Mexico qualifies three runners for state

Seth Stevenson is going back to state to run for Mexico.

The sophomore Stevenson finished seventh for the boys with a time of 16:52.44 on Saturday in the Class 3 District 3 meet in Owensville. Maryam Waheed and Maria Peuster qualified for the girls by finishing in the top 30 to each go to their first state meet that starts at 11 a.m. on Friday at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.

Reid Bickell was 49th for the boys with a time of 18:50.59, Jared Freeman was 52nd with a time of 18:56.63, Gabe Carey was 63rd with a time of 19:21.90, Vinton Lehnen was 87th with a time of 20:06.08 and Joshua Stanford was 91st with a time of 20:32.62 and Levi Evertson was 115th with a time of 22:04.34.

Waheed had the top girls time with a 15th-place finish of 21:34.39, and Peuster was 21st with a time of 21:48.69. Hunter Hodde was 75th with a time of 25:39.71, Madison Bickell was 83rd with a time of 26:41.93, and Iva Hicks was 92nd with a time of 27:56.88, and Gracelyn Ruble was 106th with a time of 36:35.51.

Van-Far sending boys, girls teams to state

In front of their home crowd, Van-Far is sending a lot of runners to state again.

The boys competed as a team at last year’s state meet and will be doing so again this Saturday along with the girls team. In the Class 1 District 3 meet in Vandalia, the boys finished second out of 13 schools and the girls were third out of five schools to each be in the top four to qualify for the Class 1 state meet at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Gans Creek in Columbia.

Garrett Hopke was the top finisher for the boys with a fourth-place time of 16:49.18 to beat his own school record by two seconds to lead Van-Far’s 68 points to finish behind Vienna’s 55 points. Others who were in the top 30 to medal were Slade Keller with a fifth-place time of 16:51.51, Tyler Carlyle with a 19th-place time of 17:51.82 and Jaydon Hug-Hernandez with a 23rd-place time of 18:07.79. Harrison Wright finished 31st with a time of 18:26.37.

Khloe Wallace was the top finisher for the girls to make it to state again after her all-state season with a 14th-place time of 22:38.61 and to pace Van-Far’s 68 points to finish behind Glasgow’s 38 points and Paris’s 49 points. Mylee Keller was 21st with a time of 23:07.89, and Elliott Utterback was 23rd with a time of 23:19.31 to each medal. Jordan Trainor finished 39th with a time of 25:05.02, Emily Smith was 40th with a time of 25:07.91 and Kylee Gibson was 52nd with a time of 26:49.96.

Centralia wins both individual district titles, sending three to state

As has been the case all year, Centralia swept the individual championships at a cross country meet.

The two-time all-state runner Nolan Spickert stayed undefeated by winning his eighth championship of the season on Saturday in the Class 3 District 3 meet in Owensville with a time of 15:54.09, following a sophomore year where he was the state runner-up. Jensen Decker was sixth with a time of 16:48.57 to advance to his third state meet for the boys, and Katelynn Asbury was the girls champion with a time of 19:32.44 to go to her third state meet that will begin at 11 a.m. Friday at Gans Creek in Columbia.

The boys were fifth with 184 points to finish behind fourth-place St. James’s 145 points and just miss qualifying as a team. Finishing their seasons after placing outside the top 30 were Wyatt Brett was 32nd with a time of 17:59.65, Traecen Starks was 58th with a time of 19:11.88, Cody Prater was 88th with a time of 20:08.43, Max Kemper was 92nd with a time of 20:38.69 and Maddox Presley was 102nd with a time of 21:06.93.

For the girls, Cassidy Collier was 60th with a time of 24:13.94, Cecilia Brauker was 66th with a time of 24:41.61, Ryan Reynolds was 70th with a time of 25:06.01, Layla Burton was 73rd with a time of 25:37.37, Annalee Hedberg was 77th with a time of 25:54.60 and Blakely Sowers was 86th with a time of 27:04.03.

Community R-6 season ends at districts

Community R-6 didn’t send anyone through to state this year.

Kyler Kobush was the top finisher for the boys at the Class 1 District 3 meet in Vandalia with a 66th-place time of 21:17.10, Nicholas Henke was 82nd with a time of 22:14.02, and Jude Curtis was 100th with a time of 24:55.15. Zoey Hull was the top girls finisher with a 59th-place time of 28:16.78, Gabby Knipfel was 63rd with a time of 29:17.20 and Grace McCoskey was 69th with a time of 32:18.79.

North Callaway, Missouri Military Academy seasons end at districts

North Callaway and Missouri Military Academy couldn’t send anyone through to the state cross country meet.

Hunter Jansen was the top finisher for the North Callaway boys with a 45th-place time of 19:16.51 to miss the top 30 to qualify, Trevor Jansen was 114th with a time of 21:52.90, Elaina Arcala was 33rd with a time of 22:16.10 to be the top North Callaway girls finisher, Adrienne Egly was 64th with a time of 24:16.40, and Mary Leake was 91st with a time of 25:59.27. David Woodcock was the top MMA runner with a 38th-place time of 19:07.17, Ethan Gachuhi was 87th with a time of 20:45.01, Sean Mulcahy was 115th with a time of 21:54.06, Lucas Bergman was 128th with a time of 23:09.19 and Kie Portuallo-Lopez was 143rd with a time of 26:17.25.

Paris girls team qualifies for state, Morgan going for boys

The Paris girls will be going to state.

The Lady Coyotes qualified as a team for this Saturday’s Class 1 state meet after finishing second out of five schools with 49 points, sitting behind Glasgow’s 38 points. They needed to be in the top four to qualify for the state meet at 11 a.m. at Gans Creek in Columbia, and Case Morgan qualified individually for the boys after finishing in the top 30 with an 18th-place time of 17:48.30.

The girls who were in the top 30 to medal included Edie Wormington with a fourth-place time of 21:24.69, Ava Crain with a 17th-place time of 23:03.54, Midori Williams with a 20th-place time of 23:06.47, Elizabeth Ross with a 24th-place time of 23:23.98 and Mareiya Williams with a 30th-place time of 23:58.78. Mia Kendrick was 31st with a time of 24:02.11, and Hadley Dodge was 32nd with a time of 24:17.84.

For the boys, they finished fifth out of 13 schools with 153 points behind fourth-place Cairo’s 144 points. Hayden DeOrnellas finished 33rd with a time of 18:54.32, Michael Rosson was 35th with a time of 19:30.35, Jaxon Tuter was 51st with a time of 20:28.87 and Brady Wilson was 58th with a time of 20:55.75 and Pierson Hathaway was 64th with a time of 21:07.71 and Mason Bergthold was 91st with a time of 23:19.48.