Parkway won the boys team championship and Benton senior Mason Haley took the individual title in the District 1-5A cross country meet Thursday afternoon at Benton High School.
Parkway, with four runners in the top 10, scored 40 points. Byrd was second with 62 and defending champion Benton third with 81.
It’s Parkway’s seventh boys championship under Head Coach Kent Falting but the first since 2017.
Parkway finished runner-up in the girls division. The Lady Panthers scored 56 points. Byrd, which placed six runners in the top nine, including the top two finishers, won with 20. Haughton finished third with 84.
Haley, who has had an outstanding season, covered the 5K course in 15 minutes, 52.6 seconds.
Byrd’s Trent Wells was second in 16:01.73 and Parkway’s Gabriel Falting third in 16:19.58.
Haughton’s Kenneth Smith finished fourth in 16:25.43.
Other Parkway runners in the top 10 were Gary Smith (sixth, 17:08.68), Adrian Orellana (ninth, 17:19.13) and Andrew Kent (10th, 17:22.07).
Benton’s Austin Parker finished eighth in 17:22.33.
Captain Shreve’s Evan Johnson was fifth.
The top-10 finishers earned All-District honors.
Parkway’s Cheyenne Olson finished third in the girls race in 20:21.66, less tha a second behind runner-up Hudson Roberts of Byrd. Benton’s Isabelle Russell was fifth in 21:17.57.
Parkway’s Ember Pierce also earned All-District honors with a 10th-place finish in 21:36.87.
Byrd’s Jenna Key won going away in 18:36.51.
Byrd runners Arden Brainis, Anna Spencer Frierson, Lillian Blaylock and Martha Sistrunk finished sixth through ninth, respectively.
Other parish runners finishing in the top 20 in the boys division were Parkway’s Jesus Cordova (12th), Airline’s Lincoln Gines (14th), Parkway’s Carson Keeler (17th), Parkway’s Charlie Ruliffson (19th) and Parkway’s Alex Gomez (20th).
Other parish runners in the top 20 in the girls division were Haughton’s Shelby Haley (11th), Parkway’s Landry Johnson (13th), Haughton’s Reagan Hodge (15th), Parkway’s Laila Brimmer (17th), Benton’s Emmalyn Burns (18th), Haughton’s Lauren Tibbits (19th) and Parkway’s Emily Rogers (20th).
The Region I-5A meet is Nov. 4 at Lincoln Parish Park in Ruston. The Class 5A state meet is Nov. 16 at Northwestern State.
