Brown cuts two minutes off time in one year

HOT SPRINGS — Damion Brown surprised himself.

The Jonesboro sophomore knew he had improved since last season’s Class 6A boys state cross country meet, but shaving two minutes off of his 2016 time Friday came as a total shock.

“I didn’t think I would win this year,” Brown said. “Before the race I was nervous. I felt tired. But my coach, Matt Williams, put me through a lot of hard workouts to prepare for this meet. It worked.”

Brown ran the 5K course, which was spread out over the Oaklawn Park infield, in 16 minutes, 48.7 seconds. He was 10 seconds better than Greenwood senior Joseph Wittig, who finished second.

Defending champion Colby Swecker, a junior from Lake Hamilton, finished third in 17:09.8.

A year ago, Brown finished in 32nd place in the state meet, running the same course in 18:49.1. Brown said his best 5K time before Friday was 17:15.

“The first mile I ran today was my fastest ever,” Brown said. “The hills here are tough. I survived by taking short steps and controlling my breathing.”

Lake Hamilton placed five runners in the top 10 and won the team title with a score of 31. Benton finished second with 76 points.

Morrilton junior Alex Zangara repeated as the Class 5A champion with a 16:17.3. His time Friday was one second better than his 2016 finish.

“I wasn’t really shooting for a specific time today,” Zangara said. “I was just wanting the win.”

Nettleton junior Kazdyn Chandler was a distant second at 16:52.7.

Zangara trailed until the final half-mile. From there, he was at the top of his game.

“I’ve been training 26 weeks for this, ever since May,” Zangara said. “I ran as many as 60 miles a week. I’ve trained hard for this.

Maumelle repeated as the team champion, scoring 47 points. Runner-up De Queen scored 76.

Parker Ables was also a repeat winner Friday. The Heber Springs junior won the Class 4A event with a time of 16:49.9.

Cave City freshman Luke Walling placed second with a time of 17:03.4.