LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Friday night lights take on a new meaning in Searcy, Ark., as Little Rock returns to the Steve Guymon Invitational following last year's close battle with Harding, where the teams swapped first and second in the men's and women's races.
Last year, Little Rock's women claimed first place and the men finished second, while Harding flipped the results with the men in first and the women in second. The invitational drew nine teams, with a similar turnout expected this year.
The men will run a 4-mile race, and the women will tackle a 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course. Sophomore
Zac Rutherford and junior
Shane Fisher will be exciting to watch; they finished back-to-back last year and return as the Trojans' top runners. However, Rutherford is returning from an injury and will be easing into his first race of the year. Graduate
Jordan Smith returns to Harding after not finishing the race last year due to the beginning of a stress fracture.
Sophomore
Aaliyah Joshua, last year's women's champion, is looking to defend her crown, with freshmen
Eva Tice and sophomore
Kamryn Baggs close behind her after top-10 finishes at the UCA Bear Invitational.
After the Harding meet, Little Rock has just two more regular-season meets before the conference championship, but both will be bigger and more competitive. They'll feature some of the nation's top teams and runners. This Friday, head coach
Jordyn Naylon is eager to see her team grow and push through the heat in preparation for those upcoming challenges.
"We are looking forward to another low-key meet for the group this Friday up in Searcy. Compared to last year, it will be hotter by about 20 degrees, so it will be a tougher race in that respect. Our goal is to go out fast and ease into pace to simulate race strategy for our larger, more competitive meets coming up. It will be a really warm meet, so times will be slower, but we want to make sure we are staying as even as we can and being tough through the middle to later stages of the race, which some need to work on from our last meet. We have stacked some solid workouts the last two weeks, and I'm excited to see how they continue to progress through the season," said Naylon.
The Steve Guymon Invitational will be hosted by Harding University at the Harding Cross Country Course, 1214 Fuller Lane, Searcy. The women's race will start at 5:45 p.m., and the men's will start at 6:15 p.m.
For the latest information on Little Rock Cross Country/Track and Field, check out LRTrojans.com. You can also follow the team on social media at @LittleRockTFXC on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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