Southwest Missouri Cross Country Coaches Runners of the Year

 

 

Class 1 Girls: Savannah Beaver – Jr. – College Heights Christian School – Personal Best – 19:38

After placing 19th as a freshman and with a solid 7th place finish at the State meet as a sophomore, Savannah Beaver capped off her junior campaign with a very solid runner-up finish at the 2011 Championships; clocking a time of 20:29. Savannah led her team to a 6th place State finish after capturing the 3rd place trophy in 2010. Savannah added 6 victories on the season to go along with her 2nd place finish at Oak Hills in Jefferson City.

Class1 Boys: Dakota Shoemaker – Jr. – Humansville High School – Personal Best – 16:53

Freshman year saw Dakota (Shoe) finishing 58th; sophomore year left Shoe very hungry after finishing one slot out of All-State in 26th place while leading his team to a 4th place finish. However, Shoe would not be denied in 2011. He burst on the scene winning four meets, including a District Championship, and improving 20 places at the State Championships to grab the 6th place spot on the trailer. Coach Brian Winckler added this about his athlete. "I could not be more proud of the way Shoe performed this season. He really bought into our summer training philosophy this year, and that base he built in the summer really allowed him to reach a new level as a competitor. Shoe worked very hard to get to the level that he is now at, and I know that he will keep putting in that kind of an effort to continue to improve heading into next year."

Class 2 Girls: Rachel Wheeler – Jr. – Stockton High School – Personal Best – 19:19

After finishing 34th at State in 2010, Rachel Wheeler entered the 2011 season with two things on her mind: a State Team Trophy and an All-State performance. When the smoke cleared on November 5th, both goals were accomplished and Rachel Wheeler and the Stockton Tigers couldn’t have been happier as Rachel grabbed the 6th spot and her team hoisted the 3rd place trophy. Coach T. Jay Sanderson had this to say about Rachel. “Rachel is the epitome of hard work and self discipline. Even while doubling with softball and cross country in the fall, she always found the time and energy to give it 100% and be a team leader for our girl’s team.” With the majority of the 2011 edition of the Lady Tigers returning, 2012 looks to be just as good.

Class 2 Boys: Dustin Pate – Sr. – Stockton High School – Personal Best – 16:20

“Being just a 3-year-old program, Stockton is very fortunate to have had an athlete like Dustin Pate help pave the way for a successful cross country program.  We will definitely miss his talent and winning ways.” These are powerful words spoken by Coach T. Jay Sanderson when describing Dustin’s contribution to the young Stockton program. With a wire-to-wire win at Districts, Dustin was able to help his team to a second consecutive State appearance. At the State meet, Dustin’s 7th place finish was enough to help his team nab the 4th and final trophy spot in what would be the final high school cross country race in Dustin’s career.

Class 3 Girls: Jessica Cox – So. – Bolivar High School – Personal Best – 20:03

Jessica Cox’s rise to all-state status was a long and tedious endeavor. After finishing 117th at the State Championships as a freshman, Jessica slowly improved throughout the 2011 season. This ascent to SWCCCA Runner of the Year was not unlike her improvement during the 2011 State competition. At the 1 mile mark, Jessica was in 56th place before moving up 16 places into 40th at the 2 mile juncture. Over the final 1.1 miles, Jessica would not be denied as she roared past 15 more competitors to edge out the 26th place finisher by a mere 1 second to grab the final all-state position. Jessica’s Liberators, under the tutelage of Coach Ron Bandy, finished in 6th place after winning their 2nd consecutive District championship. With their top 5 all being underclassmen, look for Bolivar to be one of the premier Class 3 teams in 2012.

Class 3 Boys: Ryan Way – So. – Republic High School – Personal Best – 16:08

Ryan Way first made himself known as a gutsy trackster during this freshmen year when he ran 9:55 for 3200 meters. Mr. Way carried that momentum into his sophomore cross country campaign where he emerged as one of the “Class 3 Runners to Watch” heading into the State meet. After winning 3 meets throughout the season and narrowly missing a District Championship, Ryan moved up 33 places over the final 2.1 miles on the difficult Oak Hills course and finished 23rd in Jefferson City. With two more years, look for Ryan to compete for a State Championship in the very near future.

Class 4 Girls: Brigette Caruthers – Jr. – Branson High School – Personal Best – 17:57

Brigette’s 3rd place finish at this year’s State Championships marked her third consecutive All-State performance. In a season marked by 6 victories, Brigette was an intricate part of a young Branson squad that dominated the Southwest Missouri region and finished 9th in the extremely competitive Class 4 Division at State. With 5 of their top 7 returning, look for Branson to move up in the finishing order next year on our grandest of stages. Branson coach Doug Furtkamp is just one of many to sing Brigette’s praises. “She's (Brigette) a tremendous scholar-athlete, whose excellence in cross country is paralleled by her academic record.  Also, Brigette is an absolute joy to coach, as she leads by example per her work ethic and demeanor with her teammates.”

Class 4 Boys: Drew Cargill – Sr. – West Plains High School – Personal Best – 15:22

In a race highlighted by Missouri’s absolute best, Drew Cargill was one of the elite in finishing in 3rd place in the Class 4 Division at the State Championships. This performance was Drew’s second top 10 finish in as many years. His efforts helped the West Plains squad capture the 3rd place trophy and third straight team trophy where Drew was key-note player. Drew caps off his high school career as just another in a long line of Zizzer greats which features names like: Zinn, Sandfort, and Harper…the list goes on. Just to be named in the same conversation with these legends speaks volumes of Cargill’s resume.