On Friday, Nov. 8, the El Dorado Springs Cross Country team loaded the bus at 11 a.m. to head to Columbia to preview the State Cross Country Course at the Gans Creek Recreation Area, ahead of their races on Saturday. After grabbing a bite to eat in Camdenton, they arrived at the course at 2:30 to view the course. The course was in pretty good condition despite the huge amount of rain from earlier in the week. The athletes were in pretty good spirits and ready to face the task at hand on Saturday. After viewing the course and getting the team camp set up, the team loaded up and headed back to Jefferson City to get a good meal and then settle into their hotel to rest up for the races on Saturday. After a good night’s rest, the team woke early to grab breakfast, and then loaded up to head to the course. As the team woke up, they were greeted with rainy conditions, and yet they still stayed focused and positive.
We arrived at the course around 8:15 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9. Rain was off and on throughout the morning as the girls team began to prepare for their 9:45 race. After a good warmup, team run-out and one final team huddle, the girls took their warmups off, set themselves to the start line and after listening to final instructions, readied themselves for the start of the race. At 9:45 the gun sounded to start the race with a steady rain coming. The girls took off and took on the deteriorating conditions due to the steady rain. In the end, Senior Audrey Goatley finished 24th which earned her All-State honors. Junior Braylie Steward finished 42nd, moving up from her ranking of 56th, just missing the top 30 All-State honors. Sophomore Riley Lee and Freshman Aleta Lyness ran Personal Best times, despite the tough conditions. Junior Lela Brown moved up in the rankings and just missed a season best time while Freshman Karcyn Rader and Senior Clara Farran moved forward in their rankings. So in the end, the girls team came in Ranked 14th and ended up moving forward, finishing 11th as a team.
On the boys side, we had 3 athletes in the Class 3 State race. The rain had let up for their race, however, the course by the 4th race of the day had deteriorated greatly and left the corners pretty sloppy. Sophomore Wyatt Klaiber led the way for the Bulldogs finishing 2nd Sophomore Shane Fletcher finished 18th and Senior Braxton Watts finished 21st less than a second behind. In the end all 3 boys ended up with All-State Honors.
Overall, this was a tough day, considering the conditions, and yet this group took the conditions head on and made the most of the day. This was a great way to wrap up an already good season.
The team would like to send a Shout Out to say a huge Thank You to a couple of organizations that really helped support the team on their trip to the State Cross Country Meet. The band did a great job with the sendoff. The school k-12 did a great job cheering on the athletes with the sendoff. The Olympia and El Dorado Springs Fire Departments did a great job with the escort out of town. We would also like to recognize the School Board, Optimist Club and Athletic Booster Club for their monetary support of the team. The team would like to say a huge Thank You to all of these organizations for their support of the team. We are truly involved in an extremely supportive community and very grateful for all of the support received. Thank You El Dorado Springs! It’s great to be a Bulldog! GO BULLDOGS!

STATE BOUND BUS – Pictured front row from left: Shane Fletcher, Braxton Watts, Wyatt Klaiber and Wilson Burchett.
Back row from left: Clara Farran, Audrey Goatley, Lela Brown, Braylie Steward,Aleta Lyness, Riley Lee, Karcyn Rader.

ALL-STATE INDIVIDUALS – Pictured from left: Wyatt Klaiber, Braxton Watts, Audrey Goatley, Shane Fletcher.
STATE BOUND TEAM – Pictured with Escort Fire Truck from left: Wyatt Klaiber, Shane Fletcher, Lela Brown, Audrey Goatley, Clara Farran, Braylie Steward, Aleta Lyness, Riley Lee, Karcyn Rader, Braxton Watts and Wilson Burchett.
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