Only one runner managed to finish Saturday’s Class 4 Sectional 3 cross country race in under 16 minutes.
That runner? Carthage’s Clayton Whitehead.
The senior qualified for this weekend’s state meet by winning the sectional race with a time of 15:36.20, beating the second-place finisher by 26 seconds.
Whitehead will be joined at state by junior Noah Talamantez and senior Christian Talamantez on the boys team, and Jenari Lopez from the girls team. Each of them finished in the top 30 at the sectional to qualify for the Class 4 championship.
“Clayton just took control of the race from the beginning,” head coach Andy Youngworth said. “He’s used some different strategies throughout the course of the year. Saturday we decided to
push the pace a little bit earlier and get some separation earlier. He sure did that. He led by probably 150 meters when he crossed the finish line.
“Noah Talamantez and Christian both ran really good races,” he said. “Noah separated from him with a mile left.”
Noah Talamantez finished 19th in 16:48.30 and Christian placed 27th in 16:58.50.
Junior Selvin Estrada Perez was 46th, freshman Mariquis Strickland was 50th, junior Anderson Ixcol was 51st and sophomore Malcolm Robertson was 67th.
“Selvin Estrada reall
y had another good race as our number four,” Youngworth said. “I think Mariquis Strickland was five and we had three guys within two or three seconds of each other. All those guys are back next year. We lose Christian and Clayton; obviously those are two really talented kids but the cupboard’s not bare.”
The top four teams also qualify for state, and Carthage finished in fifth place behind Branson. The Tigers trailed the Pirates by 14 points. West Plains was the top team, followed by Raymore-Peculiar and Lee’s Summit West. Webb City was eighth.
“I told our guys going in on paper we didn’t have a legitimate shot but we want to be there just in case a couple of teams have off days and there were some that did,” Youngworth said. “We just didn’t quite have enough on the back end of it to close it to a point we could get out.”
Junior Jenari Lopez placed 21st with a time of 19:58.00 and will run at state for the third year. Junior Jezuri Lopez placed 53rd and senior Jenna Fosdick finished 63rd.
“Jenari just continues to be really, really consistent,” Youngworth said. “She broke 20 minutes I think for the first time this year. Last year she finished 94th and my goal for her is to be in the top 50 at state. She’s a strong, consistent runner and the hillier the course the better for her.”
Youngworth was disappointed Fosdick didn’t qualify, but said he was proud of how far she had come since junior high. She finishes her career as a four year letter winner.
“She just works hard everyday and just battles her way through it,” he said. “Jezuri gained a lot of confidence. She had been in the shadow of her sister a little bit but she ran a tough race. Both those girls did all they could to try and qualify, we just have a really tough sectional.”
The Class 4 championship will be held in Jefferson City on Saturday. The girls race is set for 9 a.m. and the boys will follow at 10:10 a.m. Youngworth noted this is the last year the state meet will be held in Jefferson City after about 25 years. A new course is being built in Columbia that will host future state meets.
