CARTHAGE, Mo. — After crossing the finish line first, and with no other runners close by, Webb City senior Riley Hawkins had a moment to catch her breath all by herself.
Less than 30 seconds later, Hawkins was greeting a teammate.
Webb City’s duo of Hawkins and Abi Street were the top two finishers in the varsity girls race at the Carthage Invitational on Thursday at the Carthage Golf Course.
“It was awesome for us to finish first and second,” Hawkins said. “Me and my teammate are like a little dynamic duo. Finishing first and second is just amazing.”
Hawkins toured the 5K course in 20 minutes, 9 seconds to take first place.
“I had a bad race at SWCCCA, so it’s great to be back to having a good race again,” Hawkins said. “I made my move to pass a lot of girls on a downhill. I just took off from there.”
A junior, Street was the runner-up with a time of 20:33. After she crossed the finish line, Street was congratulated by a waiting Hawkins.
“I think I ran pretty well today,” Street said. “I lost a little focus when Riley took off. I think if I could have stayed with her I could have held on until the last 800. But this is a huge confidence builder for sure. We still have a lot to work on and a long way to go. I’m excited and I think our training has been going well.”
Rogers, with the third through sixth place finishers and all five runners in the top 10, claimed the team championship with 28 points.
Led by Hawkins and Street, and with four runners in the top 13, Webb City finished second in the team standings with 45 points.
“That was really special,” Webb City coach Dustin Miller said of his tandem taking first and second. “We know Riley and Abi are both great runners. They’ve been training really well. To see them come out and beat some quality opponents here is special. Those two girls deserve the success they get because they’ve put in the work. I’m really proud of them.”
With five runners in the top 20, Carl Junction’s girls finished third in the standings with 69 points.
“I thought our girls ran really well,” Bulldogs coach Kyla Walnofer said. “This is one of the harder courses we run all season. Getting those hills in for the experience is one of the best things for them.”
Carl Junction’s Alanza Montez (22:15.3), Webb City’s Alanna Bundy (22:15.5) and Carthage’s Maggie Boyd (22:22) finished seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
Carl Junction’s Hannah Franks finished 11th, Webb City’s Isabelle Lopez placed 13th and Carthage’s Katelyn Witherspoon was 14th. Carl Junction’s duo of Alexis Carpenter and Sadie Burchett took 15th and 16th, while teammate Riley Briggs finished 24th.
Webb City’s Lauren Kuechler was 25th, while Thomas Jefferson’s Macie Shifferd and Sarah Mueller finished 28th and 29th, respectively.
Carthage’s top finishers, Boyd and Witherspoon, are both freshmen. The Tigers finished fifth in the standings.
“A lot of our girls are just starting to get varsity experience, so this was a learning experience for them,” Carthage coach Brian Crigger said. “It’s a tough course, it’s a 5K, but we had two freshmen medal. It’s still early in the season and we just want them to get varsity experience.”
CARTHAGE INVITATIONAL
Girls team scores: Rogers 28, Webb City 45, Carl Junction 69, Glendale 106, Carthage 110.
