Fastest time at Oaklawn
On the boys' side it was Bentonville's Sean Burns, who followed in his brother's footsteps by winning the 6A individual title with a time of 15:23.
The fastest time on the girls side was turned in by Har-Ber's Hattie Ray Beshears, who won the 6A individual championship with a time of 16:35.
Following in their Siblings Footsteps
It's the first state championship for both Burns and Beshears. Burns finished as the runner-up in 2025 behind his brother, Brian, who won with a time of .
Beshears finished third in 2025 behind her sister Lilly Beshears and Bentonville's Flannery O'Daniel.
Clean Sweeps
Bentonville swept Class 6 for the second-straight year. Burns led the Tigers to the team championship as Coach Mike Power's team scored 25 points. Impressive to say the least. Bentonville West was the runner-up in 6A with 48 points.
The 25 points scored by the Bentonville boys' team was the second fewest of any winning team during the two-day AAA State Championships. Only the Shiloh Christian girls' team scored fewer.
In the 6A girls' race, Bentonville senior Madysen Hantuba led the Tigers to a second-straight state championship. Hantuba finished as the runner-up in 6A with a time of 17:59. Hantuba's teammate, O'Daniel, was third with a time of 18:00.
Bentonville's sweep served as a bookend for what Rural Special was able to do to open the AAA State Championships. Natalie Newman led the Rural Special girls' team to the Class 1A with her fifth-place finish 24:03. In the following race, Waylon Pagett led the Rural Special boys' team to a 1A their second-straight state championship.
Every Point Matters
Shiloh Christian was two points away from sweeping in Class 5A. The girls team, led by the Allen Triplets (Kaelyn Allen, Briana Allen, Elizabeth Allen) 1-2-3 finish, won with the lowest team point total during the AAA State Championships.
The Allen Family made it a sweep of the individual honors in 5A where Brice Allen won the individual championship with a time of 15:31. It was the second-straight state title for Allen, who won the 4A state championship as a freshman in 2025.
Despite Allen's individual effort, Russellville, led by Carson Walker (5th place; 16:44), scored 90 points and beat Shiloh Christian by one point. Other scoring members of the Russellville team included Jaxon Smith (17:04), Cooper Rogers (17:34), Isaac Paul (17:39), and Jeremy Amaya (17:50), who finished No. 32-four seconds ahead of Shiloh Christian's Carson Herron (17:54).
It's interesting to note that of the top 50 finishers in the Class 5A boys championships, only four recorded personal records and Russellville had two of them. Rogers and Paul both record personal best performances. The other two runners to get PR's in the Class 5A boys race were Farmington's Corbin Womack (17:43) and Hot Springs' Dani Espinoza (17:58).
And Down the Stretch They Come
It was only fitting that the AAA State Championships were held on the infield at Oaklawn. The AAA Class 2A race came down to the wire and almost needed a photo finish. Eureka Springs' Yohannes Piepho (18:05) was able to hold off Marshall's Gavin Massey (18:06) to claim the state championship.
Dominating Individual Performances
Give Providence Academy's Maggie Bishop credit for the most dominant individual performance at the AAA State XC Championships. She won her first state cross country championship with a time of 17:38.
Like Burns and Beshears, Bishop knows what it's like to chase a sibling on the infield at Oaklawn and watch them win a cross country state championship. She finished as the runner-up to her sister, Gabbie, in both 2025 and 2024.
Bishop made the most of her first victory at Oaklawn, winning by a 1:36 margin of victory.
The second largest margin of victory during the entire championships was Beshears 1:24 margin in the 6A girls race.
Fastest time at Oaklawn
On the boys' side it was Bentonville's Sean Burns, who followed in his brother's footsteps by winning the 6A individual title with a time of 15:23.