Class 3 District 2 Cross Country Championships

by Brian Goatley

On Saturday, October 28, the El Dorado Springs High School Cross Country team headed to the Lamar Golf Course for the Class 3 District 2 Cross Country Championships.  This was a much cooler day for the Bulldogs but they were ready for the day. Up for grabs were tickets to the Class 3 State Championship Cross Country Meet next week at Gans Creek Park in Columbia on Saturday, November 4.  To punch their ticket to next week, athletes had to place in the top 30 in their race or finish in the top 4 as a team.  There were 24 teams competing in the Class 3 District 2 races.

After the conclusion of the class 1 races, the Class 3 Boys race was set to get started at 11:00.  This was going to be the coldest start of a race this season, however, the Bulldog Boys were ready to go.  The Bulldogs got off to a great start and moved toward the front from the starting gun.  As they continued throughout the race, they continued to hold their positions or move forward.  Freshman Wyatt Klaiber led the way winning the Class 3 District 2 race with a Personal Best time of 15:45.  Junior Braxton Watts crossed the finish line next for the Bulldogs, finishing in 3rd with a time of 17:02.  Braxton was followed shortly by a pack of dogs, with Shane Fletcher finishing 8th with a Personal Best time of 17:13, followed shortly by brother Sylas in 9th with a Personal Best time of 17:28 which was followed shortly by Logan Fisk in 14th with a time of 17:41.  Will Seitz wasn’t too far behind Logan, just missing the top 30 finishing 31st with a personal best time of 17:58.  Kolton Nichols also joined the 6 to find themselves in the end at the top of team standings, winning their 2nd District Championship in a row, 66 points ahead of the 2nd place team.  This was an incredible day for the Bulldog Boys and they looked like they were ready for the Postseason, with Dreams of turning heads next week at the State Cross Country Meet.  This was a great start to the Postseason and now we get geared up for the Big Race next week.

Next up for the day was the Class 3 District 2 girls race.  The girls got out strong.  Junior Audrey Goatley led the LadyDogs finishing 5th with a time of 20:36.  Audrey was followed a short time later by a pair of Senior LadyDogs, with Hanna Ridgway finishing 14th with a time of 21:24 and Christian Steuck finishing 18th with a time of 21:39.  These 3 Individual Qualifiers were joined by Freshman Riley Lee, Junior Clara Farren and Senior Myka Barger to find themselves in 7th place as a team in the end.  Everyone ran well, but unfortunately we fell short on the girls side as a team and so our team of 6 will be reduced down to 3 girls for the State Meet.  It has been a good season for the girls, but we just didn’t quite have enough fire power this year to get the team over the hump at the District meet.  So we will turn to rooting for individuals on the girls side next week.

Next up for the Bulldog Cross Country Team is the Class 3 State Cross Country Championship Meet next Saturday in Columbia at Gans Creek Parkway.  The Class 3 Boys will start the day off at 9:00 am with the Class 3 Girls following at 9:45 am.  This is an exciting time to be a Bulldog! GO BULLDOGS!