By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Stockton girls took home the program’s first state trophy since 2013 with a fourth-place team finish. The Lady Tigers did it without a front runner in the individual top 15. But the Tigers had a strategy.
“We’ve been preaching the pack here, especially with our third through seven runners,” said head coach Ryan Pate. “We’ve done some races where I send my one and two with our three through seven to help carry them through. It’s kind of a numbers game, and it typically pays off in the long run, especially in a big field.”
Freshman Lillie Burchett is the team’s No. 1 runner, and the freshman competed in her first state meet Friday with a 20:36 finish.
“She broke 21 minutes on a really tough course last weekend, so we were confident she was going to be up there today,” said Pate.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GIRLS RACE
Stockton will return four next year, in addition to one that did not get to run this year due to a stress fracture suffered in early August.
“She was our No. 1 last year and a freshman All-Stater,” said Pate. “We definitely have a good group of returners.”
Clara Trent finished in fourth for New Covenant Academy to lead the area’s placers in the class.
“I definitely had a plan with every 1K, to try to pace those, and to not go too fast for my first mile,” she said. “I also kind of tried to keep with the pack in the front, but other than that, I ran my own race.”
Trent said training over the summer and winter helped her improve her time from 20:26 last year down to 19:46.
“I’m one of the only girls on my team, so I train with the guys a lot,” she added. “Putting in the work with me pushes me, too.”
Trent has one more year in her high school career and said today’s finish motivates her to keep training and striving for her end goal.
“And also just to have fun with it,” she said, “because I love running with all the guys on my team. It’s so fun knowing that going into another season with them is going to be successful.”
Ash Grove’s Millison Sapp (11th – 20:15.5), Pierce City’s Emma Hunt (12th – 20:16.7), Skyline’s Kadence Wallace (19th – 20:51.1) and Mansfield’s Faith Clark (22nd – 20:52.3) also earned all-state honors.
Sparta (6th – 157 points), Pierce City (13th – 284 points), Sarcoxie (15th place – 324 points) and Mansfield (16th – 348 points) also competed as teams on Friday.
FULL RESULTS: CLASS 2 STATE XC – GIRLS RACE – CLICK HERE
In the boys’ race, Mansfield’s Nolyn Corder finished third overall to lead the area.
“I came into the race hoping to hold first place, but that didn’t happen, so at the end I thought I might as well kick it,” he said. “It’s the last race of the year.”
Corder ran a 17:24 to take 13th last year, but jumped to 16:42 for third place at Gans on Friday.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE BOYS RACE
“My mindset got stronger and my relationship with God grew at lot,” said Corder. “Doing this season for him helped me persevere through it.”
Corder will return to work for next season’s goals.
“I’m hoping that throughout the winter I can keep working and building my endurance,” Corder said. “My goal is to get first next year at state.”
New Covenant Academy placed third in team standings after moving from 8th to 7th to 6th at each kilometer. “We talk all year long about trying to negative split and running our pace, and then really working hard the last 1K,” said NCA Coach Ben Jennings. “It’s fun to see that work.”
Austin Kendall set the pace for the team in his final race, placing sixth. Kendall is one of three seniors on the team, each of which Jennings called fantastic leaders.
NCA will return four of their top seven next season.
“I don’t know where the ceiling is,” said Jennings. “I expect to see lots more podiums the next few years. Today was a great day and a lot of fun to see their hard work pay off.”
Alton’s Rydan Deckard (13th – 17:10.1), Mansfield’s Braxton Bolfing (20th – 17:19.4), New Covenant’s Kian Edwards (21st – 17:19.6) and Stockton’s Michael Hudson (25th – 17:22.5) all earned all-state honors individually.
Alton (8th – 215 points), Mansfield (9th – 218 points) and Southwest (13th – 259 points) also competed as teams.
