to get this close in September in this heat is a good sign that their goal is in reach. The kid from Genoa that beat them is a quality athlete and I'm sure they will be ready to see him again.”
John David Halstead, (21st), Eloy Rodriguez (27th) and Christian Torres (36th) rounded out El Dorado's top five finishers followed by Calvin Huang and Edwin Gonzalez.
Pleasant Grove won the team title with 38 followed by Genoa Central (59), Texas High (68), Nashville (103), Hope (115) and El Dorado (140).
Parkers Chapel's varsity boys were led by Spencer Frisby, who finished 37th overall. He was followed by Korbin McAuliffe (65th), Wyatt New (72nd), Mason Dougan (96th) and Payten Tompkins (97th).
“Overall, I thought the vast majority of our athletes put forth their best effort and I feel like we all learned more about ourselves, which, in turn, will help us get better in the future,” said PC coach Justin Welch.
Smackover was led by Dylan Calloway, who finished 89th.