The conditions were less than ideal at the Melbourne Bearkatz Invitational Tuesday night, with the heat index enough to make even a bearcat sweat. Finishers said they breathed in dust, and the ground was dry and rocky in the woods, despite the host's careful attention to the mowing and marking of the course.
Because of the heat, the Melbourne Bearkatz races were cut to a 1.5 mile course. Many of the coaches agreed that they were simply grateful that their athletes were able to compete at all.
Yet, it was still a great meet to watch for all four events. 1st and 2nd from the junior girls were both from Mountain View. Eli Akins (7th) and Baylor Treat (freshman) said only of the race that it was hot. Treat claimed that she knew her teammate would win, because “that’s what she does.” Akins' finishing time was 10:39, making her the third over-all finisher. Treat finished in 10:58.00. Tucker Hartman (7th) of Valley Springs finished 3rd in the junior girl's race with a time of 11:34. The Lady Tigers will race next week at the Clint Pevril Bomber Invitational.
Case Southard (freshman), the junior boys champ from Norfolk, finished in 8:57.00, which also placed him second overall. He said he looked at his competition ahead of time on MileSplit and "had that positive mindset" going into the race. Southard also said that to take the win, he pushed himself "all the way through, from start to finish." He is looking forward to his next meeting at Clint Pevril Bomber Invitational knowing that he can go faster.
Runner-up was Riley Reese from Southside-Batesville in 9:24.00 up, followed by Will Henry Hogue from Batesville in third at 9:30.00. The Pioneers plan to attend the Josh Park Memorial.
Erin Akins (junior) from Mountain View, in her super cute pink shoes, took the win for the girls at 9:27.00 followed by Riley Farris. Akins said the course was "really, really hard and a lot more hilly” than she expected, and she said she was "eating dust" the entire time in the woods. Despite not being seeded first, Akins—who races primarily the 400m and 800m on the track—said when she got on the line she had a little bit of confidence because the race had been switched to a shorter distance. Of Riley Farris of Heber Springs, Akins said that Farris is a tough competitor and that she thought Farris was going to catch her. Farris ultimately finished second in 9:53:00, and is scheduled to race at Josh Park Memorial next week. Paragould's Kaelyn Edwards (senior) finished third with a time of 10:41, and races at her home turf next week.
Mountain View finished as the team runner-up, while Paragould claimed the 2026 Melbourne Bearkatz Invitational championship in the Senior Girls Division.
Paragould's Tyler Bedgood was the champion of the senior boys, finishing in 8:45.00. Bedgood took the lead around the half mile and said that he "was just going." Like most of the runners on that hot course, Bedgood said his time was a bit off, but he was pleased with his performance. He says he looked around at the start and marked the other runners, feeling good about the competition. Bedgood will be racing next week at the Paragould Ram Invitational, where he'll be looking to defend his title on his home course.
Allen Aguilar (senior) of Batesville, was runner-up with a time of 8:57.00. Valley View’s Asa Graves (senior) placed 3rd with 9:05 and will return next week at Paragould.
Paragould won the Senior Boys team championship, with Heber Springs finishing runner-up.
