Zizzer Cross Country Sweeps Districts
Cross Country Zizzers continue their winning ways! After sweeping the Ozark Conference Championship, both teams (boys and girls) went on to sweep at Nixa. Congratulations Zizzer Cross Country! 40 years of Zizzer Tradition.
The boys race started with 2 Kickapoo runners taking an early lead, but just barely. Our Zizzer boys lead by Ben Stasney stayed close behind the 2 lead runners and by the 2nd mile they were in passing distance. By the third mile, our Zizzers made their move, passed those boys, and were in the top 4 positions. Our fifth runner came in at 17th position, and since no other teams put 5 runners across the line before we did, the Zizzers easily scooped the District Championship.
The girls race was a nail biter for a longer period of time. Our top five girls were not packed up as tight as our boys, so for the first 2 miles, it could have been anyone’s race. But during mile 2 Kaylee Hatley (wearing only one shoe – she lost the other one early in the race!) made her move with McKenzie Bergman following suit, and the pair kept increasing their lead. In the 5th spot was our lone senior, Whitneigh Drown, and teammate Sadie Hutchinson wasn’t far behind in 9th place. Our fifth runner, last year’s surprise sensation Mia Harris, was in 13th place, after a short hiatus to nurse an injury earlier in the season. (I think next year should be a good year for our girls, as we only lose one senior).
It feels great to have the Zizzers sweep both boys and girls! And it’s special when several of our runners finish in the top positions! ZizzerXC is known for it’s pack running, which means they win by keeping their top 5 runners close together, and not necessarily by putting their fastest runners out in the lead to finish first. So, it’s really special when our runners can do both – pack run and finish in the top spots – especially at Conference and Districts! Next, on to Sectionals at Camdenton, where the competition gets a bit tougher. GO ZIZZERS!
Here are the official stats for #ZizzerCrossCountry at Districts – where BOTH Boys and Girls Swept up DISTRICT CHAMPION Titles! #TheZizzerZone
1 Ben Stasney 15:55
2 Jacob McCrakin 16:01.9
3 Ethan Hutchinson 16:07
4 Caleb Boys 16:17.8
17 Dylan Hayes 17:11.7
Team: 27 points (the 2nd place team had 80 points)
1 Kaylee Hatley 19:04.5
2 McKenzie Bergman 19:24.07
5 Whitneigh Drown 20:11.20
9 Sadie Hutchinson 20:47.7
13 Mia Harris 21:14
Team: 30 points (2nd place team had 91 points)
District Champion, “Shoeless” Kaylee Hatley, coming to the finish line with one shoe!
District Champion, Ben Stasney, coming into the final stretch to the finish line.
