The cross country teams from Houston High School and Houston Middle school all had good showings at the Steve Waggoner Invitational Thursday at Willow Springs Municipal Golf Course.
In high school racing, the HHS girls took first among 6 teams with 5-runner scores, while the boys placed fifth among 14 teams.
In the girls race, senior Kristen Ely led the Lady Tigers by placing 11th in a field of 78 runners with a time of 22:36.57 on the 5,000-meter course. Next to finish for Houston was freshman Jessyn Allen in 17th at 23:29.33, and rounding out the team score were junior Lilly Kincaid in 25th, senior Allie Benoist in 36th and junior Natalie Clinton in 41st.
In the boys race, junior Jack Sawyer paced the Tigers by placing 15th in a field of 129 with a time of 18:41.60. Junior Warren Hinkle was next to finish for Houston, coming in 26th at 19:19.71, while junior Jackson Evetts placed 36th, senior Riley Talbott ran 39th and senior Connor McKinney finished 50th.
HHS freshman Gage Smith won the junior varsity boys race with a time of 9:54.35 on the 2,500-meter course (there were 21 runners).
In middle school competition, Houston’s girls took first among 6 teams generating 5-runner scores, while the boys placed second among 14 squads.
Houston athletes won both the boys and girls races, as 7th-grader Oliver Choate topped a field of 124 runners in the boys race with a time of 8:58.89 and 8th-grader Lyla Huffman won the girls race, beating a field of 73 at 9:43.91. HMS 7th grader Myles Copley was right behind Huffman, finishing second at 9:44.04, while 7th-grader Charlie Benoist took sixth in the boys race.
The rest of the Lady Tigers’ team score included 6th-grader Hayden Jones in 10th place, 7th-grader Haddlie Miller in 15th and 8th-grader Savannah Evetts in 24th. The HMS boys’ team score was rounded out by 7th-grader Liam Stickel in 14th place, 6th-grader Easton Hinkle in 36th and 6th-grader Rocky Gilbert in 46th.
Houston runners will compete again next Thursday (Sept. 19) at the Steelville Invitational.