SWCCCA Cross Country results

by Brian Goatley
On Saturday, Sept. 3, the El Dorado Springs Cross Country team opened up the 2022 season traveling to Bolivar for the SWCCCA (Southwest Cross Country Coaches Association) area cross country meet. This is one of the bigger meets we attend throughout the year, with near 60 teams in attendance. With the high school Varsity races, everyone runs together and then they sort out the results by each Class 1-5. With middle school they all race together and are not sorted out. In each division they place the top 25.
The girls Varsity race got things started, with the gun starting them off at 8:00. The girls were ready to get the season started. Hannah Klaiber, Audrey Goatley and Colbie Wood led the way packing together near the front of the group. They ran a smart race and in the end, we found Hannah Klaiber finishing in 3rd with a time of 21:17 with Audrey Goatley in 4th with a time of 21:26 and Colbie Wood in 6th with a time of 21:40 in the Class 3 division. Teammates Lela Brown and Hanna Ridgway worked together as a second pack, with Lela finishing 22nd with a time of 24:17 and Hanna just missing the awards stand, finishing 26th with a time of 24:37. Clara Farran and Myka Barger rounded out the team with strong finishes. When the dust settled and results were in the Lady Bulldogs found themselves 2nd as a team in Class 3, behind a strong Osage team which was on the podium last year at State. The girls had a strong start to the season and gave us something to look forward to as we head into the season. The girls were missing teammate Olivia Graves, as she is healing from a nagging injury. We are hopeful to get her back soon.
The boys Varsity race got off and running at 8:45. Like the girls, the boys were just ready to put the practice into action and finally get the season off and started. Connor Goatley led the way finishing 4th in the Class 3 division with a time of 17:12. This wasn’t exactly how Connor had hoped to start the season, but after dealing with nagging injuries for about a month previous, he was just excited to finally be feeling healthy and being able to run. So, it was a good start. In addition to that, the exciting part of the day was what came next. Our next 4 athletes finished just 30 seconds apart and far surpassed where I thought they would be this early in the season. In the end Braxton Watts led the way with the pack of 4, finishing 8th with a personal best time of 18:14, followed just a couple of seconds later by teammate Logan Fisk, also running a personal best time in 18:19. Shortly after, we found Blayze McCullough finishing 13th with a course record best time of 18:34. Then to round out the pack of 4 was Sylas Fletcher finishing 17th with a personal best time of 18:44. Ryan Griffin and Kolton Nichols rounded out the top 7 runners for Eldo, finishing in 32 and 33rd respectively, with very strong runs for each. The Bulldogs also had Kyan Roberts and Blake Loane round out the slate for the Bulldogs with extremely strong finishes as well. When it was all said and done, the Bulldog Boys team found themselves atop the team standings in 1st. It was a close race with Lamar, just edging them by 2 points. This was a great way to start out the season for the boys team and probably the strongest ever start for the boys team we have ever had. And it was done without our number 2 runner on the team, Garrett Klaiber, who sat out the race due to a nagging foot injury. We are hopeful to get him back soon.
The next race up for the Bulldogs was the Middle School race. The middle school race is normally 2 miles, but this race is just 1.5 miles which is a nice start for them. They did not sort out results by class with the middle school races, so awards were a little tougher to come by. On the boys side Wyatt Klaiber led the race from start to finish, winning the race with a time of 8:01. He had a strong race to get the season started. Wyatt really has some lofty goals for this season, but this was a good start. Wyatt was the lone medalist for the boys. On the girls side, Adalynn Parker was the lone medalist, finishing 3rd with a time of 9:37, which was a big improvement over last year’s time for her.
Despite only having one award on each side for the middle school Bulldogs, they had a very strong finish as a team on both sides, with several not missing the awards stand by much. On the boys side, Wyatt was joined by teammates Tyler Reasoner, Shane Fletcher, Carter Smith, Issac Coquillette, Camden Watts, Tanner Barnett, Wyatt Strawn, Talon Robison and Gavin Boch to find themselves finishing with a 6th place finish as a team. With that being said, the Bulldogs were the top team Class 3 or smaller. On the girls side, Adalynn was joined by teammates Karcyn Rader, Rhielyn Nichols, Riley Lee, Allie Thompson and Rylie Wendt to find themselves in 5th as a team. But, like the boys team, the girls were the top team size Class 3 or smaller. The middle school teams ran exceptionally well for as inexperienced as most of them are. They gave some excitement for the future.
Overall, Saturday was an incredible start to the season on all levels. We couldn’t be happier as to how everyone performed. Next up for the Bulldog Cross Country team is the Cottey Classic in Nevada on Friday, September 9 at the Frank E. Peters Golf Course, starting at 5:00pm. It is a great time to be a Bulldog. GO BULLDOGS!