Murdock sets school mark; Lady Hornets 7th at State

Photos by Jason Majors and Julie Shelby

HOT SPRINGS — With a fourth-place finish in school record time, Bryant senior Melinda Murdock earned all-State honors, leading the Lady Hornets to a seventh-place finish at the Class 7A State cross country meet at Oaklawn Park Saturday.

Sydney Wilson

Sydney Wilson

Fayetteville took the team title with a score of 69 points. Rogers Heritage was runner-up with 75 points.  Rounding out the rest of the top 10 teams were Rogers (77), Bentonville (95), Sprindale Har-Ber (127), Mount St. Mary (160), Bryant (188), Van Buren (212), Springdale (237), and Cabot (240).

Murdock’s school record time was 19:17. Along with receiving a top 10 medal and all-State honors, Murdock was named a member of the Arkansas All-Star team that will face Oklahoma’s All Stars in Rogers next Saturday.

“Melinda ran a great race,” said Lady Hornets coach Danny Westbrook. “She went out and stayed with the leaders and had a great kick at the end.”

The Lady Hornets’ remaining runners were Caitlyn Bell (32nd, 20:47), Hannah Shelby (47th, 21:12), Talyn Billins (58th, 21:36), Gabby Crabtree (60th, 21:42), Sydney Wilson (65th, 22:05), Delaney Hunter (69th, 22:12), Rachel Curtis (79th, 22:43), and Reagan Smith (80th, 22:52).

“Even though we did not score well as a team, I was proud of the effort today,” Westbrook said. “We had several girls run personal-best times for the season. Despite not feeling well, I thought Caitlyn Bell did a good job battling all the way to the finish.  I thought Hannah Shelby also had an outstanding performance today.”

Melinda Murdock

Melinda Murdock

Talyn Billins

Talyn Billins

Gabby Crabtree

Gabby Crabtree

Delaney Hunter

Delaney Hunter

Hannah Shelby

Hannah Shelby

Caitlyn Bell

Caitlyn Bell

Reagan Smith, left, and Rachel Curtis

Reagan Smith, left, and Rachel Curtis

 

 

 

 

 

 

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