Kickapoo and Nixa have big days at Class 5 District 2 XC meet

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By Don Eskins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

The Kickapoo Chiefs, boys and girls cross country teams, topped all area performances at Saturday’s Class 5 District 2 Championships in Bolivar.

The Kickapoo boys, behind meet individual champion Tyler Harris’ 15:58.90, registered a meet-low 46 points to capture this year’s Class 5 District 2 championship. The district title was the third in a row for the Chiefs.

Runner-up honors went to Raymore-Peculiar with 75 while Joplin, with 79, finished third. Grabbing fourth place with 115 points were the Nixa Eagles.

The meet’s top four teams all advance on to this year’s state meet. The top 30 placers earn All-District Honors.

Three days of rain, prior to the meet made Saturday’s race a difficult one for this year’s District 2 competitors.

“Our boys ran well, but it turned into the kind of race we weren’t expecting. It was really muddy, and for the kids, it was like running in quick sand,” said Kickapoo head cross country coach Jeremy Goddard. “We had a couple of kids struggle a bit due to course conditions, but for every kid who struggled, we had another step up.”

“The muddy conditions made things more difficult for us than just racing the competition,” said the Chief’s Harris. “But I feel like we did a good job of fighting through all the adversity with the course conditions.”

This year’s field also made the race more competitive for the runners. MSHSAA has combined, what used to eight districts, into just four. As a result twice as many teams are competing in half as many districts.

“Last year we competed mostly against city schools,” said the Chief’s Harris. “Increasing the number of teams in our district has definitely made the field more competitive.”

Last year the Chiefs finished sixth at the state meet, something they hope to improve on this year.

“We basically have two goals ahead of this week. First we want to get one of those state trophies and second we want to win it all,” said Goddard. “I think we have an excellent chance of placing in the top four, and if we run really well, I think we’ll have a shot at bringing a state championship home.”

Area boys top four teams:

Kickapoo First Place: 1. Tyler Harris- 15:58.90, 5. Kyle Keltner- 16:39.14, 7. Brooklyn Creehan- 16:44.22, 9. Grant Musick- 16:50.34, 24. Jack Creehan- 17:15.91, 32. Colby Goddard- 17:27.89 and 45. Brooks Barker- 18:04.06.

Joplin Third Place: 4. Hobbs Campbell- 16:32.94, 14. Ian Horton- 16:37.54, 18. Zaben Barnes- 17:11. 63, 20. Chance Tindell- 17:13.46, 23. Nicholas Horton- 17:14.66, 44. Evan Matlock- 18:01.75 and 55. Grey Edwards- 18:30.13.

Nixa Fourth Place: 10. Wes Hatman- 16:52.52, 22. Mason Shank- 17:14.64, 26. Logan Richart- 17:17.49, 28. Devon Kemp- 17:20.01, 29. Kaiden McCormick- 17:22.51, 36. Alexander Worthley- 17:34.97, and 37. Aaron Ashley- 17:40.05.

Lady Chiefs area’s top C5D2 team

On the girls’ side of the Class 5 District 2 meet, Raymore-Peculiar took top honors with 56 points followed by second place Kickapoo with 84. Third place went to Lee’s Summit with 120 points and fourth to Nixa, also with 120 (by tie-breaker).

Out in front for Raymore-Peculiar was Ashlyn Smith, who after turning in a time of 19:34.76, placed fourth while Kickapoo’s top runner, Klarie Brown, clocked a 19:14.28 to place second.

Lee’s Summit was paced by Makayla Clark who finished first after recording a 19:04.41 and Nixa was led by Alicen Ashley, who registered a 29:05.96, to place ninth.

According to Kickapoo’s Klarie Brown Saturday’s race was both difficult and a surprise.

“There was so much mud it was really hard to run in,” said Brown. “It made you feel like you were pretty much going nowhere. But I just had to grind through it, as did the other members of our team.”

“We knew the scores were going to be close today, but we thought we’d probably come in third or fourth,” she said. “So finishing second, and getting a plaque, was a real surprise. A good surprise.”

Also happy with their performance was Jeremy Goddard who also coaches the Kickapoo girls.

“They ran fantastic, a lot better than I thought they would,” said Goddard. “Klarie Brown ran great, our number two girl Sally Cybulski had an awesome day, our number three girl Galiena Colon and number four girl Charlotte Cones, who have been coming along this season, ran much better and our number five girl, Tara Randol, closed it out really well. I’m really proud of their efforts.”

Historic effort for Nixa Eagles

The Nixa Eagles didn’t get a trophy this year, but they’re going to state. For head coach Lance Brumley, that was enough.

“We didn’t get a plaque, but our boys and girls teams are both going to state, and for us that’s historic. Our boys haven’t been to a state meet since 1998 and our girls have never made back to back appearances at state, as they’ll be doing this year,” said Brumley. “Add to that the fact that this year will mark the first time that we’ve ever taken both teams to the state meet at the same time. Wow, what a day!”

Area girls top four teams:

Kickapoo Second Place: 2. Klarie Brown- 19:14.28, 6. Sally Cybulski- 19:48.47, 15. Galiena Colon- 20:35.27, 24. Charlotte Cones- 21:04.34, 37. Tara Randol- 21:48.00, 38. Adeline Colon- 22:05.70 and 42. Elli Moll- 22:20.29.

Nixa Fourth Place: 9. Alicen Ashley- 20:05.96, 18. Adelyn Janssen- 20:48.79, 19. Macy Kopp- 20:54.50, 26. Emily Harris- 21:04.97, 48. Cassidy Williams- 22:38.32, 59. Brookelyn Bidinger- 23:18.18 and 64. Camila Figuero- 23:32.28.

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