East Newton course yields fast times

A total of 339 cross country runners, accompanied by coaches, family and fans, descended on the campus of East Newton High School on Saturday for the 13th annual East Newton Invitational. Coach Jake Holt of the Patriots has built this meet from a ho-hum local affair into one of the premiere high school running events in southwest Missouri.

The East Newton course is as much a draw as the high level of competition. Almost perfectly flat, the double-loop 5K path consistently yields some of the fastest times of the season.

Boys varsity results

Ryan Beaver, of College Heights Christian in Joplin, won the varsity boys race in a stellar 16:28.81. Monett's Chris Renteria was third in 16:41.33, and Southwest's Cristian Sellars finished 13th in 17:29.49.

McDonald County won the boys team race with 73 points. Monett finished third with 96, and Southwest was eighth with 198.

Barry County finishers in the boys race were: Chris Renteria, Monett, third, 16:41.33; Cristian Sellars, Southwest, 13th, 17:29.49; Isaac Weber, Monett, 16th, 17:47.78; Michael Morely, Monett, 19th, 17:56.68; Jonah Ragsdale, Monett, 27th, 18:18.99; James Pettit, Southwest, 33rd, 18:35.42; Kyle Miller, Southwest, 37th, 18:46.10; Erwin Perez, Monett, 41st, 18:48.54; Zach Miles, Southwest, 53rd, 19:17.68; and Jake Shrum, Southwest, 90th, 22:33.16

Girls varsity results

Savannah Beaver, of College Heights, took the gold medal in the varsity girls race, posting a winning time of 19:44.97.

Barry County finishers were: Madeleine Weber, Monett, 10th, 21:09.76; Deborah Kern, Cassville, 13th, 21:56.79; Sophie Fulton, Monett, 38th, 24:15.49; Emma Shupbach, Monett, 42nd, 24:53.54; Lupe Renteria, Monett, 46th, 25:15.27; Brittany Schultz, Monett, 48th, 25:41.20; Brittany Miles, Southwest, 51st, 26:17.44; and Ashley Schmidley, Monett, 59th, 27:56.07.

JV boys results

The JV boys race was contested by a field of 21 runners. Cassville placed second in the team standings with 32 points behind McDonald County's 23.

Cassville finishers were: Connor Redmon, third, 18:42.31; Nathan Vitt, seventh, 19:24.90; Jordan Shore, eighth, 19:26.76; Walker Perez, 10th, 19:33.50; Ben Makela, 12th, 20:14.04; Kyle Stephenson, 15th, 22:01.90; and Matt Vermillion, 16th, 22:07.47.

Junior high boys results

Mitchell Dotson, of Nixa, won the junior high boys race with a 9:09.31 effort over the 2,400-meter course. Nixa also won the team title with 64 points. Cassville finished 11th with 308.

Barry County finishers for the junior high boys race: Tate Banks, Wheaton, 41st, 10:33.25; Alex Dyer, Cassville, 68th, 11:17.37; Alex Jiminez, Southwest, 75th, 11:30.82; Hunter Dover, Cassville, 84th, 12:00.88; Jayce Brattin, Wheaton, 86th, 12:03.58; Robert Sewell, Cassville, 92nd, 12:10.97; Perry Tallant, Southwest, 99th, 12:38.10; Steven Barnes, Southwest, 100th, 12:39.83; Charlie Seymour, Cassville, 105th, 12:57.32; Liam Dougherty, Cassville, 110th, 13:15.98; Kade Reed, Wheaton, 111th, 13:20.55; and Ian Coleman, Cassville, 114th, 14:24.09.

Junior high girls results

Elle Moon, of Nixa, led her team to the junior high girls title. Moon edged East Newton's Emily Sorrell for the top spot, 9:51.35 to 9:52.72. Cassville finished eighth with 217 points.

Barry County finishers were: Alicia Huse, Cassville, 18th, 11:12.55; Camille Holman, Cassville, 50th, 12:23.53; Marley Sherwood, Wheaton, 55th, 12:29.69; BriAunna Hickman, Cassville, 71st, 13:00.28; Alesha Cousins, Cassville, 73rd, 13:07.57; Jessica Roberts, Cassville, 84th, 13:23.07; Alexis Cieslinski, Cassville, 85th, 13:24.09; Olivia Padilla, Cassville, 86th, 13:26.35; Molly Durossette, Cassville, 91st, 13:32.25; Andrea Cousins, Cassville, 97th, 13:41.37; Carrie Agans, Cassville, 99th, 13:54.65; and Makenzy Durossette, Cass-ville, 111th, 14:56.24.