For the first time since the Houston High School cross country program was rebooted in 2019 (after being absent since the early 1980s), an entire team from the school will compete at a state championship meet.
The HHS girls earned a berth at state by placing fourth in the Class 3 District 2 Championships last Saturday at Plato.
“It was great to see them all have such a good day,” said Houston cross country head coach Justin Brown (who won an individual state championship as a senior in high school). “I was super proud of them; they got the job done.”
The Lady Tigers were led by senior Kristen Ely and freshman Jessyn Allen, as Ely placed 13th in a field of 88 runners with a time of 22:05.05 on the 5,000-meter course and Allen was literally right behind in 14th at 22:05.32. The rest of Houston’s 5-runner team score consisted of junior Lilly Kincaid in 32nd place, junior Natalie Clinton in 44th and senior Allie Benoist in 46th.
The top-4 squads at districts qualify for state. Osage topped the standings among 12 teams with scores with 54 points, while Springfield Catholic was second with 71, El Dorado Springs was third with 88 and Houston was fourth with 114. Cassville was the first team out, placing fifth with 141 points.
The top-30 individual finishers also qualify to run at state, regardless of team scores.
Houston junior Jack Sawyer fell just short, placing 31st in a field of 115 with a time of 18:32.85.
The HHS boys placed 8th among 15 teams with scores.
The Tigers had 3 runners bunched at the finish, as junior Warren Hinkle came in 53rd, junior Jackson Evetts placed 55th and senior Connor McKinney finished 56th. Also running for Houston were freshman Christopher Meier (71st), senior Riley Talbott (who was battling an illness and came in 81st) and freshman Gage Smith (82nd).
Teams qualifying for state included first-place Strafford, along with Springfield Catholic, Osage and Fair Grove.
“It’s tough for the boys,” Brown said. “We’ve got a hard district; it seems like ever since I started, we’ve had some of the fastest boys in our district. But we can’t control that; the only thing we can control is what we’re doing on a daily basis.”
Sawyer finished far ahead of the 32nd-place runner but couldn’t stay close to the 30th finisher.
“I hate it for Jack,” Brown said. “I told him afterward to keep his head up – and he gets to come back and try again.
“It kind of stinks to end your season at districts. But we’ll have five seniors on the boys team next year and we should be in pretty good shape.”
The trip to state will be Ely’s third, as she punched an individual ticket as a freshman in Class 2 competition and qualified again last year as a junior in Class 3.
“Kristen was upset with herself,” Brown said. “She wanted to be top-5 – and I get it; she’s got that dog in her that won’t let her just relax and enjoy it. But she knew what was at stake and she finished strong.
“And I told her, ‘this isn’t the last race; we get to do it one more time, and you’ve proven to yourself and everyone else that you can push the limits.’”
Brown took the helm of the program prior to the 2021 season when there were only 6 high school varsity runners. Now there are dozens of runners at the high school and middle school level combined, and HHS had full boys and girls teams.
“I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished in four years,” Brown said.
Several runners from the highly successful Houston Middle School teams were on hand at districts to support their high school cohorts.
“Our program is looking really sharp,” Brown said. “We’re trying to instill in these kids that we’re not just a team, we’re a family. Watching them grow and buy into that over the last four years has been great.
“And all the kids who have been in this program and graduated, what they’ve done will be part of the program for years to come. What we try to teach them is determination and discipline, and how to carry yourself even when things aren’t going good.”
Complete results from the district meet can be viewed online at mo.milesplit.com.
The Missouri High School Cross Country State Championships will once again be held at the Gans Creek Cross Country course in Columbia.
“For me and these kids, this is a way of life,” Brown said. “We’re turning the tide with this program and there are some big things coming.”
