Overall Boys - Top 10
Joseph Bariola - Lakeside
James American Horse - Bentonville
Owen Kelley - Bentonville
Eli Seavey - Bentonville
Matthew Shelly - Bentonville
Jonathan Mendez - Har-Ber
River Hardman - Russellville
Tian Grant - Pea Ridge
Payton Brack - Bentonville
Alan Gallardo-Lopez - Fayetteville
...
James American Horse and Owen Kelley both set the Arkansas #1 and #2 times last week at the Lovejoy XC Fall Festival, but still trail Joseph Bariola in the first rankings of the season.
While the Bentonville duo own the quicker personal bests, based on our limited sample size on the young fall season, Bariola's 15:20.16 at the Memphis Twilight XC Classic appears to be the more impressive mark. Not only that, but Bariola also boasts an awfully impressive 4:09.99 1,600m and 9:06.15 3,200m that triumph both of the times posted this spring by the Tigers' duo. Again, it is still early, but these three have set themselves apart from the rest of the field.
Elsewhere, Eli Seavey, Matthew Shelly, and Payton Brack have been lights out this season and are integral to this Bentonville squad with national aspirations.
Jonathan Mendez comes in ranked sixth in the first edition of the Frick Files Power Rankings, which comes off the heels of his fifth-place finish at the Missouri Southern Stampede where he set a new personal best of 15:34.94. Earlier this season, Mendez won the Elkins Invitational, which kicked off his senior campaign as the Har-Ber star is a sleeper candidate to win the 6A state championship in November.
River Hardman has had a strong start to his senior season as well, finishing fifth at the Memphis Twilight and winning the Little Rock XC Classic, navigating the difficult course in dominating fashion. The Russellville star will have a great opportunity to prove himself as one of the state's best this Saturday at the Cyclone Invitational, which is also where the Milesplit staff will travel to this weekend.
Tian Grant and Alan Gallardo-Lopez have had strong, yet quiet starts to their seasons. Grant is undefeated, having won his first three races on the young season, and Gallardo-Lopez has already dropped 22 seconds off his personal best from a year ago. Both athletes have proven that every time they toe the line they are legitimate threats to win the race.