Bowling Green Girls; Clopton Boys Teams Headed To Cross Country State
Four Individual Runners Qualify For Competition
Two area teams and four individual runners qualified for state competition following the district cross country races on Saturday at the Pike County Fairgrounds.
The Bowling Green girl’s team, led by first place winner Kate Klott, will return to state for the 13th straight year after taking second place in the Class 2 District 3 race. The Clopton boy’s team, led by second place overall finisher Donovan Denslow, qualified for state for the second consecutive year by taking second in the Class 1 District 2 race.
Also qualifying for state by finishing in the top 15 were Max Brandenburger and Avery Mudd of Bowling Green, Tricia Luke of Clopton and Lathyn McMorris of Van-Far.
Bowling Green teams competed in the Class 2 District 3 race while the Class 1 District 2 race included Clopton, Van-Far and Silex. Find all the local results below.
Class 2 District 3
Bowling Green
The girl’s team finished in second place overall behind North Callaway by just two points. The team will look to achieve a fourth consecutive trophy at state this Saturday at Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City.
Junior Kate Klott led the way in the district race with a first place finish. Coach Matt Chance noted she is the second girl from BGHS to achieve the top spot at districts.
“She is as tough as them come and really looked effortless at the district meet to win by nearly 20 seconds,” Chance said. “She is very confident right now and I look for her to run another awesome race next week at state.”
Chance pointed out the performance by the girl’s team was one of the best of any team in the history of the program.
“We put up some amazing times and really look to be peaking at the right time. Two of the best girl’s teams in Class 2 (Bowling Green and North Callaway) really competed hard against each other in this race. These kids have put in a lot of time over the past five months and it’s very rewarding to see their hard work pay off with another trip to state as a team,” Chance asserted. “Our goal all season was to get back to state and find the podium for a fourth straight year and the girls did exactly what they needed to at this meet to qualify. We are excited about the opportunity this weekend and I look for this group to be very confident and run very well at the state meet,” he added.
The girl’s state race begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
• Girl’s Results
Kate Klott, 1st, 19:40; Camy Grote, 7th, 20:51; Nichole Bruni, 8th, 20:56; Sylvia Wagner, 9th, 20:58; Quinn Grote, 17th, 22:15; Taylor Blair, 18th, 22:33; Kelsey Finley, 20th, 22:59.
The boy’s team finished in third place behind Palmyra and Clark County, just shy of qualifying as a team. Two members of the team, Max Brandenburger and Avery Mudd will advance to the state race by finishing in the top 15 at districts.
“The boys had a tremendous season and came up a few points short of qualifying the team to state. They all ran their season best times and kept themselves in the race the entire time,” Chance remarked. “I’m extremely proud of the effort they gave in tough conditions. Max and Avery have led us all season and really put together their best races of the season to qualify individually to the state meet.”
The boys will run at 10:10 a.m. at the state meet on Saturday.
• Boy’s Results
Max Brandenburger, 5th, 17:37; Avery Mudd, 6th, 17:55; Cody Wilkinson, 18th, 18:32; Evan meyer, 20th, 18:48; Hayden White, 23rd, 18:53; Blaine Hunt, 24th, 18:56; Bailey Kiel, 28th, 19:33.
Class 1 District 2
Clopton, Van-Far & Silex
The Clopton boy’s team took second place at the district meet on Saturday behind New Haven.
Junior Donovan Denslow finished in second place overall. Coach Colleen O’Brien noted that he’s taken another 11 seconds off of his time from the Bowling Green Invitational race and has taken more than a minute off of his time from last year to lead the Hawks team.
“He is really maturing as a runner, gaining confidence and seeing what he can achieve,” she remarked.
She also noted that senior Landon Hall, who medaled 15th overall in the district race, has improved greatly over the course of the season to help lead the team.
“I’m looking for the boys to work together this week in practice, most of them know what they are capable of and wanting to improve on their state performance from last season,” O’Brien said.
• Boy’s Results
Donovan Denslow, 2nd, 17:12; Landon Hall, 15th, 19:03; Daniel Harvey, 20th, 19:34; Blake Kendall, 33rd, 21:11; Jared Hoehn, 34th, 21:12; Parker Edmiston, 25th, 21:27.
The Clopton girl’s team took third place behind New Haven and Calvary Lutheran. Tricia Luke qualified for state individually with a 12th place finish.
O’Brien noted she would have liked the team to qualify but was proud of the effort overall with five runners giving a personal best race.
• Girl’s Results
Tricia Luke, 12th, 23:14; Caragan Lockard, 16th, 23:18; Megan Harrelson, 21st, 24:32; Kari Leake, 27th, 25:23; Megan Richards, 28th, 25:29; Taylor Akers, 34th, 26:01; Katelynn Hammett, 35th, 26:08.
The Van-Far boy’s team finished in third place. Senior runner Lathyn McMorris qualified for the state race this Saturday by finishing eighth overall at districts.
• Boy’s Results
Lathyn McMorris, 8th, 18:09; Samuel Hazel, 17th, 19:20; Tyler Robinson, 18th, 19:30; Logan Wilson, 22nd, 19:53; Jayson Orr, 47th, 25:44; Zackary Parker, 49th, 27:01.
• Girl’s Results
Madelyn McAfee, 20th, 24:20 and Juliana Martinez, 40th, 27:38.
Colton Riley of Silex also took part in the district race on Saturday and finished 42nd with a time of 22:39.
