HERMITAGE, Mo. — It was a historic day for the McAuley Catholic cross country program.
By finishing in the top four of the team standings at the Class 1 District 2 meet at Lake Pomme de Terre, McAuley’s boys and girls both advanced full squads to next weekend’s state meet in Columbia.
“It was neat to see,” Warriors coach Andy Youngworth said of both teams celebrating state berths. “When I came to McAuley, my goal was to go to the state meet. I didn’t know what the timetable would be. I didn’t expect it with the girls in the second year. I thought the boys could do it this year because I knew we had some really good pieces. The most important thing is the kids have bought into trusting the process. The kids really had a good summer. I don’t know how we’ll do next week, but we made it to state, so the pressure is off.”
McAuley’s boys finished second in the team standings with 88 points. Hermitage was the team champion with 27 points, while Blue Eye (100) and Galena (103) also advanced full teams by finishing in the top four.
“We have run enough against some of these schools, so I kind of knew where we could be,” Youngworth added. “On paper, we had a chance, but you still have to run the race. Hermitage is a really tough course.”
Sophomore Michael Parrigon led the McAuley boys by finishing 11th with a time of 18:21. Freshman Trae Veer placed 16th (18:50) and senior Phillip Motazedi was 18th (18:55).
McAuley seniors Joe Staton and Drew Zeb finished 32nd and 33rd, respectively. Also competing for the Warriors were Alex Bohachick (55th) and Connor Taffner (65th).
“Michael has been battling a knee injury from soccer, so he’s not where he was before he got hurt,” Youngworth said. “Other teams had better up front runners, but we just had more depth. Michael and Phillip ran well, and Trae has been so consistent. Joe Staton and Drew Zeb both ran great races. I can’t say enough about our seniors, including Kable Reichardt. They’ve all been great leaders.”
The McAuley girls finished third in the team standings with 76 points. Liberal (39), Fordland (48) and Wheatland (96) also qualified full teams.
“The girls race was held first, so our girls team is actually the first team ever in school history to qualify for the state cross country meet,” Youngworth said. “In Class 1, it’s really hard to fill a girls team. This is the first year we’ve had enough girls to field a full girls team. I always thought if we could get five girls who would work really hard, especially with someone as good as Kendall Ramsey is, we could eventually get there.”
McAuley junior Kendall Ramsey finished third with a time of 22:49.
Also for the Warriors, Marbellie Villanueva finished 18th, Brooke Righter was 38th and Samantha Perrin and Miriam Kramer were 41st and 42nd, respectively.
“Kendall ran great,” Youngworth noted. “We had a big surprise with our No. 2 runner (Villanueva). She was the only kid on either team who ran their best time of the year. Where our other three girls (Brooke, Samantha and Miriam) finished was beneficial. None of those girls ran during the summer. We did everything from ground zero, some of our girls played volleyball and missed some time, so I’m really happy for our girls. All of these girls will be back next year, too.”
McAuley Catholic wasn’t the only local school to have athletes qualify for state, as Thomas Jefferson and College Heights also had individuals advance.
ATTEBERRY WINS BOYS RACE
Thomas Jefferson senior Kip Atteberry used a strong finish to win the Class 1 District 2 boys race. Atteberry toured the 5K course in 16:49 and Hermitage’s Justin Horn was second in 16:54.
In addition to Atteberry, the Cavaliers had two other individual state qualifiers.
Thomas Jefferson freshman London Rodriguez finished ninth in 18:01 and Braden Honeywell-Lynch was 15th in 18:41.
College Heights Christian had one qualifier, as freshman Colton McMillan finished 30th, earning the final state berth.
On the girls side, Thomas Jefferson’s Sarah Mueller and Samantha Seto both advanced to state by finishing eighth and 23rd, respectively.
CHC GIRLS ADVANCE IN CLASS 2
HERMITAGE, Mo. — Competing in Class 2 due to the championship factor related to recent success, the College Heights Christian advanced its full girls team to the state meet by finishing fourth at the district meet.
The qualifying girls teams in Class 2 District 2 were Stockton (61), Mansfield (66), New Covenant (80) and College Heights (83).
College Heights’ Jayli Johnson (21:55) and Marla Anderegg (22:07) placed ninth and 10th, respectively, in the girls race to earn all-district honors.
Also for the Cougars, Madelynn Jordan finished 33rd, Jesalin Bever was 37th, Madi Carson took 50th and Emmy Carson was 55th.
STATE MEET IS NEXT SATURDAY
The MSHSAA Cross Country Championships will be held on Nov. 5 for athletes in Class 1-3 at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.
FULL RESULTS: MSHSAA Class 1 – District 2 2022 – Meet Results (milesplit.com)
