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We received our first look of what the 2020 cross country season will look like this weekend, and there were some good results all around. Below we will take a look at the top stories coming out of the first week of racing.
St. Louis County Schools Still Waiting to Race
As of today St. Louis County is still prohibiting any youth sports competition, which includes cross country. They have been practicing now for a couple of weeks, but the county government is still not letting them compete. The county has made this decision despite the St. Louis City/County Sports Medicine Task force recommending they be allowed to return to competition. MSHSAA has extended the deadline for declaring whether or not schools will move to the alternate spring season, and it's looking more likely that St. Louis schools will be forced to do so. Class and District assignments have been pushed back accordingly to September 23rd.
Rock Bridge Sweeps Tim Nixon Invitational
Both the Rock Bridge boys and girls walked away with team titles this weekend on a wet and humid morning in Liberty.
The No. 2 ranked boys "upset" No. 1 Central (St. Joseph) for the team title, and did so pretty convincingly. Scoring a low 39 points to Central's 66, the Bruins had all five scorers in the top 13 on Saturday. Presumptive state title favorite Matthew Hauser also secured the individual title for the Bruins, as he ran 16:12 on the fairly difficult course in some humid and wet conditions.
The No. 1 ranked girls also picked up the victory, as they defeated a good Liberty team 58-73. This performance included defending state champion Carolyn Ford defeating last year's runner up Mya Trober in a rematch of last year's state race with a time of 19:10.
PHOTOS AND VIDEOS FROM THE TIM NIXON INVITATIONAL
Some Fast Times at SWCCCA
Bolivar played host to Southern Missouri's top teams on Saturday, and there were plenty of good results to go around.
The Kickapoo boys with five sophomores in their top seven romped to victory on Saturday. They scored 77 points, which was 50 points better than second place Joplin. They also had a team average of 16:41 on the day which is very good for this point in the season.
Defending Class 2 state champion Daelen Ackley (El Dorado Springs) picked up the individual crown with the second fastest time in state from week one with an 15:45.84. It was a great start to his season as he looks to win another state championship this fall.
On the girls side Class 4 No. 1 West Plains took the victory, defeating second place Kickapoo 45-64. It was a good start for the Zizzers as they look to keep the momentum going this season.
Riley Arnold (Blue Eye) kicked off her season in spectacular fashion with the fastest time in Missouri so far with an 18:21, which is also a new PR. The two time defending Class 1 state champ looks to be in as good of shape as ever, and could really do some damage this season.
Boys Show Up Big at FZN Twilight
The top boys 5K time in Missouri after the first week of the season belongs to Nick Cimmarusti (Francis Howell) who ran a 15:45 to win the Ft Zumwalt North Twilight this weekend, narrowly holding off Trevor Peimann (Timberland) who ran 15:46. It was a big step up from his previous best of 16:14 from Louisville last year, and he'll look to keep rolling the rest of his senior season.
The six time defending Class 3 state champions looked to be lethal again this year. Festus rolled to a 60-83 victory over Ft Zumwalt West at the FZN Twilight on Saturday. They put four in the top 13, and all five scorers were 24th or better on Saturday with a team average of 16:31. Looks like Festus will be in fine shape as they look for their seventh straight title.