After a standout junior season, Hobbs Campbell appears poised to have a big senior year for the Joplin High School cross country team.
And it’s not a stretch to say Joplin will feature one of the state’s best runners this fall.
“I think Hobbs’ primary goal is to chase after a state title,” Joplin coach Dustin Dixon told SoMo Sports. “There’s not many kids in Missouri that can say that’s at the top of their list, but he’s one of them. We feel like he’s got a good shot. He’s more fit than he has ever been at the end of August. He’s looked really strong in practice.”
In a stellar 2021 season, Campbell was the runner-up at the Central Ozark Conference championships. He placed fourth at the district meet and finished 14th at the Class 5 state championships with a time of 15 minutes, 45 seconds.
Campbell also put together a breakthrough track season last spring. At the Class 5 state track meet, Campbell placed second in the 1600 and was fifth in the 800.
In addition to Campbell, the Eagles have three other returning athletes who ran at last year’s Class 5 state championships — junior Ian Horton and sophomores Chance Tindall and Grey Edwards.
At last year’s COC Meet, Tindall took 14th and Horton finished 23rd. At state, Horton was Joplin’s second finisher after Campbell, placing 49th.
Edwards, last year’s No. 7 runner at state, had some injuries last fall but is coming off a solid track season.
Aidan Koch and Parker Durham, both juniors, are other athletes who are competing for varsity spots.
Joplin’s boys are the defending COC champs. They took a full squad to state. Dixon would love to see the Eagles repeat that success.
“I think our boys team is going to be pretty good again this fall,” Dixon said. “I think we were the only team in Class 5 that ran multiple freshmen at the state championships.”
On the girls side, Joplin must overcome the loss of one of the program’s best-ever distance runners — Jennalee Dunn.
“You can’t replace Jennalee Dunn, at least not quickly,” Dixon said. “Our girls team is in kind of a rebuild. We have some girls back who have been in the No. 6 or No. 7 spot before. We’re going to have quite a few girls that have little to no varsity experience. But a lot of our girls have had good summers. We’ve got some work to do on the girls side, but if we stay healthy, I like our chances to be competitive.”
Junior Allie Keizer, a returning state qualifier, is the team’s top returning performer from last season.
“She’ll probably lead the way for us,” Dixon noted.
Keizer was the team’s second finisher at last year’s conference race, placing 11th. She finished 14th at the district meet and was 96th at state.
Junior Averi Burks is another athlete who will be a key performer.
“She had a great summer and is looking really strong,” Dixon said.
Seniors Mairi Beranek and Cylee Gilreath also return with prior varsity experience. They were 24th and 50th, respectively, at last year’s conference event.
Masyn Briggs, a junior, is another runner who is expected to contribute at the varsity level.
Joplin’s girls were second in the team standings at last year’s COC event, one year after winning a conference crown.
The main goal for both teams is to make steady progress throughout the fall, with peaking at the end of the season in mind.
“We are confident that we can run our best at the time of the year when we need to be at our best,” Dixon said. “The kids know that and I think it will show. We’ll be ready to go when the end of October gets here.”
The Eagles hosted a warm-up meet on Saturday. They’ll compete at the annual SWCCCA Meet on Sept. 3 in Bolivar. The Southern Stampede is slated for Sept. 17.
