NIXA, Mo. — Led by a pair of individual medalists, Webb City’s boys and girls both topped the team standings in convincing fashion at the Class 4 District 6 cross country meet on Saturday at Inman Elementary School.
As a result, the Cardinals will be taking full squads to next week’s state meet in Columbia. The top two teams and the top 15 individuals at the district meet advanced to state.
Webb City’s boys rolled to a first place finish, as all seven Cardinals finished in the top 14. Webb City finished with a team score of 30 and Neosho was second with 70.
“I’m happy that we were able to advance to the state meet and win our fourth district championship,” Webb City coach Dustin Miller said. “I’m happy that some of our guys performed better than they did at the conference meet. As a whole, we have some big goals, so we have some work ahead of us…some mental work. If you’re going to challenge a team like Festus, who has won six straight state championships, you’re going to have to bring it. Today we learned some lessons and we’ll grow from this. We’ll be good to go next week.”
Webb City’s girls had the top three finishers and all seven runners finished in the top 19. The Cardinals finished with a team score of 21, while Neosho was second with 48.
While it’s the fourth district title for the Webb City boys, it’s the first district crown in program history for the Webb City girls.
“That’s our girls’ first-ever district title, so that’s a really big deal for us,” Miller said. “We’ve dealt with some adversity this year, so for our girls to come out and have their best performance, I’m just really proud of them. They came out focused. They had a big day.”
BORBOA, DAWSON LEAD WEBB CITY BOYS
Webb City junior Roman Borboa was the district champion. He toured the 5,000-meter course in 16 minutes, 30 seconds.
“This feels pretty good,” Borboa said. “This is only the second race I’ve ever won. The other was the warm-up meet at the start of the season, and that wasn’t even a real meet.”
A junior, Borboa topped a number of runners who beat him a week ago at the COC race. Borboa was 10th at the conference meet.
“We raced really hard and I’m really proud of our team,” Borboa said. “Today really motivates us to go to state and try to win it.”
Webb City senior Joseph Dawson finished third in 16:32. Dawson was edged at the finish line for second by Logan-Rogersville’s Landon Hendrickson.
Also for the Cardinals, Dustin Brockmiller took seventh, Owen Weller was ninth, Jose Antillon was 12th, Samuel Winesburg took 13th and Shane Winters finished 14th.
HAWKINS FINISHES FIRST FOR WEBB CITY GIRLS
Webb City’s Riley Hawkins was all alone as she headed down the final stretch towards the finish line.
A junior, Hawkins was the girls district champion with a time of 20:22.
“This feels awesome,” Hawkins said. “I finally had a great race. I went out to the front at the start and then just chilled for the last mile. And our team did awesome. Everyone had a great race. I’m really proud of everyone.”
“Riley winning it in dominant fashion was impressive considering she’s struggled some this season with some health issues,” Miller said.
Webb City sophomore Halley Philpot took second in 21:03 and classmate Abi Street was third in 21:06. Also for the Cardinals, Isabelle Lopez took eighth, Mileah Metcalf was ninth, Katherine Moore took 15th and Velissia Perez finished 19th.
“We came into this race needing to build some confidence,” Miller said. “We needed to put a whole team race together, and today we did. Hats off to those kids for performing well.”
NEOSHO QUALIFIES FULL SQUADS
Neosho’s boys and girls both finished second in the team standings, and the Wildcats will take full teams to the state meet.
“I’m really proud of the whole program,” Neosho coach Emily Abell said. “I’ve been with the program for five years now, so seeing it get to this point is a really proud moment for me. Our program has grown and grown, and now it’s showing in their performances. I’m just really proud of them. I’m excited to see how they do next weekend. We’ve taken the season a week at a time, so now it’s time to prepare for one more meet.”
In the boys race, Neosho’s Kaden Cole finished fourth in 16:35.
The other Wildcats were packed together. Carson Newell was 17th, Gabriel Mabrey took 18th, Jeremiah Enlow finished 19th, Harry Slinkard was 20th, Connor Jordon took 21st and Bryce Hall was 22nd.
The Neosho girls had three runners finish in the top 11. Freshman Riley Kemna took fifth in 21:21, while junior Bailey Miller was sixth in 21:29 and sophomore Makenna Davis finished 11th (21:41).
Also for the Wildcats, Jayden Adams was 14th, Lakyn Prough took 17th, Emma Dodd was 23rd and Michelle Lindsay finished 25th.
CARL JUNCTION QUALIFIERS
Carl Junction’s girls and boys both had two individual qualifiers.
On the girls side, Allie Montez finished fourth with a time of 21:14 and Hannah Franks took 10th in 21:38.
Carl Junction’s Alexis Carpenter (18th), Audrey Fletcher (20th) and Riley Briggs (21st) also had strong showings.
On the boys side, Carl Junction’s Collin Emmert finished fifth in 16:40 and Logan Carnes took 11th in 17:24. Brock Feken just missed qualifying, as he finished 16th.
As far as the team standings, both CJ teams finished third.
CUBS ADVANCE
Monett’s Julio Cruz placed eighth (17:04) and teammate Jose Salas Esquivel took 15th (17:56) to move on to state.
AREA GIRLS ADVANCE
Two other area girls advanced with top 15 finishes.
Nevada’s Allie Rains was seventh (21:30) and McDonald County’s Melysia McCrory finished 12th (21:56).
WHAT’S NEXT?
The MSHSAA Cross Country Championships will be held Nov. 5-7 at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia. The Class 4 races will be held on Friday, with the girls race at 8:30 and the boys to follow at 11.
Due to restrictions in Boone County, attendance at the state cross country meet is limited to two spectators per runner in each race, a MSHSAA press release said.
Class 4 District 6
Boys team standings: Webb City 30, Neosho 70, Carl Junction 76, Harrisonville 94, Logan-Rogersville 134, Nevada 145, McDonald County 184.
Girls team standings: Webb City 21, Neosho 48, Carl Junction 66, Monett 118, Logan-Rogersville 124.
