For the first time since cross country was rebooted in the school district in 2019, a Houston squad has won a meet.
The Houston High School boys took first in the team standings last Thursday at the Plato Invitational, with all five of the team’s scorers finishing in under 20 minutes on the 3.1-mile course – and recording personal-record times in the process.
“They absolutely went out and did what they were supposed to do,” said head coach Justin Brown. “It felt really good to bring home a plaque for cross country.”
Freshman Warren Hinkle led the way, finishing second in a field of 42 runners with a time of 19:11. Next across the line for Houston was junior Aiden Kelly in fourth place overall at 19:22, while junior Jake Allen came in sixth at 19:26, freshman Jack Sawyer ran 8th at 19:40 and sophomore Riley Talbott placed 9th at 19:42.
Also running for Houston and posting PR times were sophomore Conner McKinney, who ran 15th at 20:21 and freshman Shane Yonkers, who placed 37th at 25:35 (more than 4 minutes below his previous PR).
Hartville took second in the team standings and Cabool was third.
The HHS girls also had a good outing, taking second in the team standings – a mere 1 point behind Conway – with every runner setting a new personal record on the fast, level course.
Sophomore Kristen Ely finished first for the Lady Tigers, taking 4th in a field of 25 runners with a season-best time of 22:18. Ely’s performance moved her from 150th to 64th among Class 3 girls in Missouri.
The rest of Houston’s scorers were bunched closely together, with freshman Natalie Clinton coming in 10th at 23:50, sophomore Summer Bittle finishing 11th at 23:53, sophomore Allie Benoist placing 13th at 24:19 and junior Miah Bressie running 16th at 26:25.
“I think this will be a big confidence-booster for every one of our kids,” Brown said.
In middle school competition, Houston 6th-grader Lyla Huffman finished second in a field of 30 in the girls race with a time of 14:48 on the 2-mile course. Jessyn Allen also finished in the top-10 for Houston, coming in 7th at 16:02.
In the middle school boys race, Houston 8th-grader Dillon Shelton came in sixth in a field of 54 with a time of 13:23.
In the 5th-grade boys and girls race, Houston’s Myles Copley finished second overall and ahead of every other girl.
A PREVIEW OF DISTRICTS
On Saturday, the HHS squads traveled to Hermitage for the huge Hermitage Dam Invitational on the same course where they will run Oct. 29 in the Class 3 District 2 championship meet.
In girls competition, Ely paced the Lady Tigers again, finishing 70th in a field of 194 runners, while Clinton finished 72nd and Bittle ran 74th.
On the boys side, Hinkle placed 81st in a giant field of 285 runners, while Allen ran 111th, Kelly finished 113th and Sawyer came in 115th.
This week, the two HHS squads ran in a meet Tuesday at Mountain Grove and the HMS teams compete Thursday at Willow Springs.
“We’re getting closer and closer to districts,” Brown said, “and that’s where we’re looking to really excel. And as long as we continue to improve, I think we’ll be right where we need to be.”
Being where they need to be is harder now that the Missouri State High School Activities Association has moved Houston from Class 2 to Class 3.
“It’s a different world for these kids,” Brown said. “But it’s about handling adversity; life throws it at you all the time and what matters is how you handle it. I told the kids you’re just going to have to work harder if you want to go to state. The days you don’t want to run, go run harder.”
