Taylor, Klaiber, Norris pick up wins at Southern Stampede

The senior from Liberty-Wentzville ran 15:04.76 - a new personal best -- at the Missouri Southern Stampede on Saturday in Joplin.

The course at the NCAA Division II school usually provides fast times and Taylor shaved 33 seconds off his personal best heading into the race.

He posted a 13-second margin of victory ahead of Dominic Matthias of Moore in the Green Division.

The meet had more than 600 runners between the boys Green and Gold Division

The top 10 in the Green -- primarily larger schools -- featured five runners from Missouri and five from out-of-state, a mix of Arkansas and Oklahoma runners.

Alan Gallardo Lopez was third for Fayetteville, running 15:30.14. Cache, Oklahoma had the fourth-place runner in Zachary Williams (15:30.30) and eighth-place runner Ethan Jones (15:36.80).

Webster Groves won the team title with 97 points and that was aided by a pair of top-10 runners. Teammates Dominic Buckman and Corbin Cole finished back-to-back in 6th and 7th, respectively. Only .19 of a second separated the two.

West Plains took second and Lee's Summit West took third in the boys Green Division, with the Zizzers scoring 10 fewer points than the Titans.

In the Gold Division, El Dorado Springs' Wyatt Klaiber (pictured at top) took home first place with a 15:36.12. The sophomore is undefeated this year in four races. The runner-up was Clay McKinney from Regents Preparatory in Tulsa. The junior ran 15:45.69 -- his only faster time came in winning the Class 4A state race (4th largest of 6 classes) at the OSSAA State XC Meet last October.

Two Joplin runners placed high in the Green division. Colton McMillan from New Heights Christian Academy -- formerly College Heights Christian -- was third. Michael Parrigon from McAuley Catholic was seventh and in a unique twist, he is part of the New Heights Christian Academy soccer team this fall as well. McAuley Catholic partners with New Heights Christian for a co-op team that competes as New Heights Christian Academy. 

New Heights Christian Academy's Colton McMillan is pictured above while McAuley Catholic runner and New Heights Christian soccer player Michael Parrigon is pictured below

Herculaneum won the team title with 110 points with senior Nathaniel Wright (below) leading the way with a fourth-place finish. 

Thomas Jefferson, located up the road from Missouri Southern, took second overall.

Oklahoma schools Owasso, reigning 6A state champion, and Moore took first and fourth, respectively, in the team standings in the girls Green Division.

Owasso was led by defending 6A state champion Bella Nelson and newcomer Ava Cornelius, who placed one second apart in second and third place. Moore's top finisher was Kate Holbrook in 15th.

St. Teresa's Academy took second overall with 202, just four points better than Fayetteville. Freshman Ella Messner's time of 18:47.84 for the Stars in the runner-up finish.

The winner of the 321-runner field was Harrisonville's Kayleigh Norris (below). The senior ran 17:54.33 to win for the second year in a row in Joplin.

The Herculaneum girls completed the sweep for Coach Kyle Davis at his alma mater and former home course by winning the Gold division title with 101 points. The Blackcats had two in the top 20, led by Claira Davis (below). The junior took 13th with a time of 20:33.99 -- a new personal best.

Eudora's Hanna Keltner took first in the 185-runner field with a time of 18:57.35. For the fourth time in her career, she broke 19 minutes -- which included last year's runner-up finish in the KSHSAA 4A State Championship.

Girard made the trip from Southeast Kansas and had two in the top 10. Senior Natalia Oneilo was 5th and sophomore Kennedy Keller was seventh.