BOLIVAR, Mo. — Webb City senior Abi Street left no doubt who the top female runner was at the Southwest Cross Country Coaches Association’s Richard Clark Invitational on Saturday at the Bolivar Municipal Golf Course.
In a field of 233 runners from five classifications, Street crossed the finish line first in the girls 5K with her time of 19 minutes, 7 seconds.
The runner-up, Rolla’s Isabella Frost, finished 20 seconds behind Street, and Spokane’s Lily Hunsucker took third in 19:58.
Street, who placed fifth at last year’s Class 4 state meet, led the way as the Joplin area schools had an impressive showing at the event.
Lamar’s Kiersten Potter finished seventh in 20:30 and Joplin’s Allie Keizer placed 13th in 20:51. Potter was the top finisher in Class 3, while Keizer was the fourth finisher among Class 5 schools.
Webb City’s Brooke Hedger finished 27th overall and ninth in Class 4 with a time of 21:19 and Carthage’s Maggie Boyd took 28th overall and 12th in Class 5 in 21:20.
Joplin’s Averi Burks finished 37th overall and 14th in Class 5, East Newton’s Alonna Eytcheson took 41st overall and eighth in Class 3 and Joplin’s Cylee Gilreath was 50th overall and 19th in Class 5.
Monett’s Sadie Camp and Mary Jastal finished 53rd and 58th overall and 14th and 15th in Class 4, respectively, while Webb City’s Rachel Miller was 59th and teammate Holly Capron finished 62nd. Miller was 16th in Class 4 and Capron was 19th.
Carl Junction’s Sadie Burchett finished 66th overall and 21st in Class 4, Nevada’s Avery Morris was 67th overall and 22nd in Class 4, CJ’s Audrey Fletcher was 69th and 23rd in Class 4 and Webb City’s Kristina Bundy finished 70th overall and 24th in Class 4.
Others finishing in the top 30 in Class 4 were CJ’s Klohe Burk (26th) and Webb City’s Hally Philpot (27th) and Emily Countryman (29th).
Joplin’s Mairi Beranek finished 32nd among Class 5 runners, while Carthage’s Katy Witherspoon was 35th in Class 5.
Bolivar (115), Kickapoo (128), Nixa (142), Ozark (160) and Webb City (173) were the top five girls teams.
JOPLIN’S CAMPBELL, WEBB CITY’S STEVENS SHINE IN BOYS RACE
In the first official outing of the 2022 season, Joplin’s Hobbs Campbell and Webb City’s Evan Stevens appeared in postseason form.
A senior, Campbell was the second overall finisher in the boys race with his time of 15:47. Kickapoo’s Tyler Harris took first in 15:33.
Joplin coach Dustin Dixon noted Campbell’s time was just seconds slower than he ran at last year’s state meet (15:45).
A junior at Webb City, Stevens finished third overall and was the top Class 4 runner with his time of 15:54.
East Newton’s Chase Sorrell placed fifth (16:03), second among Class 3 runners.
Joplin’s Ian Horton finished eighth in 16:11, while teammate Chance Tindall was 11th in 16:17.
“Ian Horton and Chance Tindall both had great races,” Dixon said. “Out of 55 schools, our boys were second overall and second in Class 5. Our girls were eighth overall and fourth among Class 5 schools. It was a pretty good season opener for us.”
In a strong start to the season, the Eagles had four runners in the top 24, as Grey Edwards finished 24th in 16:56. Dixon said Campbell, Horton, Tindall and Edwards all recorded top-25 times in program history.
Monett’s Julio Cruz was 25th overall and seventh in Class 4.
Carthage’s Miquel Solano finished 32nd (18th in C5), while Webb City’s Mason Hedger placed 34th overall (ninth in Class 4).
Lamar’s Pierce Heins finished 38th (fifth in C3) and Carthage’s Caleb Fewin was 39th (21st in C5).
Among Class 4 runners, Webb City’s Dakota Grove (19th), Spencer Kendall (23rd) and Andrew Dawson (25th) had top 25 showings.
Webb City coach Dustin Miller noted it was a solid start to the season for his squad.
Other top performers for Carthage were Devin Smith (35th in C5), Eddy Fuentes (42nd) and Michael Lanyon (45th).
Carl Junction’s Alexander Allison took 31st in Class 4.
There were 338 runners in the boys race.
Kickapoo was the team champion with 46 points. Joplin was second with 101. Nixa (104), West Plains (192) and Carthage (268) rounded out the top five teams.
MCAULEY CATHOLIC, COLLEGE HEIGHTS RUNNERS FARE WELL
McAuley Catholic had seven athletes earn medalist honors in Class 1. The Warriors were the second place team in Class 1.
“We had a great meet,” McAuley coach Andy Youngworth said. “A big meet atmosphere early in the year was a good experience for our kids.”
Michael Parrigon was the individual runner-up in his class, finishing with a time of 17:30. Hermitage’s Justin Horn took first in Class 1 in 16:52.
A sophomore, Parrigon finished 41st overall in the boys race.
Other Class 1 medalists for the McAuley boys were Phillip Motazedi (13th), Trae Veer (14th), Drew Zeb (18th) and Joe Staton (19th).
Other top performers for the Warriors were Alex Bohachick (26th) and Connor Taffner (32nd).
On the girls side, McAuley Catholic’s Kendall Ramsey finished fourth among Class 1 runners with her time of 23:10.
McAuley’s Samantha Perrin and Miriam Kramer were 24th and 29th among Class 1 runners. Ramsey and Perrin were Class 1 medalists.
College Heights Christian’s girls squad had four medalists in Class 2.
CHC’s Marla Anderegg finished 13th in Class 2, while Jesalin Bever (15th), Jayli Johnson (18th) and Madelynn Jordan (23rd) were also medalists. CHC’s Madi Carson was 26th.
On the boys side, CHC was led by Colton McMillan’s 28th place showing.
FULL RESULTS: SWCCCA Richard Clark Invitational 2022 – Meet Results (milesplit.com)
