Blue Springs South sophomore Samantha Nightingale was too hyped up.
At the beginning of the class 4 girls race at the Missouri State High School Cross Country Championships Saturday in Jefferson City, Nightingale stood there eagerly waiting to get going.
“During the beginning I went out too fast, then I realized I went out too fast, so I slowed it down,” Nightingale said.
Nightingale finished fourth with a time of 19 minutes, 10 seconds. She finished fourth last year too but she was happy with the result.
“I did the exact same basically,” Nightingale said. “They had me ranked at 10th, so I just went with it and did better.”
The 5-kilometer course at the Oak Hills Golf Center is hilly and it sends runners up and down several hills. Last week in the sectional meet, Nightingale suffered from bronchitis and was still suffering some of the effects this week.
“I felt a lot better this week,” Nightingale said. “It helped having my teammates there cheering me on the sidelines.”
The Lee’s Summit West girls team ran away with the Class 4 title, finishing 98 points ahead of second-place Springfield Kickapoo. Junior Chelsey Phoebus finished second with a time of 18:59. Teammates juniors Alex Moase, Johanna Kleinsasser and senior Liga Blyholder earned all-state honors for the Titans.
Lee’s Summit North finished in third place. Seniors Rachel Carpino and Codi Fritchie both earned all-state honors for the Broncos.
Blue Springs sophomore Julia Drury finished in 63rd place and Truman sophomore Sara Ruckman finished in 117th place.
It was a good day for the St. Mary’s Trojans individually competing in the Class 1 races.
Senior Sarah White finished in 18th place with a time of 23:04 to earn her second straight all-state honor.
For the boy’s team, junior B.J. Pettus finished in 24th place, earning all-state honors with a time of 18:45. Junior Connor Pace finished in 37th place missing all-state honors by just 26 seconds. Junior Tyler Graef finished in 94th place.
“I thought all four of them could earn all-state, but two of them did, so that’s pretty good,” St. Mary’s coach Tom Bates said.
Despite being really nervous at the beginning, Pettus said that he thought he ran a smart race and didn’t start too fast.
“I thought I ran my best race. I’m happy that I got all-state,” Pettus said. “I’m aiming for top 10 next year.”
In the class 4 boys race, Lee’s Summit North finished in second place 10 points behind winner St. Louis University High. It is the Broncos' first boys team trophy in cross country.
“They ran out of their minds,” Broncos coach Kris Solsberg said. “I’m very pleased with how they ran. Hand it to SLU, they ran one heck of a race to finish that far up there.”
Sophomore Kolton Sheldon finished third with a time of 16:24. Junior Collin Hubert and senior Jon LaPlante also earned all-state honors.
Blue Springs senior Ryan Podjenski finished 34th with a time of 17:21. Junior Dalton Joyce finished in 55th place.
The Grain Valley boys didn't have the same fortune in the Class 3 race. The Eagles finished 15th as a team. Tyler Ishmael led the way for the Eagles in 54th place in 18:18.
MISSOURI STATE HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Oak Hills Golf Center, Jefferson City
5 kilometers
CLASS 4
BOYS
Team scores: 1. St. Louis University High, 65; 2. Lee’s Summit North, 75; 3. Columbia Rock Bridge, 125; 4. Parkway West, 135; 5. Liberty, 136; 6. Lee’s Summit West, 170; 7. Springfield Kickapoo, 180; 8. Jefferson City, 198; 9. St. Louis Lindbergh, 226; 10. Rockhurst, 270; 11. St. Louis DeSmet, 275; 12. Marquette, 308; 13. Columbia Hickman, 325; 14. Fort Zumwalt West, 336; 15. Fort Zumwalt North, 338; 16. Webster Groves, 365.
Individual winner: Danny Thater, Springfield Kickapoo, 16:12.
Area individual results:
Blue Springs: 34. Ryan Podjenski, 17:21; 55. Dalton Joyce, 17:37; 112. Simon Belete, 18:29.
Blue Springs South: 77. Ian Simpkins, 17:59; 124. Marcus Wolfenbarger, 18:39.
Lee’s Summit: 127. Jordan Andrews, 18:42.
Lee’s Summit North: 3. Kolton Sheldon, 16:24; 11. Collin Hubert, 16:48; 24. Jon LaPlante, 17:04; 27. Connor Moylan, 17:13; 43. Taylor Park, 17:28; 53. Will Thomas, 17:35; 115. Joseph Gasser, 18:31.
Lee’s Summit West: 19. Kevin Colon, 16:58; 35. Jake Shephard, 17:22; 45. Jed Manaco, 17:31; 50. Russell Muffoletto, 17:34; 101. Conor Hourigan, 18:18; 102. Jake Kouba, 18:18; 154. Ryan Argotsinger, 19:37.
Raytown: 75. Luke Abouhalkah, 17:58.
GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Lee’s Summit West, 43; 2. Springfield Kickapoo 141; 3. Lee’s Summit North, 149; 4. St. Teresa’s Academy, 152; 5. Jefferson City, 167; 6. Raymore-Peculiar, 171; 7. Jackson, 185; 8. St. Louis Nerinx Hall, 208; 9. St. Louis Lindbergh, 225; 10. Kirkwood, 230; 11. Columbia Rock Bridge, 267; 12. Francis Howell, 272; 13. Eureka, 286; 14. Fort Zumwalt West, 311; 15. Neosho, 332; 16. Fort Zumwalt East, 380.
Individual winner: Emily Sisson, Parkway Central, 17:56.
Area individual results:
Blue Springs: 63. Julia Dury, 21:25.
Blue Springs South: 4. Samantha Nightingale, 19:10.
Lee’s Summit: 33. Delaney Smith, 20:42; 37. Kaitlyn Stryczek, 20:51.
Lee’s Summit North: 13. Rachel Carpino, 19:54; 16. Codi Fritchie, 19:58; 43. Tessa Riley, 21:02; 56. Taylor Hynes, 21:18; 130. Hannah Davis, 22:51; 147. Becca Martell, 23:35; 149. Emily Fletcher, 23:41.
Lee’s Summit West: 2. Chelsey Phoebus, Lee’s Summit West, 18:59; 10. Alex Moase, 19:50; 12. Johanna Kleinsasser, 19:53; 18. Liga Blyholder, 20:05; 41. Ashley Wolkomir, 20:58; 58. Emily Argotsinger, 21:18; 85. Crystal Lohr, 21:43.
Raytown South: 17. Erin Edwards, 20:00; 103. Teri Owensby, 22:11.
Truman: 117. Sara Ruckman, 22:29.
CLASS 3
BOYS
Team scores (top five and area teams): 1. Festus, 47; 2. West Plains, 55; 3. Cape Girardeau Notre Dame, 116; 4. Smithville, 142; 5. Ladue Horton Watkins, 178; 15. Grain Valley, 398.
Individual winner: Maksim Korolev, Harrisonville, 15:48.
Area individual results:
Grain Valley: 54. Tyler Ishmael, 18:18; 125. Josh Amos, 19:33; 139. Brandon Schrader, 20:16; 142. Matt Tecce, 20:29; 148. Brandon Riggs, 20:59; 149. Sam Jonesi, 21:01; 158. Tyree Meadows, 22:32.
Oak Grove: 108. Tyler Banks, 19:17.
GIRLS
Team scores (top five): 1. Kearney, 59; 2. West Plains, 77; 3. Smithville, 121; 4. Warrensburg, 166; 5. Ste. Genevieve, 170.
Individual winner:
Area individual results:
Grain Valley: 70. Myranda Coons, 22:51.
CLASS 2
BOYS
Team scores (top five): 1. Bowling Green, 59; 2. Herculaneum, 86; 3. St. Louis John Burroughs, 147; 4. Linn, 163; 5. Holden, 187.
Individual winner: Caleb Sutton, Arcadia Valley, 17:15.
GIRLS
Team scores (top five): 1. Herculaneum, 31; 2. Springfield Catholic, 110; 3. Lawson, 134; 4. East Newton, 143; 5. Pembroke Hill, 188.
Individual winner: Saga Barzowski, Arcadia Valley, 19:40.
CLASS 1
BOYS
Team scores (top five): 1. Joplin College Heights Christian, 64; 2. Oak Ridge, 92; 3. Lone Jack, 121; 4. West Platte, 151; 5. Hermitage, 171.
Individual winner: Caleb Hoover, Joplin College Heights Christian, 16:22.
Area individual results:
St. Mary’s: 24. B.J. Pettus, 18:45; 37. Connor Pace, 19:10; 94. Tyler Graef, 20:24.
GIRLS
Team scores (top five): 1. Penney-Hamilton, 51; 2. Cass Midway, 66; 3. Saxony Lutheran, 130; 4. Marion County, 151; 5. Laquey, 166.
Individual winner: Luisa Boschan, Chaffee, 20:12.
Area individual results:
St. Mary's: 18. Sarah White, 23:04.
