Kenedee Moss is the ‘mama hen’ of the Lady Panthers.

State Cross Country Day 2 Photo Gallery

That makes perfect sense in context of the Centralia girls cross country team. During Saturday’s rainy and muddy Class 3 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, the junior Moss won her second straight state medal with a 20th-place time of 20:36 while freshman Katelynn Asbury was 55th out of 163 runners with a 21:41. 

Watermann said Moss always had the state-level talent, with only her freshman season being a non-all-state year after missing the podium by one spot. Still, Moss has had runners above her in experience to guide her. That was different this season.

“She is the leader now,” Watermann said. “She’s been that freshman and sophomore, always being underneath the seniors’ wing. Now, she was the mama hen. She really took all four of those girls underneath her wing. She was the epitome of the mama hen.”

Centralia had only five runners so the Lady Panthers couldn’t qualify as a team this year. Watermann said Moss made sure each of those runners were taken care of and felt comfortable. 

Even though Asbury’s first year of running was this season, she not only made it to state but almost cracked the top 50 after being in 87th place after the first 1,000 meters. Watermann said he thought Asbury had the makings of a good runner.

“I saw her in middle school playing basketball,” Watermann said. “I knew I was going to be losing quite a few girls to graduation. I definitely wanted to find some new kids to join the family here. Seeing her grit and determination on the basketball court, that reminds me of a senior I had two years ago.”

That senior Watermann was thinking of was Annie Robinson, who was on the same team as Moss when the Lady Panthers earned the school’s first ever state cross country trophy with a runner-up finish. He feels like Asbury and Moss were close as “sisters” these last few weeks as they helped each other out.

Moss was the Clarence Cannon Conference champion and Centralia Invitational champion going into state and is a multiple-time state medalist coming out of state, despite a “rough start” according to Watermann. Going into her final year has Watermann excited at what Moss can accomplish while leading promising girls like Asbury as the mama hen.

“We had pretty high expectations today ranked ninth with her PR,” Watermann said. “Conditions are a key factor here. It was impressive for her to persevere through all the wetness, as it was raining during her race, to fight through the cold, to fight through the wind, the rain, the big puddles and things like that. She’s always a second-lap person — faster than the first lap. In that second lap, she came around and looked so strong like the Kenedee I know.”