The Mountain Home High School cross country teams showcased strong performances Tuesday at the 5A-West Conference Meet. Held in Harrison, the meet marked an important step toward the postseason for the Bombers and Lady Bombers.
In the junior high races, Mountain Home’s girls finished seventh overall. Scoring runners for the junior girls included Hadelynn Withrow, Scarlett High, Relena White, Lydia Adler, and Nikole Edwards. The boys earned a third-place team finish, led by Daxtyn Small in 10th place and Jace Bickford in 11th. Fisher Thomas (29th), Jack Goodwin (30th), and Finn Eskew also contributed to the team’s points.
The senior girls delivered one of the day’s most notable performances, securing a runner-up finish. They earned 62 points behind conference champions Shiloh Christian. Lucy Koehn led the Lady Bombers with an 11th-place finish and a time of 21:50. Lucy Dodson followed in 13th place, Sicily Goettler in 18th, Blair Beyer in 19th, and Brooklyn Houle in 20th.
In the senior boys’ race, Mountain Home narrowly missed a podium finish, placing fourth with just two points separating them from third-place Farmington and 36 points behind Shiloh Christian, the champions. Simeon Costner ran an impressive race, finishing as the runner-up with a time of 17:06. Wave Simmons also placed in the top 10 with a 10th-place finish at 18:11. Levi Payne took 12th, with Hunter Ford (31st) and Sam Rodriguez (32nd) rounding out the team’s performance.
Qualified athletes from Mountain Home will advance to the 5A State Meet, scheduled for November 6 at Oaklawn Resort in Hot Springs.