By Chris Parker
It was a big day for Webb City at the Class 4 District 6 cross country meet, as the Cardinals swept the team and individual titles.
The Webb City girls started the dominance with Riley Hawkins, Halley Philpot and Abi Street finishing 1-2-3 to lead the Lady Cardinals to the first district title in program history.
“That is a really big deal for us. They we’ve dealt with some adversity on the girls side this year and for them to come out and have their best performance of the year here, so I’m just really proud of them. They’re really focused and engaged to perform their absolute best and then they had a big day,” Webb City head coach Dustin Miller said.
Hawkins won the race in a time of 20:22.95. Philpot (21:03.21) and Street (21:06.41) finished packed together. The strong 1-2-3 finish led Webb City to post a total of just 21 points. Neosho finished runner-up with 48 points.
“The girls came into this race really needing it to build some confidence and assure ourselves of some things that we’ve been seeing glimmers of all season, but really just put a whole team race together and today we did,” Miller said. “Hats off to those kids for performing. Riley Hawkins coming out and winning it in a dominant fashion was impressive considering she struggled some this season with some health issues, and then even our four and five we were able to slow them down at the end, so we didn’t burn ourselves out for next week. We have an outside shot at a plaque there. We’re just trying to line everything up, give ourselves best shot at performing our best at the state championship.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GIRLS RACE
Carl Junction’s Alanza Montez (21:14.23) and Neohso’s Riley Kemna (21:21.54) rounded out the top five.
The Webb City boys were similarly dominant on their way to their fourth district title in program history. Ramon Borboa won the meet for Webb City in a time of 16:30.10. Joseph Dawson was third at 16:32.32. The duo helped Webb City to a team total of 30 points, which easily outdistanced second place Neosho’s total of 70 points.
“I’m happy that we were able to advance the state meet. I’m happy that some of our guys performed better than they did at conference,” Miller said. “As a whole, we have some pretty big goals this year, and we have some work to do ahead of us. Just mental work prepared, so that being said, if you’re going to challenge the team like Festus who has won six straight state championships, you’re going to have to bring it. And today we learned some lessons, and we’re going to want to grow from this, and we’re going to be good to go for next week.”
Rogersville’s Landon Hendrickson (second place – 16:32.31), Neosho’s Kaden Cole (fourth place – 16:35.55) and Carl Junction’s Collin Emmert (fifth place – 16:40.89) rounded out the top five.
Both Webb City and Neosho squads will compete at next Friday’s state meet in Columbia at Gans Creek. It will be a different state experience than ever before, as spectators will be extremely limited.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE BOYS RACE
“We just we talk about staying focused on what we’re trying to accomplish. We spin everything positive, so sure the atmosphere is going to be down a little bit, but our loved ones are going to be there, and it will be quiet enough you can hear a coach. We want to use any advantage we can and give ourselves a shot to compete. We won’t get lost in the madness as much being in class four out of five. We’ll have some kids a little bit closer to the front. I’m just proud of these kids and look forward to the opportunity of next week. I just pray we can make it through the next six days,” Miller said.
The Class 4 girls race will be held at 8:30 am on Friday, Nov. 6 at Gans Creek in Columbia. The Class 4 boys race will follow at 11 a.m.
