Cassville Democrat: High School Sports: Barry County sends 24 runners to state meet (11/07/07)

Saturday could have possibly been a historic day for Barry County. The area sent 24 runners to the state cross country meet, and although no official records are kept, there is a possibility it's the most the county has ever sent.

With 5,000 people watching, some of Barry County's finest excelled against runners from across the state.

Southwest

The Southwest boys qualified as a team and took 12th place in Class 2.

Caleb Mitchell led the squad, finishing just out of the top 25 at 29th with a time of 17:46. Southwest's next top runner was Dustin Breedlove, who took 69th with a time of 18:32.

Logan Pendergraft, Jacob Jennings, Kyle Buttrum, Luke Hackett and Codie Harmon also competed, placing 106th (19:08), 108th (19:12) and 131st (19:30), 150th and 163rd respectively.

On the ladies' side, Charlotte Buttrum competed for Southwest and took 101st with a time of 23:20.

Cassville

The Wildcat girls team looked to improve upon their success from last year and managed a 15th place finish at the Class 3 state competition.

Tia Baker was Cassville's top runner, taking 109th with a time of 22:32.

Ron'L Hoff and Courtney Beagle were Cassville's next two in line, finishing 137th (23:38) and 141st (23:50) respectively.

Misty Long and Gabby LeCompte were the Ladycats' last two team scorers, taking 157th (25:03) and 163rd (26:15) respectively. Hannah Elkins (164th) and Cheyann Essley (165th) also competed.

"We didn't run as well as we would have liked, but we had a great season," said Coach Chris Shore.

Wheaton

The Wheaton Lady Bulldogs also qualified as a team and finished 15th in Class 1.

Shannon Burns picked up her pace throughout the race. Burns was 93rd after the first mile but stepped it up a notch, finishing 73rd with the Lady Bulldogs' leading time of 22:58.

Raschelle Hickman and Brittney Peters came in next finishing in 117th (25:56) and 125th (26:18) respectively.

Kaitlin England and Leah Jones rounded out the effort, taking 140th and 144th respectively with times of 28:15 and 28:49.

Shirley Galvan also ran for the squad and finished in 148th place.

For the boys, freshman Jakob Beck finished 95th for the Bulldogs. Beck came in with a time of 19:47.

Purdy

Purdy qualified two runners to the state meet.

Audrey Patton had a great showing on the women's side. Patton took 44th overall with a time of 22:58.

Blake Williams ran for the Eagle boys and might have started a little strong, coming across at 46th after the course's first mile. By the race's end, Williams had dropped to a still admirable 90th. Williams, only a sophomore, finished with a time of 19:43.