By Staff

Carl Junction girls, Webb City boys capture COC cross country team titles

By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Nixa, Mo. — The Carl Junction girls and Webb City boys raced to overall team titles at Tuesday’s Central Ozark Conference cross country championships, held at Nixa’s Inman Elementary course.

Individual honors went to Ozark’s Alexis Barber and Carthage’s Clayton Whitehead.

Girls Race

The girls race started with a familiar scenario.

Ozark senior twins Alexis and Brocklyn Barber raced out to early leads, then challenged the field to maintain a daunting, six-minute pace throughout the five kilometer course.

Carl Junction’s Ally Montez and Nixa’s Alicen Ashley, both freshman, maintained contact with the twins for the first half of the race, before falling off the pace in the final mile.

Alexis Barber finished with a winning time of 18:44.2. She was followed by Brocklyn Barber at 19:05.3. Montez rounded out the top three, finishing in 19:45.1.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE RACE

Team Competition

In the team competition, Carl Junction outpaced Webb City by a score of 53-76 to capture the overall title. The Lady Bulldogs placed three runners in the top ten and all five in the top 20. Ozark rounded out the top three with 84 points.

After a slow start, Carl Junction head coach Krista Otto knew her team was in a bit of danger during the opening mile.

“It was kind of a come-from-behind victory,” Otto said. “I felt like they started behind where they should have been and had to really pull it together on that second lap. It’s definitely been a three-year process to get where we were today.”

The Lady Bulldogs were paced by a third-place finish from Montez. After winning last week’s Irish Invitational, the freshman runner had her sights set on Ozark’s twins.

“Ally was to stay with the Barber girls as long as possible,” Otto said. “That’s kind of our strategy — go see what she could do. As a freshman, we’re just trying to figure out how to race and what the best racing strategy is.”

Top 15 Girls

18:44.2 Alexis Barber, Ozark
19:05.3 Brocklyn Barber, Ozark
19:45.1 Ally Montez, Carl Junction
19:51.2 Alicen Ashley, Nixa
20:36.2 Jenari Lopez, Carthage
20:54.7 Madeline Caruthers, Branson
20:58.6 Evie Cross, Carl Junction
21:06.6 Alexia Jimenez, Webb City
21:07.3 Jenna Fosdick, Carthage
21:07.9 Mayson Montez, Carl Junction
21:08.0 Ellie Kitchen, Ozark
21:13.8 Katie Gray, Joplin
21:19.0 Abby Pendergraft, Webb City
21:19.2 Kaitlynn Franks, Carl Junction
21:21.5 Mileah Metcalf, Webb City

Top Three Girls Teams

53 Carl Junction
76 Webb City
84 Ozark

Boys Race

Things have been a bit different for Clayton Whitehead this season.

After following up a 17th place finish at last year’s state championships with a strong track campaign and a long summer of roadwork, the Carthage senior entered the fall season looking for some big improvements.

He found them in spades.

At a Sept. 29 race at Camdenton, Whitehead posted the state’s fastest 5K time of the season — a scorching 15:11.3.

Since then, Whitehead has become a legitimate threat to win at Jefferson City’s state course on Nov. 3; however, you won’t hear much about future predictions from him.

“I’m just trying to worry about every day and see where that takes me,” Whitehead said.

As expected, Whitehead led Tuesday’s conference race wire-to-wire, opening up a significant lead in the first mile before cruising to a 33-second victory.

While he was hoping to run faster, Whitehead was pleased with the victory.

“It wasn’t too bad,” Whitehead said. “I was just trying to go out and contain my pace. My strategy was just, basically, to focus on my mindset and just try to hold the pace throughout the run. I slowed down more than I would have liked, but I still had a pretty good run.”

Webb City’s Haddon Spikereit finished in second place with a time of 16:22.9, and Branson’s Keifer Dooley rounded out the top-three with a 16:31.2 finish.

Carthage head coach Andy Youngworth praised his senior leader for continuing to grind through a chaotic two-week stretch of college visits and schedule distractions. According to the Tigers’ long-time coach, once Whitehead is able to resume a normal routine and prepare for the championship rounds, his best might yet be to come.

“He’s just taken a step beyond everybody right now, which is kind of a surprise,” Youngworth said. “I knew he was going to have a great year. He had a great summer and put in a lot of miles on his own, and he’s just really committed to being the best he can be.”

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE RACE

Team Competition

With both Webb City and Branson hoping for podium finishes at next month’s state championships, it was no surprise to find the two schools locked in a tight battle at the conference meet.

After bunching all five runners in the top 20, the Cardinals walked away with a razor-thin, 56-57 victory over the Pirates.

Despite the victory, Webb City head coach Dustin Miller was expecting more from his runners, particularly in the midst of an inspired challenge from Branson.

“That’s our second win by a point at this meet in five years,” Miller said. “Hats off to the Branson coaching staff and guys. They came out and ran with such heart and passion. They deserved the win today … luckily, we got it.”

Miller pointed to the close finish as a motivational tool for his team as the season moves into the championship schedule.

“We got a big wake-up call,” Miller said. “We got, flat out, punched in the mouth today, and I made myself extremely clear when I said that Branson deserved the win today. We were not representing the program’s standards like we should today, and so I think that wake-up call is going to help us going forward.”

Top 15 Boys