Plato sophomore Lexi McNiel topped the rest of the field at Saturday’s Class 1 cross country championship by nearly a minute to win the individual title.
McNiel ran the race in 20 minutes, 27 seconds to easily finish ahead of Ryleigh Reagan of DeKalb, who finished second in 21:08.
The Plato girls finished third in the team standings. Junior Shalyn Barton was 29th overall with a time of 22:48. MacKenzie Morrison (34th, 23:04), Kora Freeman (69th, 24:11), Becca Baker (105th, 25:05), Kathryn Kidd (114th, 25:28), Samantha Keeton (139th, 26:45) also competed.
Salisbury won the girls’ competition, followed by Russellville, Plato, Elsberry and Valle Catholic.
The Plato boys finished sixth in the Class 1 team standings. West Platte won the championship, followed by Linn, Sparta, Valle Catholic and Oak Ridge.
David Kinsman led the Plato boys with a sixth-place finish in 17:21. Tyler Rush of Linn won the individual title in 16:33.
Also competing for Plato were Jalen Supancic (55th, 18:56), Jacob Kinsman (77th, 19:17), Keagan Adams (79th, 19:19), Owen Sullins (114th, 19:50), Brandon Capowski (117th, 19:52) and Dustin Richardson (148th, 20:51).
The Plato teams are coached by Justin Copley and Terri Price.