By Chris Parker
Kickapoo led the area in both the boys and girls Class 5 State Cross Country races with Tyler Harris (4th) and Klarie Brown (11th) both earning all-state honors.
Harris, who is just a sophomore, ran a tactically sound race in his first trip to the state cross country meet. He opened the first kilometer with a time of 3:03.6, which put him in 18th place after 1,000 meters. By the two-kilometer mark, Harris moved up to ninth place which he held through the three-kilometer mark.
Harris then began to make his move. After four kilometers, he was up to sixth place. He ran his final kilometer in 3:07.5 to move up two more spots in fourth place with a time of 15:46.6.
He helped lead Kickapoo to a sixth place finish as a team. Joplin finished 12th as a team.
Parkview’s Connor Ayres was the only other area runner to earn all-state honors in the Class 5 with an 18th place finish in a time of 16:10.4.
In the girls’ race, Brown was consistent throughout never coming across any of her kilometer splits higher than eighth place or lower than 11th where she finished. She ran a time of 18:51.8.
Her efforts helped Kickapoo finish as the top team in eighth place. Nixa finished 10th overall.
Joplin’s Jennalee Dunn (18th place – 19:11.9), Republic’s Mihane Nambara (21st – 19:23.7) and Alicen Ashley (25th place – 19:31.3) all also earned all-conference honors.
