Three of the six champions crowned at the Greg Hall Champions Plaza won state titles last year.
The
day started with Smithton's Riley Bryan winning the Class 2 girls
championship. She posted a nearly 24-second win on what was a cold,
windy and cloudy day at Gans Creek Cross Country course in Columbia. She
set a new class record in the victory. She was the state champion in Class 1 last year. Bryan will run at Missouri State next year.
North
Platte won the Class 2 girls title, the first in school history. The
Panthers had four all-staters: Chloe Heckman, Brianna DeBord, Jessa
Cassity and Shelby Lingle.
Steelville's Conner Diaz claimed the Class 2 boys crown with a personal best 16:15.
It was his fourth all-state medal, adding to previous 16th, 15th and 5th finishes.
Stockton repeated as the Class 2 champs. Braden Postlewait and Max Brown were top-25 placers for the Tigers.
Connor
Burns was the second individual to repeat, winning the Class 3 boys
race. The Southern Boone County star finished in 15:01.3, the fourth
fastest high school time on the Gans Creek course, giving him four of top 15 best times on it in it's 4 season history. Burns won by 1:01.1 - the largest margin of the weekend.
Quentin
Hermann and Owen Hartline were all-state runners for Father Tolton
Catholic, the Class 3 boys champs. The boys from Columbia held off Herculaneum's bid for a 2nd-straight and a record 14th state title. Tolton bested Herky over the final 1000-meters to edge the Blackcats for the title by five points, 111-116. It was 2nd title in 3 seasons for Tolton. The Trailblazers' girls won the Class
4 title on Friday.
