During her highly successful career in cross country racing, one thing was missing from Houston High School senior Kristen Ely’s resume: A victory in a high school girls varsity race.
As of Tuesday, that was no longer true, as Ely came in first at the annual Tiger Trail Invitational at Houston Municipal Golf Course, covering the 3.1-mile distance on her home course and topping a field of 25 runners in a personal-record time of 21:16.52. The time was a whopping 18 seconds faster than her previous best and she crossed the finish line more than 35 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
“For her to win her first-ever race at her home meet, and to do it the way she did, that’s pretty special,” said head coach Justin Brown. “I’m super proud of what she has been able to overcome and accomplish.”
Ely has several second-place finishes over the years. This time, she got off to a fast start and ran away from the field early.
“I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to win my first race at our home meet,” Ely said. “Unlike other sports, we only have one chance a season to win on our own turf. I came out strong and led from almost the very start. After a while, it was just me, the course and the clock. Winning the race was a huge confidence boost, but I know I still have a lot of room for improvement.”
“This year has been a lot different,” Brown said. “Kristen has taken it upon herself to change up her routine, and she works harder than any other kid in the program. I told her that what she did shows the guts she’s got and she said, ‘well, I’m never satisfied.’ I told her, ‘the best is never satisfied, and that’s what keeps you hungry and keeps you going forward.’”
Ely’s performance highlighted a big day for many Houston runners, as the HHS and HMS boys and girls squads all turned in winning team scores.
Seven schools fielded runners in the high school girls varsity race, with only two producing team scores.
HHS freshman Jessyn Allen continued improving during her inaugural high school campaign, placing third overall and lowering her PR time by 11 seconds to 22:57.50. Rounding out the Lady Tigers’ five-runner team score were juniors Lilly Kincaid and Natalie Clinton in 8th and 11th place respectively, and senior Allie Benoist in 14th.
The HHS boys beat five other squads with team scores.
Junior Jack Sawyer once again paced Houston, finishing 5th in a field of 46 with a time of 18:44.33, while junior Jackson Evetts had a breakout day for the Tigers, coming in 6th with a time of 18:53.25 and lowering his PR time by a massive 27 seconds. The rest of the team’s score came from senior Riley Talbott in 10th at 19:39.60, freshman Christopher Meier in 11th at 19:56.99 and senior Connor McKinney in 14th at 20:05.09.
Right behind McKinney was HHS freshman Michael Perez, who finished in 15th with a PR of 20:22.14, a full 37 seconds faster than his previous best time. The Tigers’ next two finishers also set PRs, as freshman Gage Smith ran 17th at 20:39.61 (a 7-second improvement) and junior Ryan Painter came in 24th at 21:48.38 (a 12-second improvement).
In middle school racing, Houston’s girls were paced by 7th-grader Myles Copley, who topped a field of 19 runners with a time of 9:36.10 on the 2,500-meter course, while 8th-grader Lyla Huffman placed second at 10:07.95. Making up the remainder of the Lady Tigers’ team score were 6th-grader Hayden Jones in 4th with a PR of 11:09.72 (a 16-second improvement over her previous best), 7th-grader Haddlie Miller in 7th and 8th-grader Savannah Evetts in 10th.
HMS 7th-grader Oliver Choate won another middle school boys race, beating a field of 34 with a time of 8:57.85 (lowering his personal record time by 1 second), while 7th-grader Charlie Benoist came in third at 9:28.82. Next for the Tigers was 7th-grader Liam Stickel in 5th at 9:42.85, while 6th-grader Rocky Gilbert ran 10th and set a PR by 11 seconds at 10:16.38 and 6th-grader Easton Hinkle placed 21st at 11:31.59.
Since the beginning of the 2024 season, Brown has witnessed a tremendous amount of improvement among Houston runners at every level.
“It just sets us up to keep our culture going,” he said. “We’re not just a football or volleyball school, we’ve got runners here. I’ve told the kids, ‘I don’t care if it’s the smallest meet we ever go to or the biggest one, I want you to establish dominance everywhere we go.”
“We have a strong core group of kids and I feel like our best years are yet to come.”
Houston athletes run again Thursday at Licking, and the two HHS squads compete Monday in the South Central Association conference championships at Willow Springs Municipal Golf Course.
“I’m ready to bring it in the coming weeks as we compete in bigger races that have more competitive runners,” Ely said. “Shaving off time in the coming weeks is crucial in preparing for districts and then state. I feel pretty good about my current position, but I’m far from done. I have trained very differently this year, and I feel that I’m going to surprise a lot of people come postseason races.
“I’m really excited to see what the girls and I accomplish this year.”
Houston’s boys won the SCA title in 2023 and will look to repeat. As was the case last year on the girls side, not enough schools are expected to field full teams for the results to be sanctioned by the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA), so there won’t be an official conference champion.
“It kind of stinks for the girls,” Brown said, “because it seems like the girls races are always smaller. But at the same time, you still have to beat the watch. It doesn’t matter if there are 100 kids or 15, you just go out there and run against the clock.
“And if you run a PR, no one can take that away from you.”
