Sloan, Riley qualify for state

Brandon Sloan and Scott Riley have led the Mountain Home Tiger cross country team all season, and last Friday's District III 4A Cross Country Meet at Eagle Island State Park was no exception.

Sloan and Riley both set new personal bests for the year, and both qualified for the State 4A Cross Country Meet this Saturday, which will be held back at Eagle Island State Park.

Sloan ran a 17:06, which placed him seventh at district, and Riley came in 17th with a 17:53.

Victor Werner came in with a time of 21:00, Nico Pinque ran a 23:25, and Wes Haws ran his best race of the year, coming in with a time of 27:24.

None of the Mountain Home girls qualified for state, but most of them showed "tremendous improvements" in their times at district, their coaches noted.

Jesse Cameron improved her personal best to 23:58, and Kelci Robinson's new time was 24:41, Piper Coffin came in at 25:41, Courtney Ashford ran a personal best 29:17, Ariel Strasser ran a 29:31, Cami Pachner had a new best time of 30:12, and Sarah Hyde came in with a time of 31:19.

"I was really pleased with all the kids' efforts," said Tiger cross country coach Doug Root. "The girls ran very, very well considering they didn't finish very well (team-wise), but I was very, very pleased with their efforts."

Root expects some good efforts from Brandon Sloan and Scott Riley, who both qualified for state this year.

"I expect Brandon to finish in the top 10, and Scott is capable of popping one out there and could also run in the top 25, or at least the top half. I expect good performances from both of those over the weekend."

The State 4A Cross Country Meet is Saturday at Eagle Island State Park.