It was a steady pace for Jolie Evans and a half-mile gallop for Caleb Leach that helped the pair place in the top 25 at the Class 3 MSHSAA State XC Championships on Saturday.
Leach finished in 12th place with a time of 16:56.90, and Evans took 19th in the race with a time of 20:14.30.
“Both races were very competitive,” said Courtney Kirk, Cassville cross country coach. “Ten seconds could be a matter of ten places.”
Kirk said Evans employed a paced tactic, finding a competitor to match on the course.
“Jolie was very consistent throughout her race,” Kirk said. “She got a great start, found an athlete she competes with regularly, and went and got the job done.”
Leach, on the other hand, opted for some late-race fireworks.
“Caleb made us sweat a little more,” Kirk said. “Toward the end of the race, my plan was to catch runners at the two-mile mark and then head to the finish line. When I saw Caleb at mile two, he was in 23rd place (top 25 are all-state). I made the decision to run out to the back of the course to make sure he knew where he was placed well before the finish line.
“When I saw him there. he was sitting 18th. He ended up passing eight runners in the last half mile (11 runners from the two-mile mark). His finish was one of those that gives you goosebumps because you can see all his hard work and determination at work.”
Along with the All-State finishes, the Cassville cross country teams made history this year by having both full teams compete in the meet. The girls finished 7th as a team, and the boys took 16th.
“Having both teams competing at state is such a rewarding feeling that I have never experienced before,” Kirk said.
“Usually, competing at districts is bittersweet because you have some athletes continuing on and other athletes ending their season, despite their best efforts. This year, it was all sweet.”
Kirk said it’s a benefit to the program to see such a high level of competition, and meets as big as state.
“The state meet is the highest level of competition in cross country,” she said. “You are taking the best of the best from each district in Missouri and putting them in one race together. It’s much bigger than regular season meets, as well. In our state races, we ran against almost 200 runners in each race. That is double what we are seeing in a regular season meet.”
Along with the competition came the challenge of a state-level course.
“There are a few rolling hills in the second loop of the course, but our runners are no stranger to hills,” Kirk said. “We run Wildwood regularly. Our biggest challenge was the 20-plus mph wind we were running against right off the starting line and the muddy tangent from all the rain the night before.
“Our kids handled that well. They know that running is very much a mental sport and knew all athletes were facing those same challenges.”
Kirk said having 14 athletes at the meet is also motivation for the future.
“Hopefully, taking both teams shows that it is attainable and motivates our athletes to put in the miles in the offseason and help recruit a solid team again for next year,” she said. “Coach Flehmer and I have truly enjoyed this season and these athletes. Our seniors will be greatly missed!”
Full results from the meet include:
Boys
Caleb Leach, 12th, 16.56.90
Charles Elliot, 110th, 18:37.70
Mason Gautney, 122nd, 18:55.20
Ethan Bohmke, 136th, 19:05.60
Jacob Martinez, 143rd, 19:20.90
Evan Butler, 150th, 19:52.20
Jacob Hudson, 155th, 20:02.30
Girls
Jolie Evans, 19th, 20:14.30
Dakotah Anderson, 47th, 21:21.50
Kayli Anderson, 64th, 21:53.10
Tori Mitchell, 80th, 22:14.60
Jadyn Williams, 106th, 23:00.30
Evelyn Elliott, 152nd, 25:50.40
Elizabeth Butler, 158th, 27:20.40
