By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Under less-than-ideal conditions, the Bolivar girls and West Plains boys captured overall team titles at Saturday’s Class 4 district meet and punched their respective tickets to next week’s state championships in Columbia.
GIRLS RACE
Two weeks ago, the Bolivar girls’ team won the Ozark Conference title by 14 points over runner-up West Plains.
Saturday turned out to be deja vu all over again, as the Liberators raced to a 46-60 overall team title.
Julia Jump (19:19.28), Ayden Spotila (19:21.74) and Emma Howes (19:31.10) ran in a tight pack until the final 200 meters, finishing in fourth, fifth and seventh place, respectively.
Fulton’s Emery Mayfield was the individual winner with a time of 18:12.40, and Jump was the area’s top finisher.
Bolivar head coach Ron Bandy was pleased with his team’s performance and wasn’t surprised by the trio’s ability to not only stick together but post a top-ten finish in the process.
“Those three have been on each other for the last three or four weeks,” Bandy said. “Every workout we’ve had they’ve been running just like you saw today and, basically, prepped to stay as tight as they can and just carry that all the way through 5K.”
While the lead group set the tone for the team pursuit, Bolivar’s four and five runners left their marks on the course, as well.
Adelyn Carrel (20:13.00) and Sydney Waters (20:42.95) finished 12th and 18th, respectively, to seal the Liberator win.
“I knew we had it in us, but I was a little bit nervous – as you always are this time of the season,” Bandy said. “Those top three got together, and my next group kind of stayed together and just put us where we needed to be in good positions for the finish.”
Heading into next week’s state championships, Bolivar (along with runner-up West Plains) will represent the area and battle for a top-eight overall team podium finish.
“I think we’ve got a very good shot at fighting for a trophy and to be standing on that podium,” Bandy said. “There’s opportunity there. The kids gave everything they had today, but it’s going to take another level of it next week.”
BOYS RACE
The boys’ race saw the area’s top two Class 4 programs, Bolivar and West Plains, once again fighting for the overall team title; however, unlike the girls event, this race featured very little drama.
The Zizzers simply ran away with the title from the jump, placing four runners in the top ten – and all five in the top 15 – en route to a 38-78 win over the second-place Liberators.
Carl Junction finished fourth with 170 points, giving the area a third qualified team for next week’s state championships in Columbia.
For head coach Alicia Gunter, the strong finish puts West Plains in a great position to compete next weekend.
“What I preached all week was that not only we came here and took care of business but, when we left here, we know we’re ready for the state meet,” Gunter said. “I feel like we’re ready to go represent at the state meet and give it our all.”
West Plains was paced by Kyler Gunter (2 – 16:09.63), Jackson Free (4 – 16:10.12), Carson King (9 – 16:29.02), Hoyt Stiner (10 – 16:31.99) and Trevin Smith (13 – 16:41.97).
While all five Zizzers placed in the top 15, Coach Gunter noted her team’s individual rankings have seen several changes over the past few weeks … something she attributes to solid chemistry and overall team balance.
“I’ve always said a good team swaps positions, and we saw that today,” Coach Gunter said. “It wasn’t because people didn’t run good races, it was because some other people ran great races. We just want to swap positions, and we want to do it as a team – it’s way sweeter as a team.”
The individual title was won by Marshfield’s Zach Mitchell with a time of 16:04.04.
