SEARCY, Ark. — Little Rock shined at the Steve Guymon Invitational, with graduate
Jordan Smith winning the men's race and junior
Shane Fisher taking second as both Trojan squads secured runner-up team finishes on a hot Friday night.
Little Rock had previously performed well in Searcy last year and was looking for a similar result this evening. The women's 5K began at 5:45 p.m., and even at that hour the heat was relentless. Still, the Trojans went out fast. Freshman
Eva Tice surged to the front and set the pace through the opening mile, with sophomores
Kamryn Baggs and
Aaliyah Joshua a few spots behind. As the race wore on, the heat began to slow Little Rock, but Tice and Baggs held strong as the team's top finishers, Tice placing fifth in 19:34.90 and Baggs ninth in 21:09.97. Junior
Kennedie Rhein also turned in a solid effort, finishing 11th.
As the women wrapped up their race, the men's four-mile was about to begin. They took off quickly, with Smith and Fisher moving to the front to set the tempo. Freshman
Zach Morin held steady a few spots back, battling in his first outing on the Harding course. Smith claimed the title in 20:02.64, with Fisher just five seconds behind at 20:07.15. Morin secured ninth in 20:38.23, while sophomore
Owen Church trimmed more than a minute off his previous best, posting a personal record of 22:37.78.
Little Rock performed well, and head coach
Jordyn Naylon is excited about Smith and Fisher, as well as the team's performances.
"Really happy with Jordan and Shane's effort today despite the heat. I believe it was about a 30 second PR for Shane compared to last year. They stayed in the lead pack and finished really strong so that was really fun to see then coming down the finish shoot.
I think the men had a solid showing with Owen also hitting about a 30 second PR on the course. Morin and King had a solid fight as well. On the women's side, Eva and Kamryn ran well and took a chance on a hot day finishing 5th and 9th. Kennedie moved up well despite being worried about the heat beforehand. I think on the women's side, we are fit, but mentally we still have some work to do with confidence in races, especially in tough conditions, which we will be working on moving forward."
Little Rock has three weeks off until its next race on Oct. 4 in Fayetteville, Ark., at the Chile Pepper Festival.
Full results for Little Rock can be viewed below.
Little Rock Women
Name Place Time
Little Rock Men
Name Place Time
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