PARKWAY'S CHEYENNE OSLSON SET A COURSE RECORD AT THE OPENER IN THE 4K (16:49.83)
At least three North Louisiana cross country programs took road trips to the begin the 2022 season. The Parkway and Ruston took I-20 East to The Opener in Clinton, Mississippi, while Benton traveled to San Antonio for the FEAST Patriot Invitational.
Parkway junior Cheyenne Olson put the Panthers in the record books at The Opener by setting the course record in 4K with a 16:49.83. Ember Pierce was second in the race with a 17:24.
"I didn't expect much from our girls because we are super young," Parkway head coach Kent Falting said. "I wanted to ease them in with a 4k to get a look at where we are. It was very impressive for us to come away with a 1-2 finish and course record."
Led by Olson and Pierce, the Parkway girls won the 4k race, scoring 37 points. Cathedral School finished second with 52.
Other Panthers finishing in the top 16 in the 4k girls race were; Lauren Taylor (18:49), Racquel Rios (19:09), and Ariel Morrow (20:20)
Falting said Olson didn't know she had set the course record until they announced it at the awards ceremony.
"She looked like she was going to do cartwheels when they announced it," Falting said. "She was pretty pumped."
Another Parkway runner who was pumped about his performance at The Opener was Gabe Falting, who ran a 16:14 and finished fourth in the 5k race, breaking his personal record by a minute.
Other Panthers finishing in the top 20 include Andrew Kent (17:04), Gary Smith (17:31), Charles Ernest (17:51), and Noah Fox (17:57.)
"It's hard to tell exactly where they are at when we haven't competed in so long," Falting said of his son's performance. "We had an idea based of a time trial a weeks ago. I think we were pleasantly surprised."
As a team, Parkway finished third with 64 points. Ruston, who had five boys in the top ten, won the team title.
Falting likes taking his runners to another state to run against quality competition to start the season.
"I think it's a good get away," Falting said. "It allows the kids to see where they stack up against some very good competition in other states, and the competition is similar to what they are going to face from the runners in South Louisiana."
Meanwhile, in San Antonio, Benton was led on the girls' side by freshman Claire Allen, who finished No. 36 with a 5k time of 19:40.
Not far behind at No.75 was Isabelle Russell, who posted a 20:40.
Benton sophomore Dominic Helverson paced the Benton boys' team with a place of 112th and a time of 17:16. Also, freshman Brody Hutchinson had an impressive debut for the Tigers, running a time of 17:24.