Norwood’s Jayden Chambers has had a decorated athletic career at Norwood.
Entering Saturday, Chambers was a two-time all-state finisher on the cross country course and a two-time all-state finisher on the track. In addition, she has played in three final fours on the basketball court and earned all-state honors on the softball field.
The thing that had eluded Chambers was a state championship.
On Saturday, at the Class 1 state cross country meet at Gans Creek XC Course in Columbia, she caught it.
“I knew I wanted to go out on a bang, but I didn’t know it was going to be this big,” Chambers said.
Go out with a bang indeed.
Chambers trailed by a second at the kilometer mark and then never again as she ran away from the field with a 19:09.4 to win the race by almost 10 full seconds.
“It was surreal,” Chamber said. “For the (last) three years I have been behind everybody, but this year felt different. I knew that if I wanted it then I had to push for it.”
The 19:09 performance was a far cry from her freshman year time of 22:50 and also a huge jump from her time of 20:45 to place eighth last season.
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She credited an enhanced training regimen with the improvement.
“I just tried to get mileage in to get my stamina up for that final kick at the end,” Chambers said. “It was a lot of sprints, but the sprints are worth it when you realize you have to kick it in at the end.”
The victory made her the first individual female champion in Norwood history and just the second individual, male or female, to win an individual title in any sport.
“We have had very good programs in cross country for boys and girls and then all the other sports have made a huge impact,” Chambers said. “Being the first girl is crazy because Norwood has never had a girl runner (win) state. It feels really awesome to bring it home for my town.”
Chambers was able to balance training to win a state cross country title while also serving as a catcher on the softball team.
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“It is very hard (balancing softball and cross country),” Chambers said. “Usually we have (softball) games on Monday and Thursday and have cross country meets throughout the week. I take it slow in practice for softball, and for cross country I let it all out. I have been doing it for four years, so I got used to it.”
Gloria Deo’s Caroline Fields (sixth), Stoutland’s Mallory Shaw (8th), Chadwick’s Macy Landry (9th), School of the Ozarks’ Ella Howard (10th), Chadwick’s Emily Landry (11th), Dora’s Isabelle Martin (13th), Norwood’s Kalie Chadwell (14th), Thomas Jefferson’s Vivian Sharp (18th), School of the Ozarks’ Krystina Evans (20th), Thomas Jefferson’s Kirra Moser (22nd), Summersville’s Ashton Brawley (24th), Dadeville’s Claire McGee (28th) and Blue Eye’s Adelyn Asbury (29th) also earned top 30 finishes.
School of the Ozarks won the team title with Dora finishing runner-up.
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On the boys’ side, School of the Ozarks won the team title and Kellen Robertson made it a sweep with the individual title. Hermitage finished in fourth as a team in the boys competition to earn a trophy.
Dora’s Daniel Tomlinson (9th), Stoutland’s Michael Kincaid (14th), Hermitage’s Levi George (15th), Niangua’s David Stuber (17th), Mack Creek’s Carter Ferrell (19th), Gloria Deo’s Gideon Case (23rd), Chadwick’s Thayor Little (25th) and Dadeville’s Adien McGill (28th) all finished in the top 30 for the area to earn medals.
