by Head Coach Brian Goatley

On Tuesday, Oct. 16, the El Dorado Springs Cross Country team finished out their regular season schedule, hosting their one and only home meet of the year. The meet was held out at the Gene Pray Memorial Golf Course. There were over 250 athletes participating, along with a pretty good size crowd to cheer them on.

TOP ELDO GIRL – in the El Dorado Springs Cross County meet held here Tuesday, Oct. 16, was Kenli Rader who placed 4th among the varsity girls. Phot by Kerri Rader.

The Middle School athletes got things started off at 4:00. On the girl’s side, Hannah Klaiber and Colbie Wood led the way, placing 2nd and 4th respectively. These girls have really pushed each other all season. The MS girls Bulldog team joined with Alivia Bowen, Madison Hendricks and Myka Barger, just missed a team plaque finishing 3rd overall. They were missing Hanna Ridgeway, due to sickness. They tied for 2nd, but didn’t have another runner to break the tie, so they had to settle for 3rd. This was the last race for these girls. They have really worked hard this year, pushing themselves and each other to new levels of confidence and have had a tremendous season.

The Middle School boys only had Garrett Klaiber reach the medal stand, placing 2nd to Colby Adams from Stockton. Connor Goatley has been up there medaling with Garrett most of the season, but was dealing with an injury which slowed him down, especially with the hills. None the less, he has had a much improved season over last year. Nathan Saderstrom and Ethan Tucker finished out the Middle School boys group. Nathan probably finished with his best race of the year, and all of the boys have done well this year. Unfortunately, they were just one boy shy of being able to compete as a team.

On the High School side, the girl’s varsity team was next up. Kenli Rader led the way with a 4th place finish, finishing with her 2nd fastest time of the year on a tough course. Just a few seconds separated Sarah King and Abby Klaiber, finishing 11th and 12th respectively. Teammate Morgan Mitchell, through in a gritty finish, to find herself not too far back in 15th place. These girls were joined by Abby Cartwright to take 2nd place overall, behind a tough Lamar girls team. The girl’s team ran well as a team, and now focus their attention onto Districts.

TOP BOY RUNNER  – at the El Dorado Springs Cross County meet on Tuesday, Oct. 16, just happened to be Daelin Ackley who was running for the home team. Photo by Kerri Rader.

On the boy’s side, Daelen Ackley led the way, winning the race in a time of 16:57, just beating a tough runner from Lamar. Teammates Trevyn Garringer, Caleb Mooney, Gavin Mooney and Brice Knoll also finished on the medal stand, placing 10th, 13th, 15th and 20th. They were joined by teammates Austin Wiegel and Nick Raddatz to place 2nd overall as a team, just behind a tough Stockton team. The boys have been running well as a team, as of late, and like the girls, are now focusing their attention on Districts ahead.

The boy’s team also had four run in the JV race. Riley Quinlin led the way, placing 6th, with one of his best performances of the year. He was joined by teammate James King in the top ten for medals. Foreign exchange student, Danil Melnikov, finished just his 2nd race of the year, with a strong performance, followed just shortly behind by teammate Gavin Ring.

This meet wrapped up the season for the  Middle School runners. For the High School, it wraps up the regular season, and now the High School teams are turning there focus to the Class 3 District 7 cross country meet, which will be held Saturday, Oct. 27 in Hollister. Our JV team will get things started, with their race beginning at 2:30. The varsity girl’s team will then get things going with their race starting at 3:30 followed by the varsity boys race at 4:10. Both teams are hoping to add one more week to their season after districts. To do that, they would have to either place in the top 15 individually, or be in the top two as a team. This would get them one last race at the State Meet held in Jefferson City on Saturday, Nov. 3.

Good Luck this weekend and GO BULLDOGS!

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