In Paris’ first cross country season, the first three Coyotes ever are heading to the state meet.

For the girls, Mairyn Kinnaman and Alexandria Tullius finished fifth and eighth, respectively, with times of 22:12.1 and 23:18.4 at the Class 1 District 3 meet on Saturday morning in Fulton to fall within the top 30 all-district runners. Landen Chapman qualified in the boys race by finishing ninth with a time of 19:15.7.

David Elzea was the fourth Coyote to run as he took 62nd out of 89 runners with a time of 19:15.7.

Head coach Doug Buie said Paris’ three state qualifiers finished close to where he thought they would and gained ground on runners they had been racing all season. Senior Brayden DeOrnellas wasn’t able to run because of an injury, but he and the rest of the team all worked hard this year, breaking new ground for the program.

“With this being the first year for high school cross country at Paris I couldn’t be happier,” Buie said. “I’m extremely proud of the race and season these five athletes have had so far. In our first season, to have three of our athletes make the state cross country meet, I couldn’t be happier. The work these kids have put in this year is paying off.”

Glasgow’s Addison Barringhaus won the girls individual title after racing to a time of 21:02.5, and Stoutland’s Bradley Shaw came in first in the boys race with a time of 17:57.6.

At the Class 1 state meet at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Kinnaman and Tullius are scheduled to run at 1:30 p.m., and Chapman should start at 2:15 p.m.

“This group has always set high goals and they have been meeting them,” Buie said. “I’m expecting they will have a great race at state and set some personal best times for the year. It wouldn’t surprise me if you see a Paris Coyote on the awards stand Saturday.”

Football

Coyotes season ends after loss at state No. 1 Monroe City

Paris’ final football game of 2022 was a lopsided affair but demonstrated what a stable culture looks like.

The Coyotes lost 62-6 at Class top team Monroe City in the first round of the Class 1 District 6 Tournament on Friday night. Paris (1-9) was only able to score once in the second half on senior Leo Bounds’ two-yard quarterback sneak — first rushing touchdown of the season — after Gatlin Fountain ran the ball within the Monroe City five-yard line.

Fountain led the Paris offense with his 97 yards on 12 carries while the Coyote offense finished with 83 yards of total offense, and Gunnar Fountain had five tackles and one tackle for loss to lead the defense. Monroe City compiled 377 yards of total offense — 299 rushing — and had five different Panthers run the ball in for a touchdown. Waylon DeGrave had 88 yards on four carries, scoring one of those rushing touchdowns and also picking up touchdowns on a reception and on an interception return.

Head coach Joseph Utterback said Paris played in the No. 1 team in the state so a steep challenge was to be expected. Even though the result isn’t what the Coyotes wanted, the first-year head coach said facing Monroe City (10-0) provided his players the chance to see what hard work and the development of a culture could get them some day. Monroe City is a heavy-style running team that is able to be physical at the line, but one of Paris’ seniors made an interesting observation about the Panthers.

“It’s less about running the football, and they do that well,” Utterback said. “Gunnar (Fountain), one of our seniors, came up and he was like, ‘Coach, they are the most polite team I think we’ve played.’ I was line, ‘Yeah that’s what I’ve been preaching to you all season.’ You’ve got to play with class.”

After the game, Utterback said Monroe City invited Paris to partake in a prayer circle that showed some solidarity and civility. Starting with this offseason, he said Paris can build toward the point it can not only win, but in the right way.

“You want to be that No. 1 ranked team in the state then you gotta do it the right way,” Utterback said. “You’ve got to be a quality person. If you have all the talent in the world, but you don’t have the right attitude, then your talent doesn’t matter. The success comes when you can do it and do it the right way. Our kids were able to see it done the right way tonight.”

When that culture gets set, Utterback said better results should follow. He said he liked how his players went into Friday’s game mentally as all of the Coyotes were excited for the opportunity to play the best in Class 1.

Even at halftime, when the score was 62-0, Utterback said the Coyotes had a good attitude with seniors wanting to play to “go out the right way” in their high school careers but volunteering to shorten back their playing time for the sake of the future.

“The seniors said, ‘We also know you need to get these young guys ready because they’re going to be the ones playing for you next year,'" Utterback said. "My senior quarterback looked at me and said, ‘Yeah I want to play, but you need to get (freshman) Luke (Ensor) ready because he’s going to be playing quarterback for you next year presumably.’ Once you start playing for each other, that’s when good things really start happening.”

Junior Gabe Goff, who joined the Coyotes more than halfway through the season, approached Utterback during the week, he said, and expressed his desire to play Friday because of not possibly playing next year. After experiencing being on a team in the Monroe City game, Utterback said Goff was sold on playing next year.

A big reason why players want to be part of the Paris Coyote football program is because of the leadership, Utterback said.

“We’ve got a great senior class, and we’re going to lose a lot of talent,” Utterback said. “It’s a bummer because you don’t get to be their coach again. I’m going to miss those guys. It’s a great group to help me usher in the next era of Coyote football.”