On a balmy afternoon at the Central Ozarks Conference cross country championships, the Ozark girls and Nixa boys claimed overall team titles and momentum heading into the district event.
GIRLS RACE
Every place matters in a hotly-contested team race, and Tuesday’s tilt between Ozark and Nixa proved to be no exception.
Led by sophomore Ellsie Estes, the Tigers placed four runners in the top ten to hold off Nixa by a score of 48-57.
Estes (2 – 19:10.02), senior Madison Felton (7 – 20:09.48), junior Laine Garner (8 – 20:15.73), sophomore Sydney Lister (9 – 20:17.27) and senior Kimberlee Surface (22 – 21:23.24) paced Ozark to the overall title.
Head coach Mitchell Furtkamp was pleased with his team’s performance against quality competition.
“We knew coming in that it was going to be very tight between us, Nixa and Webb,” Furtkamp said. “So we just kind of told our girls to execute like we have, and they did a phenomenal job today.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GIRLS RACE
While it’s easy to point to runners at the top end bunching up, Furtkamp credited Surface’s strong finish for sealing the victory.
“My top four took care of business, and my five girl did her job,” Furtkamp said. “I think they really showed up in a championship race and showed that they are capable of doing some things down the stretch, and we’re excited.”
As far as down the stretch is concerned, Furtcamp and the Tigers have one goal in mind.
“Our goal all year has been to qualify as a team to state, and I think we are sitting really well to do that,” Furtkamp said. “Now, we still have to earn it – it’s not going to come easily – but I’m excited moving forward to see what we can do.”
Republic junior Gracie Troester won the individual race with a time of 18:28.34.
BOYS RACE
When you place all five of your runners in the top ten, it’s a pretty safe bet you’re going to be in contention for the overall title.
The Nixa boys did exactly that on Tuesday, racing to a 31-59 victory over runner-up Webb City.
Junior Aaron Ashley (3 – 15:48.58), senior Devon Kemp (5 – 15:59.92), senior Logan Richart (16:02.60), sophomore Zane Novinger (8 – 16:07.47) and sophomore Reyes Martinez (9 – 16:12.05) paced the Eagles to their second-straight conference title.
Head coach Lance Brumley praised his squad for responding to his challenge.
“I’m just so incredibly blessed to get to work with these young kids, and they ran great,” Brumley said. “We put a challenge out there to them. I said, ‘not many teams have been back-to-back COC champions, so we need you to put your stamp on this,’ and they answered the call.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE BOYS RACE
While the Eagles have had faster runners over the years, Brumley believes this year’s squad is the deepest he’s ever had.
“We have ten athletes, and maybe more, that can run at the varsity level,” Brumley said. “It’s a testament to the work ethic of these kids. As it says in the good book, iron sharpens iron, and that’s what these kids are doing. We’ve had some fast kids in the past – and these kids are fast – but we are deep.”
“It gives them a lot of confidence moving forward, and they’ve got a chip on their shoulder,” Brumley said. “They were kind of in this spot last year. We were COC champs, and we did not make it out of districts. So, I think our kids wanted to do the work and do the things to put them in a position to move onto the state meet.”
Joplin senior Ian Horton won the individual race with a time of 15:28.45.
