Houston runners produce good results at Plato meet

At Thursday’s Plato Eagle Invitational, the Houston High School and Houston Middle School cross country teams all had big days.

The HHS boys and girls each took second and the HMS squads both won.

The HHS boys were the runner-up among 14 teams producing 5-runner scores.

The Tigers were once again led by junior Jack Sawyer, who placed 13^th in a field of 104 runners with a time of 19:06.86 on the flat-and-fast 5,000-meter course. Next to finish for Houston was junior Warren Hinkle in 20^th at 19:51.86, while senior Connor McKinney ran 27^th at 20:09.11. Rounding out the Tigers’ team score were junior Jackson Evetts in 29^th at 20:16.02 and senior Riley Talbott in 31^st at 20:20.52.

HHS freshman Christopher Meier had a career-best showing at the meet, placing 33^rd with a time of 20:24.83.

McAuley Catholic topped the team standings, while School of the Ozarks came in third.

In the varsity girls race, the Lady Tigers were one of only three teams to produce scores, as Chadwick won and McAuley Catholic took third.

Senior Kristen Ely again paced Houston, placing fourth in a field of 51 with a time of 22:08.76. HHS freshman Jessyn Allen continued her breakout season, placing 11^th at 23:56.55, while junior Lilly Kincaid finished 14^th and senior Allie Benoist came in 15^th and junior Natalie Clinton came in 22^nd.

The meet offered a preview of the course where the two HHS squads will compete in the Class 3 District 2 championships on Nov. 2.

In the middle school girls race, Houston took the top 2 spots, as 7^th-grader Myles Copley took first with a time of 13:21.02 on the 2-mile course and 8^th-grader Lyla Huffman placed second at 13:33.88. The pair ran away from the field of 34 runners, as third-place finisher was more than a minute behind Huffman. The two have waged a friendly rivalry for two years, and this was the first time Copley had finished ahead of Huffman.

Next across the line for Houston was 6^th-grader Hayden Jones in 7^th place, while 8^th-grader Savannah Evetts came in 13^th and 6^th-grader Keira Kelly finished 21^st.

In the middle school boys race, HMS 7^th-grader Oliver Choate posted another victory, topping a field of 69 with a time of 12:10.17. The Tigers had two other 7^th-graders finish in the top-5, as Charlie Benoist place third at 13:09.28 and Liam Stickel came in fifth at 13:19.52.

The rest of Houston’s winning score came from a pair of 6^th-graders, as Rocky Gilbert came in 12^th and Easton Hinkle place 23^rd.

Next week, Houston athletes run Tuesday at Mountain Grove.

The annual Tiger Trail Invitational is set for Tuesday, Oct. 8, at Houston Municipal Golf Course.