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Ava Involves Younger Runners In Cross Country Meet at Mtn. Grove

Ava was well represented with younger runners on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at the Mountain Grove Open meet.  

The 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and junior varsity each ran a mile and and half while the varsity race was  3.1 miles long.    

In the 5th and 6th grade race,  leading the young Bears was Drew Henry with a time of 11:47.  He was followed by Jake Davis with a 13:12.  Josh Springer had a 15:33 and Wyatt Marler had a 15:55.

On the girls’ side, Celia Fossett led the Lady Bears with a time of 11:04.  Emily Davis was next with a 13:13. McKinley Goss ran a 13:17, and Sara Mendel ran a 13:24. Olivia Gastineau had a 13:26, Kadence Merritt ran a 13:54, and Zoey Johnson had a 16:01.  

This was the first opportunity for these runners to race this season.  There will be a 5th and 6th grade race again at Mtn Grove on Oct. 13 and Ava will host a middle school race on Oct. 24.  

In the 7th and 8th grade race, Layla Giorgianni had the top time for the Lady Bears with a time of 10:02. Layla improved her time by 1 minute and 48 seconds over last year.  Clara Sicilia ran in the open race and had a 10:40., which was an improvement by 3 seconds. Grace Key ran a 12:24 and also improved by 1 minute 32 seconds. Ashlyn Massey had a 16:26 which bettered her time from earlier in the season by 37 seconds. 

On the boys’ side, Zach Olsen led the 7th/8th grade Bears with a 9:24. He improved his time by 1 minute 28 seconds. Reece Adams ran a 9:50 and improved his time by 1 minute 21 seconds. 

Eithan Kenning had a 12:59 and bettered his personal best by 1 min. 17 seconds. Peyhton Groth finished in 17:52 and Jansen Breshears had an 18:03. He improved by 28 seconds. 

The Bears ran two athletes in the junior varsity division with Caiden Palmer finishing in 10:26 and Ethan Tucker running the course in 10:35.  Both are freshman and had personal bests over their runs from prior races this year.

In the 3.1 race, Garrett Devore ran a 20:49, which gave him a 33 seconds-per-mile improvement over his race at Nixa.  Troy Herrell had a 21:18, improving his career personal best by 51 seconds.   Braden Swofford ran in 21:37, which was an improvement of 53 seconds over his goal, and Gavin Goss ran a 22:38.

Emily Stillings had a career tie with her best time running 22:23.  Allyson Shots ran a 26:22 and Calista Giorgianni ran a career personal best with a 28:13.  Which was an improvement by 31 seconds.