By Chris Parker & Amanda Perkins
The Stockton girls toed the line in a steady rain for the first race of the day on Saturday. The Tigers were seeking a second straight team trophy and fifth in program history.
Mission accomplished.
The Tigers stayed in the top four of the team standings for the entire race on the way to a fourth-place finish with a total of 160 points.
“I thought they ran extremely well. I have three freshmen in our top five and a junior and a sophomore. The three newbies hadn’t raced this course before,” Stockton head coach Ryan Pate said.
Junior Lydia Bahr set the tone for Stockton. She was 55th overall in 22:22.7 crossing the line fourth for Stockton. This season, she was the first Tiger across the line in 30th place with a time of 21:13.6.
“She (Bahr) has been super consistent all year. From August until now she has made a steady improvement,” Pate said. “I really challenged her as far as taking on more of a leadership role. I am really proud of her, and I definitely think she executed a really good race today.”
Freshmen Zoe Rains (33rd – 21:25.5), Jenna Black (59th – 22:08.5) and Camryn Lubeski (80th – 22:52.1) along with sophomore Lillie Burchett (102nd – 23:19.7) rounded out the scoring for Stockton. Sophomore Kayleigh Antonini and senior Hannah Black were the final two runners for Stockton.
Expectations will be high for Stockton next season with all of the top six runners returning.
“Big things for sure. We are young so the future is bright moving forward,” Pate said.
Alton (11th), Pierce City (14th) and Spokane (16th) also represented the area in the team race.
New Covenant’s Clara Trent executed a disciplined race strategy to finish second overall in a time of 19:26.3. She was 22nd after the first 1,000 meters before making a move up 16 spots in the second 1,000 meters to get into position for the final stretch of the race.
Pierce City’s Emma Hunt followed a similar race plan on her way to a fourth-place finish in a time of 19:45.1. Hunt was 29th after 1,000 meters and moved up every kilometer thereafter to claim fourth place.
“My coach and I have noticed that I get excited, and I like to go out hard. We decided it would be best for me to slowly work up, get my body warm and get going because I get stronger at the end. I am just grateful to have a coach who can talk me through my strategy like that,” Hunt said.
Gainesville’s Jessica Suit (12th – 20:29.9) and Alton’s Shalana Whittenburg (23rd – 21:08.4) also earned all-state honors.
FULL GIRLS RACE RESULTS – CLICK HERE
Few, if any, runners in the state have made more of a two-year improvement than New Heights Christian junior Colton McMillan.
As a freshman, McMillan finished 121st in Class 1 with a time of 20:08.5.
His postseason experience as a freshman sparked a passion for running that blossomed into a 28th place finish as a sophomore and a third place finish in Class 2 this year in a time of 16:53.8.
“The reason why I liked running and wanted to get good at it was because of my district race freshman year. I was in 50-something place and had about given up. Then one of the parents of one of our runners yelled that I was in 50th. Then I started counting guys as I passed them. Then I qualified (for state). Having a fun race like that really made me love running,” McMillin said. “I started running that winter, but it wasn’t very consistent. I really got consistent about a year ago. It is just consistency.”
McMillan went out in fourth place at the kilometer and maintained a top four position for the entire race.
Next season, McMillan is aiming for the top spot.
“I want to win. I believe I can win,” McMillin said. “I started so far back that every year I close the gap more and more. Next year hopefully I will be on the other side of that gap.”
New Heights placed 15th in the team competition. New Covenant (10th), Alton (11th) and Stockton (13th) all represented the area in the team competition.
Kian Edwards led New Covenant with an eight place finish in a time of 17:13.7. Stockton’s Michael Hudson placed 14th in a time of 17:41.5 to lead the Tigers. Alton was paced by Chaska Shearin in 15th place with a time of 17:43.8.
New Covenant’s Riley Connell (20th – 17:51.9) and Spokane’s Luke Faulkner (29th place – 18:04.0) also earned top 30 finishes.
