El Dorado dominated Saturday morning at the El Dorado Wildcat Invitational at South Arkansas Regional Airport. The host school won three of the four team titles and was second to Genoa Central in junior girls.
The Lady Wildcats placed five runners in the top 10 in the senior varsity race and had an average time of 21:42.10. El Dorado (16), Genoa Central (70), Rison (78), Hermitage (102) and Columbia Christian (103) were the top five teams.
“I could not have been more pleased with the varsity girls,” said El Dorado coach John Koonce. “That race went so well. They were one point away from a perfect score.”
Jazmine Aguirre finished second with a time of 21:42.10, which broke the school record. Ainsley Colvin was third followed by Abby Mitchell (5th), Sarahi Rodriguez (6th), Corin Melear (10th), Nadalee Pumphrey (15th) and Eliana Rodriguez (17th).
Hampton’s Audrey Bethea won the senior girls’ race with a time of 20:55.
“She broke the course record. The girl from Hampton had a really good race,” said Koonce. “I challenged our number one runner to beat her and the girl from Monticello. She beat the girl from Monticello but the girl from Hampton just had more than she did today. All credit to that young lady. She had an excellent race and lowered the course record by 15 seconds.”
“I think I ran a lot better than I was expecting myself to,” said Bethea, a sophomore. “I went in with a lot of nerves. I’m very surprised. I’m a studier so I studied the times of some people. I knew there were some fast times but I just ran my own race today.”
The Wildcats won the senior boys’ title with an average time of 18:21.78. El Dorado scored 20 followed by Magnolia (41), Genoa Central (81) and Hermitage (103).
“One of our top five (runners) went down. He got hurt in the race, twisted his ankle,” said Koonce. “Our number six stepped up in a big way to make sure the team was still strong. Magnolia has a solid team and we handled them.”
Zachary McMillon won the race with a time of 16:44.21. He was followed by freshman Julian Marques (2nd), Oscar Garcia (5th), Eli Rodriguez (7th), Charlie Conner (8th), Jake Dilworth (14th) and Ignacia Chavez (24th).
McMillon easily won the individual crown.
“He was out on that island by himself,” said Koonce. “He didn’t have his best day. He was dealing with some blisters and they all busted on him. His shoes were soaked in blood by the end of the race. But he still had a good day.”
El Dorado’s junior high boys totaled 16 to beat Genoa Central (60), Monticello (81), Hermitage (103) and Emerson (119).
Eighth grader Bailey Morgan won the race followed by Jackson Smith (2nd), Caleb Digby (4th), Grant Dorcy (5th), Alejandro Holland (9th), Matthew Morgan (10th) and Bladimir Trujillo (14th).
Genoa Central won the junior high girls with 17 followed by El Dorado (93), Pleasant Grove (103), Hermitage (107), Columbia Christian (117), Star City (150), Parkers Chapel (174), Monticello (176) and Junction City (207).
Jane Wilson led the Lady Wildcats, finishing 7th followed by Abby Knighton (10th), Carolina Sneed (30th), Adelynn Griffin (38th), Loren Freeman (48th), Iovanna Hernandez (52nd) and Cami Melear (53rd).