By Amanda Perkins & Chris Parker
The West Plains girls cross country team came into the Class 4 state meet with no margin for error.
The Lady Zizzers stepped to the starting line with just five runners in uniform meaning all five would be counted on for the team score. Those five stepped up together to score 133 points and walk away with a state runner-up finish.
“So, their theme going into state – we have the tradition of making banners – was ‘dynamite comes in small packages.’ We knew that no matter what, if we fell down or got off, we had to finish for our team,” West Plains head coach Alicia Gunter said. “It wasn’t about us. We have a new shirt this year: ‘It’s about them.’ That’s what we focused on. We didn’t not only have any subs on the line, we didn’t have any subs at home. For this group of girls to make this happen is phenomenal. That’s like winning a state championship ten times over for me. I’m so happy that I don’t have words right now.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GIRLS RACE
Addison Sanders paced West Plains with a time of 19:21.1 to finish 16th overall. She was followed by Emily Ritter (29th – 19:43.5) and Seri King (42nd – 20:00.1) in second and third for the team.
The race, and the trophy, came down to the performance of No. 4 and No. 5 runners Karlee Romans and Emma Dixon over the final 1,000 meters. At the 4,000-meter mark, West Plains was in fourth place. Over the final kilometer, Romans and Dixon picked off a combined 13 runners to help vault West Plains up the team standings to No. 2.
“I knew we were racing. I knew we were moving, and every time I saw all of our girls, they were very alert and listening to me,” Gunter said. “When I was pointing at runners in front of them, they were making the moves and chasing those girls.”
FULL RESULTS: CLASS 4 GIRLS RACE – CLICK HERE
All five runners will be back next season looking to get back to the top of the podium in 2024.
“I hope they will run tons of miles this winter and into spring track and the summer,” Gunter said. “I just hope this will put a fire under them that nobody can put out.”
Bolivar ended up just off the podium placing fifth as a team with 147 points, which was just three points away from a tie for fourth. Julia Jump (15th – 19:19.0) and Ayden Spotila (25th – 19:33.5) both earned all-state honors for Bolivar.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE BOYS RACE
On the boys’ side, West Plains just missed out on making it two team trophies for the Zizzers placing fifth overall with 157 points. Bolivar (12th) and Carl Junction (16th) also competed in the team competition.
Marshfield senior Zach Mitchell led the area with a 16th place finish in a time of 15:52.8. He was closely followed by West Plains sophomore Jackson Free in 17th place with a time of 15:53.9.
