District Cross Country: Griffard is repeat winner; Potosi teams reach state

MATT KING

mking@dailyjournalonline.com

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The Potosi cross country program qualified is full boys and girls teams for the upcoming Class 3 state meet on a cold and soggy Saturday morning.

Valle Catholic edged Bismarck on a tiebreaker for the final boys advancing bid in Class 1, District 1, and junior Madelyn Griffard captured her second straight individual title for the Lady Warriors.

Notre Dame hosted six successive races involving MSHSAA Classes 1-3 on its campus, as runners vied for required top-30 results to earn inclusion this weekend at Gans Creek.

Griffard navigated the 5K course in 20:18 to pace a field of 93 athletes, as Valle Catholic was bumped to Class 2 on the girls side by the “Championship Factor” for private schools.

Arcadia Valley senior Emma Dettmer (21:05) placed fourth in the same contest, and became a four-time state qualifier after joining Griffard as state medalists last season.

Jazmine Morris (22:41) extended her season for West County in 17th place, and Elianna Serrano (23:02) gave AV a second girls qualifier in 27th.

Paige Monroe (23:22) finished two places outside the all-district cut for the Lady Bulldogs, and Lillian Ringwald (24:16) was the second fastest team member for Valle Catholic.

Class 2, District 1 boys competition yielded three state qualifiers from the MAAA, while brothers Reed Layton (16:38) and Calvin Layton (16:58) delivered a 1-2 finish for Woodland among 114 entries.

Kingston freshman Phoenix Lyons (18::04) took 17th position in his postseason debut, and teammate Logan Berger (18:19) was 25th. Tyson Anderson (18:08) moved forward for Arcadia Valley in 19th.

The Potosi boys stacked up third behind champion Herculaneum and Dexter in Class 3, District 1, and featured a pair of top-five medalists.

Ezekiel Sisk (16:39) added another accolade to his senior campaign by placing third, and junior Alex Smith (16:56) crossed fifth overall for the Trojans.

Kanaan Wilson (17:59) also earned all-district honors in 20th while Taylen Portell (18:21) and Brayden Smith (19:06) completed the Potosi team score.

Sam Vaughn (16:16) and Nathaniel Wright (16:24) were champion and runner-up or Herculaneum. Central senior Cole Crocker (18:30) just missed out on the state meet after finishing 33rd.

The most abundant MAAA presence in Columbia will be found Saturday during the Class 3 girls final after 11 runners from four conference schools nabbed all-district distinction on Saturday.

Ste. Genevieve junior Hollyn Zangaro (20:46) powered her way to sixth overall in district action, and is seeking another all-state award after taking 15th last November.

Fredericktown has two such hopefuls after freshmen Laila Stephens (20:48) and Breanna Bone (21:16) handled the slick terrain for seventh and eighth places, respectively.

Notre Dame standout Lauren Eftink (18:43) was crowned champion by a margin of 50 seconds on her home course. Lucy Luetkemeyer (19:33) of top team Metro crossed next among 90 participants.

Potosi was led by freshman Peyton Heifner (21:48) in 12th spot, and held off rivals Ste. Genevieve and Central as the fourth qualifying team from the district.

Alyson Skiles (22:04), Allison Land (22:20) and Carlee Moss (22:39) also achieved all-district status for the Lady Trojans with MaKya Knoll (23:06) and Delaney Govero (23:58) barely on the outside.

Central will have two representatives at the state level after Allie England (21:57) finished 14th and Katie Voepel (22:16) was 19th. Faith Willis (23:45) narrowly missed the cut in 34th.

Kayden Huck (22:39) ended up 25th, and freshman Laurie Parker (22:42) claimed 27th to give Ste. Genevieve three state girls qualifiers. Sophia Fritsch (24:09) crossed 38th.

Valle Catholic and Bismarck each tallied 122 points among their top five finishers in Class 1, District 1. The Warriors advanced by having the faster sixth man.

Austin Ringwald (17:54) placed seventh overall, and Garrett Shortt (18:13) crossed 15th while Thomas Varga (19:25), Dominic Griffard (19:35) and Oliver Griffard (20:24) rounded out the Valle points.

Daven Miller (18:02) placed ninth, Levi Sheckles (18:36) ran 19th and Jordan Ketcherside (18:53) took 25th as medalists for the Indians with Gabe Crocker (20:00) and August Martinez (20:30) following.

Dora traveled about three hours to the venue, and brought home a Class 1 district sweep of individual titles from Cade Nold (17:05) and Isabelle Martin (20:57).

The Bismarck girls were paced by Jacey King (25:33) and Lilly Davis (26:13). Illness prevented Valley junior Carlie Loughary from completing her quest for a state return.

The Class 4, District 1 event was held at Northwest Early Child Center in House Springs, and included runners from Farmington and North County.

Knights star Evan Fuller (15:39) posted his fastest 5-kilometer effort of the season, despite adverse course conditions, to place third out of 120 on the course.

Fuller was the lone member of the Farmington boys squad to emerge from the strong field, and will seek another all-state honor after earning 22nd in Columbia last fall.

Festus sophomore Carson Driemeier (15:29) roared to victory — his team did likewise — while Charles Glantz (15:38) of John Burroughs edged Fuller as runner-up.

Kaden Kimbrough (16:39) and Mason Currington (16:43) were among the first five outside of state inclusion. Nickolai Cain (17:20) and Ayden Wiles (17:34) capped the eighth-place Farmington score.

Freshman and reigning MAAA girls champion Madilynn Shipley (19:41) thrived for Farmington by crossing 17th. Caterina Rossomannon (18:28) of Rockwood Summit captured the district title.

Also competing for the seventh-place Knights were Cayman McIntyre (20:43), placing 40th, along with Hannah Mathes (21:17), Elizabeth Burgan (21:36), Natalie Gammon (21:40), Brailynn Allen (21:41) and Alondra Martinez (21:43).

Lucas Naucke (18:05) and Kayla Miller (22:58) had the fastest times for North County in each division.