By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
BOLIVAR, MO – Near-perfect weather conditions and a fast course produced a pair of thrilling finishes at Saturday’s Richard Clark Invitational cross country meet.
Webb City junior Brooke Hedger and El Dorado Springs sophomore Wyatt Klaiber captured individual honors in a field represented by 79 schools and 836 runners.
Hedger moved to the front early and paced a majority of the race alongside West Plains junior Emily Ritter.
“The plan for today was to kind of just go out smooth until the two-mile, and then press down if it felt good and just ride the wave of the race,” Hedger said. “I wanted to stick to the front but not take control of the race until later on.”
True to plan, Hedger waited until the two-mile mark and then made a move Ritter was unable to counter.
“Once we got to the two mile, I know my job is to just cut down, squeeze past and make that gap bigger,” Hedger said. “That’s when I really just took off.”
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Hedger’s time of 18:30.11 was not only good enough for first place, it smashed her previous personal best by 42 seconds and set a new Webb City school record.
“Coming down the stretch, I saw 17:53,” Hedger said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh this is crazy!’”
Ritter finished in second place with a time of 18:59.97. Waynesville sophomore Brooklyn Lercher (19:03.40), Lebanon junior Abigail Tague (19:11.29) and Joplin junior Ava Doll (19:12.55) rounded out the top five finishers.
Ritter was the top Class 4 finisher. Fair Grove sophomore Katrina Cantwell was the top Class 3 finisher with a time of 19:51.25, Class 2 was led by New Covenant Academy senior Clara Trent’s 19:34.53 and Stoutland junior Mallory Shaw led the Class 1 finishers with a time of 20:48.66.
West Plains captured the team crown with a 58-point total score from Ritter (2), Seri King (7), Karlee Romans (9), Addison Sanders (12) and Lena Finke (28).
The Zizzers were followed closely by Kickapoo (113) and Bolivar (125).
BOYS RACE
Nixa senior Aaron Ashley entered Saturday’s race as a slight favorite; however, Klaiber was also in the discussion following a 15:25.5 personal best set the previous weekend.
“My plan was to just kind of hold onto [Ashley], and let him take me through the race a little bit,” Klaiber said. “I just tried to go with the pack, and I didn’t want to get too far behind, because I still wanted to have a chance at getting up there with him. I just kind of stuck with him and tried to hold on for as long as I could.”
The plan worked to perfection early on, as Ashley jumped out to the early lead with Klaiber firmly entrenched on the defending champion’s hip pocket.
At the four-kilometer mark, Ashley made a strong move and opened up a sizable gap on the rest of the field. Rounding the final turn to the finish, Nixa’s No. 1 runner enjoyed a 30-meter lead.
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It would not be enough.
Klaiber’s 200-meter surge slowly but surely reeled Ashley in and, at the 30 meter mark, the race had its new and eventual winner in the lead for the first time.
“[Ashley] started pulling away, and I just kind of let whatever was going to happen happen,” Klaiber said. “At first, I didn’t think I could grab him but, to be fully honest, when I was going up to there, I just kind of started praying and hoping – just give me a little more strength to get there, and God gave it. He’s blessed me tremendously.”
Klaiber finished in 15:28.42, with Ashley just behind at 15:31.65.
Mountain Home junior Jackson Free (15:41.88), Rolla junior Cameron Martensen (15:51.28) and Strafford senior Colton Willis (15:52.37) rounded out the top five.
College Heights junior Colton McMillan bested the Class 2 field with a time of 16:23.91, and McAuley Catholic senior Michael Parriogn finished first in Class 1 with a time of 16:28.52.
In the team competition, Nixa (107) narrowly edged both West Plains (112) and Mountain Home (113) to take top honors.
Ashley (1), Reyes Martinez (12), Nicholas Flannery (16), Zane Novinger (33) and Gage Holmes (45) paced the Eagles to the victory.
