In the moments immediately following the varsity boys race at Tuesday’s Central Ozark Conference cross country meet at Nixa’s Inman Elementary School, Webb City coach Dustin Miller was fairly confident his team’s streak of consecutive championships had ended.
But then came the news—Webb City had edged Carthage by just two points, 57-59, for the top spot.
“I thought for sure it was over,” Miller said of the streak. “When we found out we won, there was just a lot of yelling, screaming, hugging and even some crying. It meant that much to them.”
Webb City’s boys program captured a conference crown for the seventh straight season.
“In a season filled with adversity, whether it’s been quarantine, injuries or sickness, and even some self-doubt, the boys put together their best race of the season,” Miller said. “They were able to uphold the tradition and I’m just thrilled for those guys. They’ve added their names to the legacy and they’ve represented our program well. It’s kind of hard to believe it’s seven in-a-row.”
The Cardinals and Tigers each had three runners finish in the top 10.
“We ran our best race of the season, which was a relief, but we still have a ton of room to grow,” Miller said. “I like the way our guys competed. And hats off to the Carthage guys. They really brought it. They out-competed us down the stretch.”
“It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know it was going to be close,” Carthage coach Andy Youngworth said. “We’d beaten Webb City a couple of times, but none of us were at full-strength. Joplin had beaten us. Our top three guys held their own, but Webb City’s back end was just a little better than ours was. The bottom line is we ran great and we very easily could have won the meet.”
Willard’s Thomas Shuster was the individual champion in 16 minutes, 12 seconds and Carthage’s Mariques Strickland took second in 16:25.
“Mariques made a great move in the back half of the race,” Youngworth added. “He really separated in the last mile from almost everybody but the Willard kid. I was really happy with Mariques. I think he broke through the discomfort and got to another level of pain tolerance. He really finished strong and beat some really good guys in our conference.”
Webb City’s Joseph Dawson finished third in 16:26.
“Joseph was quarantined for two weeks,” Miller said. “He hadn’t raced since Carthage in early September. For him to come out and perform well, I think he gained a ton of confidence.”
Neosho’s Kaden Cole took fourth (16:28), while Carthage’s Coltyn Herrera and Malcolm Robertson finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
Webb City’s Owen Weller (sixth), Roman Borboa (10th) and Dustin Brockmiller (15th) gave the Cardinals four runners in the top 15.
“Owen had a big time race, Roman struggled a little bit, but I know he’ll grow from that,” Miller said. “Our No. 4 (Brockmiller) really stepped up. He beat Carthage’s No. 4 and he hasn’t done that all year. And our No. 5, Sam Winesburg, ended up right behind Carthage’s No. 5, and he hadn’t done that all year. We got some great performances.”
Carl Junction’s Collin Emmert was 11th, while Joplin’s trio of Hobbs Campbell, Zaben Barnes and Evan Matlock were 12th, 13th and 14th.
Carthage’s duo of Richard Contreras and Miquel Solano finished 18th and 22nd, respectively.
Webb City’s Winesburg took 23rd, Carl Junction’s Logan Carnes was 25th and Carthage’s Joseph Wyrick finished 26th.
“I just feel fortunate that we were able to race at a conference meet,” Youngworth said. “We didn’t know all season if a major issue would come up because of COVID or injuries.”
AREA GIRLS RESULTS
Joplin (43) and Nixa (47) were the top teams on the girls side, while Webb City (70) finished third.
Ozark (103), Neosho (146) and Carl Junction (156) were fourth, fifth and sixth. Rounding out the standings were Branson (163), Carthage (177) and Willard (146).
Led by Jennalee Dunn’s runner-up finish, Joplin had three girls in the top 10 (see related story).
Webb City sophomore Halley Philpot took ninth in 20:23, while classmate Abi Street took 13th and junior Riley Hawkins was 15th. Also for the Cardinals, Izzy Lopez took 20th, Mileah Metcalf was 24th and Velissia Perez was 27th.
“For our girls, that was their best race of the year,” said Miller. “They’ve also had some adversity this year, so I’m just proud. The girls are running more confident and they’re believing in themselves. They stepped up and that’s big for our program.”
Neosho freshman Riley Kemna took 14th, while teammates Bailey Miller and Makenna Davis were 23rd and 31st.
For Carl Junction, Alanza Montez finished 17th, while Hannah Franks was 25th and Riley Briggs was 33rd.
Carthage’s Kimberly Hernandez finished 26th, Lauren Wilson was 29th, Keysli Elias took 42nd and Hadley McBride was 43rd.
“We have four seniors and I thought all of them ran good races,” Youngworth said. “Their times were faster than last year. Our top two probably went out a little too hard, but I’m not going to fault them. They wanted to compete. We’ve had some injuries that have hurt us. We didn’t quite have the depth to overcome those injuries.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Class 4 and Class 5 district meets will be held on Oct. 31 at Nixa.
Webb City, Carl Junction and Neosho are among the schools competing in Class 4. The Cardinals will have the goals set high, Miller said.
“Four of our five guys can run better than they did,” Miller noted. “I think they will and that’s exciting.”
Joplin and Carthage are in Class 5, along with a talented Kickapoo team.
“The district meet will be competitive,” Youngworth said. “They eliminated the sectional. So at the district meet, the top two teams and the top 15 individuals go to state. So there’s not a lot of room for error. We’ll do the best we can.”
“We’re not going to do anything different,” Youngworth added. “I’m not going to make any radical changes because we lost the conference meet by two points. You have to trust the process. The kids are just going to try to be a little bit better next time.”
COC Cross Country
Boys team standings: Webb City 57, Carthage 59, Joplin 76, Branson 132, Nixa 141, Ozark 151, Willard 160, Neosho 197, Carl Junction 202, Republic 260.
Girls team standings: Joplin 43, Nixa 47, Webb City 70, Ozark 103, Neosho 146, Carl Junction 156, Branson 163, Carthage 177, Willard 246.
RELATED STORY: Joplin girls make history at COC championships
https://somo-sports.com/cross-country/cross-country-joplin-girls-make-history-at-coc-meet/
