file photo: credit Greg Hall
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JOPLIN, Mo. – Heavy rains turned the Southern Stampede into a mud fest Saturday. That slowed the times a little on the Missouri Southern course, but the performances did not wane much. Liberty entered the races with a lot of experience running in sloppy conditions as every one of the Blue Jays’ first four races this season have been marred by rain and mud. That likely helped the Blue Jays finish as the top Missouri school in both the boys’ and girls’ varsity races. The girls finished sixth with 277 points, one point ahead of Herculaneum. Rogers (Ark.) won the girls’ title with 125 points behind the second-place finish of defending Class 7A state champ Maggie Montoya. Liberty was led by Madison Nasteff in 20th (20:15). The rest of the scoring five came in packed together as all four girls were within 16 places of each other. Junior Jennifer Myers was the team’s No. 2 scoring runner in 68th (21:33). Liberty coach Tim Nixon said seeing Myers rebound from a bad race earlier in the season was a good sign. And the team has continued to maintain some consistency with their scoring positions. “Our first race, (Myers) is typically our third or fourth runner and she ended up our seventh because her shoe got yanked off,” Nixon said. “It was good to see her have a good race today. So far we haven’t had a lot of shuffling in our top seven. Consistency is good.” Nixon said one of the reasons for putting the Southern Stampede on the schedule is to give the kids a taste of what travel for the state meet will be like. “You stay all night the night before, and check out the course the day before,” Nixon said. “It’s not easy to simulate what takes place at the state meet, and this is an effort to do that.” The Liberty boys seemed to adjust to life on the road easily and took fourth place with 175 points, nearly 100 points better than fifth-place Warrensburg. Jenks (Tulsa, Okla.) won the team title with 128 points. Sophomore Matt Alvey led the squad, finishing in 15th (17:21). Senior Ty Cogdill was 28th (17:41), and junior Kyle Gabrielson was 41st (17:57). Gabrielson’s finish showed Nixon that he might be making strides a little earlier this season. Last year Gabrielson was on the JV at districts. His performance earned a spot on the varsity seven for the sectional meet, and he moved up to finish as the team’s No. 5. He vaulted to the Blue Jays’ No. 2 runner on the state course, so Nixon said he’ll remain patient for Gabrielson to again find his groove. “The kid’s notoriously a slow starter, and he’s starting to express himself a little bit,” Nixon said. “There’s more there. There’s no pushing, you just let it unfold. We keep doing the same thing day-in and day-out, very consistent. And within that framework, you just have kids that … cream rises.” Nixon also praised his “blue collar” Nos. 4 and 5 – seniors Zach Wilburn and Spencer Nelson – who ran together throughout the Southern Stampede to focus on scoring for the team. They finished 48th (18:07) and 53rd (18:12), respectively. The Blue Jays passed another wet test and Nixon said he continues to be impressed with the improvements and consistency he’s seeing out of both teams. “We spend a lot of time working on physical toughness, but under these kinds of conditions you can also work on mental toughness,” Nixon said. “Just on both sides, I felt good about the direction we’re headed. Everybody’s got to be encouraged, and in these conditions it’s a good thing.”
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