Webb City boys capture Carthage Invitational title

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By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Haddon Spikereit crossed the finish line and there wasn’t another runner in sight.

He was well on his way to catching his breath when the second-place runner finally crossed under the inflatable finish line, nearly 30 seconds later.

Spikereit and the Cardinals turned in a dominant race on Thursday morning at the Carthage Invitational cross country meet as the Webb City boys placed four runners in the top nine to capture first place.

“I’ll take that,” Webb City coach Dustin Miller said.

The first-place finish wasn’t unexpected for Spikereit, who placed 68th at the Class 4 state meet last year. Miller held him back for the first mile-and-a-half and then let him run.

“I was really proud of the way he charged the downhill and just stayed on it,” he said. “Put his foot on the gas and never let off.”

Teammate Joseph Dawson followed in third place (17:50.77), Owen Weller was sixth (18:26.12), Roman Borboa was ninth (18:38.33) and Marcos Encarnacion was 23rd.

The top 20 runners earned medals.

Miller said this is one of those seasons he’s excited about, and the Cardinals have some big goals.

“We’re not as flashy as we’ve been in the past right now,” Miller said. “It’s a different feel with this group. Patiently improving. We have Roman Borboa our sophomore finish ninth. I had no idea he was that high up there. That helps his confidence. He’s a talented kid who’s put in some work.”

And if it wasn’t there already, the Cardinals will surely have a target on their backs after Thursday.

“We tend to have a target on our back in the southwest Missouri area and we’re proud of that,” Miller said. “We’ve earned that and we enjoy wearing that. We don’t shy away from it. We know that schools are talented and they’re good and they’re going to work hard to beat us but we’re confident the work we’ve put in is enough to accomplish our goals.”

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MEET

Following in second place was Carthage, which was led by sophomore Mariquis Strickland’s fifth-place finish in 18:16.14. Five other Tigers medaled: Anderson Ixcol was 11th, Noah Talamantez was 13th, Joseph Wyrick was 14th, Selvin Estrada Perez was 15th and Malcolm Robertson was 17th.

The Tigers finished 16 points behind Webb City.

“Mariquis Strickland had a really good day,” Carthage coach Andy Youngworth said. “We had a couple guys that were just a little bit off. One was sick and the other struggled in the last mile with the heat and hills. Mariquis really stepped up though. That’s the really good thing with this team is if one guy has a bad race there’s somebody else to pick up for him. We had several guys in the top 20 that really helped us.”

Glendale was the top Springfield-area school; the Falcons placed fifth. They received a strong effort from freshman Hilton Newell, who placed fourth individually in 18:08.90. He was the only medalist for a Glendale team that featured three freshmen, three sophomores and one junior.

Carl Junction was led by Logan Carnes’ 16th-place finish. The Bulldogs were sixth. Central followed in seventh and was led by Hunter Kimberlin-Poore’s 28th-place finish. Reeds Spring senior Evan Brandsma placed 35th. Hillcrest sophomore Malique Young took 30th. Individually, Springfield Catholic senior Jack Delvechio took 11th.

Girls race a battle for second

Rogers, Arkansas was the favorite going in to Thursday’s girls race and the Mountaineers lived up to the hype.

Ali Nachtigal won the race by 10 seconds and Rogers placed six runners in the top 10, turning the race into a battle for second place in the team standings.

Webb City fended off Carthage by 11 points for second with a sophomore in Riley Hawkins leading the way.

Hawkins finished in 21:43.61 and the entire Cardinals team medaled. Senior Alexia Jimenez was 11th (23:07.57), freshman Halley Philpot was 12th (23:10.31), senior Abigail Pendergraft was 16th (24:00.24), junior Mileah Metcalf was 17th (24:04.03), sophomore Alanna Bundy was 18th (24:07.41) and sophomore Lauren Kuechler was 20th (24:40.87).

“I’m really proud of (Riley) for taking things up today,” Miller said.

“Alexia Jimenez holding it solid at number two and Hallye Philpot, a freshman, moving up to be our number three,” he said. “We’ve got a tight pack going there. We lost a shoe for our number four so that made it tough. She fell back.”

The Tigers, meanwhile, were led by veteran Jenari Lopez, a senior who placed second in 21:05.29. Three other Carthage runners medaled: junior Kimberly Hernandez was 13th (23:42.15), senior Samantha Benhumea was 15th (23:46.98) and senior Jazuri Lopez was 19th (24:12.77).

“Overall we had a good showing and Jenari really ran a great race,” Youngworth said. “She came from way back, put herself back in contention and that’s just kind of the way she runs. She comes from behind and is very confident. She really ran a strong last mile. It was kind of the same story as the boys, we had one girl who was sick and one not doing very well and Kimberly Hernandez who’s really been our sixth or seventh runner most of the year kind of popped out of nowhere and ends up at number two. I always knew she had that kind of talent, it was just a matter of her having the confidence in herself to make that breakthrough.”

Carl Junction finished fourth in the team standings with two medalists: sophomore Alanza Montez was third in 21:28.09 and freshman Hannah Franks was eighth in 23:00.41.

Glendale was a distant fifth, again with a young team on the course. Sophomore Lillian Griffith led in 24th place; she’s one of three sophomores and two freshman on the roster.

Hillcrest junior Rebecca Loya cracked the top 10 with a ninth-place finish. Central junior Avery Baker was 15th.

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