Ladycat runners qualify for state meet

Headed to state: Cassville High School will be represented by three Ladycat runners at Saturday's state cross country meet in Jefferson City. State qualifiers from Cassville are pictured above. From the left, are: freshman Tia Baker; sophomore Ron'L Hoff; and freshman Courtney Beagle. Democrat Photo

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Sophomore Ron'L Hoff was Cassville's top qualifier, finishing 11th with a time of 21:59. Last year, Hoff barely missed qualifying for state, placing 16th at districts.

Freshmen Courtney Beagle and Tia Baker also qualified for state. Beagle was the 13th place finisher (22:13) followed closely by Baker in 14th place (22:14).

Ariell Abramovitz, another strong Ladycat runner, finished in 16th place (22:22), one spot short of qualifying for the state meet. Gabby LeCompte finished out the Ladycat team. She placed 35th at districts.

As a team, the Ladycats finished third behind Springfield Catholic in first and East Newton in second.

"This will be a great experience for our girls," said Coach Chris Shore. "I am very proud of them."