Conway Christian and Conway High boys cross-country teams are amongst the favorites to capture a state title in their respective divisions on Saturday.
All cross-country teams will compete in the state meet in Mountain Home, with hopes of capturing a championship.
“It’s going to be tough to tell how we’re gonna do because we’ve had some bad weather, and it’s been a while since we ran in some good conditions,” Conway coach J.R. Ross said. “I would say that we should be one of the top four teams, but anything can happen if somebody has a good day and someone else has a bad one.”
The Wampus Cats’ division is scheduled to start at 2 p.m., with the 6A/7A girls following at 2:30 p.m. The Lady Cats have one of the top runners on their roster in Erika Setzler, who won the conference meet and helped lead the Conway girls to a third place finish.
“Erika has run strong everywhere that she has gone,” Ross said. “She looks good, and I was really proud of how the girls finished in conference.”
Conway Christian boys won an A/AA Central Conference championship at Guy-Perkins last weekend. The Eagles had three runners finish in the top 10. Conway Christian’s Lance Beckman finished first with a time of 19:47. Ethan Ellis placed third with a time of 20:28, and Mathew Bowlin followed in at eight with a time of 22:09.
“I’m proud of the guys and I think that they have a chance on Saturday,” Conway Christian coach Ashley Nance said. “Caddo Hills should be very strong, and Trinity Christian is the defending state champions, so they’ll be tough. I feel like that we have four very strong runners.”
