NIXA, Mo. — Webb City’s girls and boys cross country teams advanced full squads to the state championships and Joplin had individual qualifiers in both races at the Class 5 District 2 meet on Saturday at Inman Elementary School.
At the district meet, the top four teams and the top 30 individuals advanced to the state meet.
The top four girls teams were Raymore-Peculiar (56), Webb City (97), Kickapoo (99) and Ozark (115).
Joplin senior Katherine Schaefer finished eighth in 19:12 to advance.
Webb City sophomore Brooke Hedger finished 11th in 19:20, while freshmen Emma McKinzie (19th), Olivia Klotz (20th) and Amelia Antillon (22nd) and senior Emily Countryman (25th) all recorded top 25 finishes to lead the Cardinals to the runner-up team showing.
Webb City’s sixth and seventh runners were Brooke Collard (52nd) and Rachel Miller (76th).
Among the local athletes unable to move on were Joplin’s Kyrie Britton (33rd), Carthage’s Maggie Boyd (41st) and Joplin’s Averi Burks (42nd).
Republic’s Gracie Troester was the girls medalist in 18:12.
The top four boys teams were Nixa (65), Raymore-Peculiar (88), Lee’s Summit (97) and Webb City (108).
Joplin junior Chance Tindall finished fifth in 15:36, while Webb City senior Evan Stevens was sixth in 15:39 and Joplin senior Ian Horton took seventh in 15:41.
Webb City’s Mason Hedger placed 16th in 16:05, Joplin’s Grey Edwards was 21st in 16:11 and Webb City’s duo of Andrew Dawson and Spencer Kendall finished 25th and 26th, respectively.
Webb City’s fifth runner was Noah Lankard (35th), while Fenton Rice (46th) and Dakota Grove (60th) were the Cardinals’ sixth and seventh runners.
Nixa’s Aaron Ashley was the district champ in 15:32.
Carthage’s Eddy Fuentes finished just outside of the top 30 in 33rd and Neosho’s Adam Farrell finished 53rd.
The MSHSAA Class 5 Cross Country Championships will be held on Nov. 4 at Gans Creek in Columbia.
FULL RESULTS: MSHSAA Class 5 – District 2 2023 – Meet Results (milesplit.com)
