As the temperatures begin to drop, the stars of the Natural State have come out and are ready to get their seasons started.
Some of Northeast Arkansas' best distance runners kicked off their season over the weekend at the KYA HS Indoor Classic in Nashville, Tennessee, and put up impressive early season performances.
Starlyn Edwards started the action on Friday, winning the 2-mile in 10:52.49. The senior from Paragould executed on every level, running the 6th fastest 2-mile in the country this season and the first sub-11 indoor 2-mile in state history.
Two more of Arkansas' best lined up for Friday's 2-mile. Aubrey Minton, the two-time 5A cross country state champion, crossed the line in 11:10.43 en route to a 4th place finish and 25-second personal best time. Lauren Thompson, who finished 5th in the 6A cross country state meet this fall, finished 13th.
In the boys 2-mile, Valley View's Reece Smith finished 16th in his debut indoor 2-mile, running a 10:12.91.
The following day, Harper Huckabee finished 9th in the 800m. The sophomore from Jonesboro crossed the line 2nd in the second heat, running 1:58.25 and a new personal best.
Two of Huckabee's teammates also competed in the 800m and set a pair of indoor personal bests. Hudson Copeland and Luke Laws finished 34th and 40th in the event.
Arkansas loaded the mile event on Saturday and after her record-breaking Friday, it was Starlyn Edwards who stole the show once again. The senior won the 1-mile by over 9 seconds, running the 3rd fastest 1-mile in state history and crossing the line in 4:58.38, a new US #8.
In the girls mile, Aubrey Minton and Lauren Thompson finished 12th and 21st respectively, capping off an impressive opening weekend.
Valley View's Cole Chadwick was the first Arkansas boy to cross the line in the mile, finishing 24th. In his second race of the weekend, Copeland crossed the line just .09s behind in 25th, while Huckabee and Smith finished 28th and 30th respectively.
In less than two weeks, the largest high school indoor meet in the state will take place on January 18th in Fayetteville.