West Plains cross country enters October with two major postseason stories developing side by side.
The Zizzer boys are chasing a third straight Class 4 state championship.
The Lady Zizzers are chasing a fourth straight state-podium finish after placing Class 4 runner-up in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
And the latest results from the Frank Horton “Night” Classic in Memphis gave both teams plenty to build on.
The boys finished second out of 30 scoring teams in the Gold 5K, just six points away from the team championship.
On the girls side, Kaebrynn Gunter finished fourth overall in 18:15.8, continuing a strong season at the front of the Lady Zizzer lineup.
October is here.
And both West Plains teams have something significant waiting for them in November.
Boys Finish Six Points From the Win in Memphis
West Plains scored 159 points at Frank Horton, finishing behind only Florence High School at 153.
Rock Bridge was third with 164.
That is a tight team race:
1. Florence — 153
2. West Plains — 159
3. Rock Bridge — 164
The Zizzers put four runners inside the top 30 overall:
- Hunter Stanley — 10th, 15:46.8
- Joseph Roberson — 18th, 15:56.7
- Blake Romans — 23rd, 16:01.2
- Chaska Shearin — 29th, 16:06.6
- Dylan Wade — 85th, 16:56.1
That front four kept West Plains right in the middle of the championship battle.
For a team trying to win a third straight state title, the next piece to watch is obvious: the fifth scoring position.
Cross country scores five runners. When the margins get this small, moving that fifth runner even a handful of places can change the entire team result.
Six points separated West Plains from first Friday night.
That is how small the margin can become.
Lady Zizzers Continue Their Own State-Level Story
Now another Lady Zizzer team is trying to extend that podium streak.
The girls have every bit as much reason to be thinking about November.
West Plains has finished second in Class 4 three years in a row: 2023, 2024, 2025.
Now the Lady Zizzers are trying to make it four consecutive seasons on the state podium.
And Gunter continues to give West Plains a runner capable of competing near the front.
She placed fourth in the Frank Horton Gold race at 18:15.8.
West Plains also had:
- Lena Finke — 26th, 19:40.3
- Libby Hart — 49th, 20:12.2
- Abby Mongillo — 67th, 20:37.3
West Plains had four finishers in the Gold race, so the Lady Zizzers did not record a team score in Memphis.
That means Frank Horton gives us a strong look at the front of the lineup, but not a complete picture of what West Plains can do with five scorers together.
For that, we only have to go back one week.
Both Teams Won at Marshall County
At the Marshall County Invitational in Kentucky, both West Plains teams won.
The Zizzer boys took the 21-team championship with only 28 points.
Stanley won the individual race in 16:02, and Roberson finished third in 16:10.
The Lady Zizzers won their team championship with 39 points, while Gunter took the individual title in 18:37.
That result is especially important for the girls.
Memphis did not produce a team score because West Plains had only four finishers.
Marshall County showed what the Lady Zizzers can do when the scoring five is there.
They can win.
The Boys’ Road to a Three-Peat
West Plains has won the last two Class 4 state championships, bringing home titles in 2024 and 2025.
Now comes the attempt at three straight.
And the recent trend has been encouraging.
At the Southern Stampede, West Plains finished third with 156 points.
At Marshall County, the Zizzers finished first with 28.
At Frank Horton, they finished second with 159, only six points from another team championship.
That is three major meets with West Plains consistently near the front.
The top four are giving the Zizzers a strong foundation.
The fifth scorer may determine just how high the ceiling is when championship season arrives.
The Girls’ Road Back to the Podium
For three straight years, the Lady Zizzers have finished one spot from the top of Class 4.
That creates a different kind of postseason storyline.
They are not trying to establish themselves as a state-level program.
They already have.
Three consecutive runner-up finishes prove that.
The question in 2026 is whether West Plains can assemble another complete scoring five around a front runner who continues to produce.
Gunter won Marshall County.
She finished fourth at Frank Horton.
Behind her, Finke, Hart and Mongillo give West Plains more pieces to work with.
The next full-team result should tell us more about how that group is coming together as the championship portion of the schedule gets closer.
Two Teams. Two Big November Goals.
The boys are chasing history.
Three straight Class 4 state championships.
The girls are trying to extend an impressive run of their own.
A fourth consecutive state-podium finish after three straight runner-up seasons.
Those are not side stories.
They are the two defining postseason storylines for West Plains cross country right now.
For the boys, watch the fifth scorer.
For the girls, watch the complete scoring five.
Both teams have already shown they can win.
Both have already shown they can compete against strong fields.
Now the calendar starts turning toward the races that matter most.
October is about sharpening the lineup.
November is about finishing the job.
Sources & Verification
TimingInc / AthleticLIVE — Frank Horton “Night” Classic, Oct. 3, 2026
Official timing source for the West Plains boys’ runner-up team finish, boys individual results and the four West Plains girls finishers used in this article.
MSHSAA State Cross Country Championship History
Verifies the West Plains boys won the 2024 and 2025 Class 4 state championships and the Lady Zizzers finished Class 4 runner-up in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Southern Stampede official results
Verifies the West Plains boys’ third-place, 156-point finish.
Marshall County Invitational results/reporting
Verifies the boys’ 28-point team championship, Stanley’s 16:02 victory, Roberson’s 16:10 third-place finish, the girls’ 39-point team championship and Gunter’s 18:37 victory.
Verified Oct. 3, 2026.
At Southern Stampede, West Plains finished seventh among 24 scoring teams, led by an outstanding performance from Kaebrynn Gunter.
Gunter finished fifth overall in 18:25.38.
Behind her:
Lena Finke — 19:58.50
Libby Hart — 20:10.56
Abi Mongillo — 20:21.36
Jane Cobb — 22:14.47
That gives West Plains an excellent runner at the front and a competitive group behind her.
Just like the boys, however, the Lady Zizzers’ postseason ceiling may depend on how much they can tighten the scoring five.
Gunter Gives West Plains a Low Number at the Front
One of the biggest advantages a cross country team can have is a runner capable of finishing near the front of a championship race.
West Plains has that in Gunter.
Her fifth-place performance at Southern Stampede came in 18:25.38, and she has already shown the speed to compete with strong runners throughout Class 4.
At the Joe Bill Dixon Zizzer Invitational, Gunter won the girls race as West Plains also produced a perfect 15-point team score.
That is important because every place Gunter gains near the front reduces the number the rest of the Lady Zizzers have to overcome.
The next piece is the pack behind her.
Finke, Hart and Mongillo finished within about 23 seconds of one another at Southern Stampede. Keeping that group together — and bringing the fifth scorer closer — could make a significant difference as West Plains moves toward districts and state.
The Girls Have Earned High Expectations Too
Three straight state runner-up finishes have changed the standard for Lady Zizzer cross country.
Simply reaching November isn’t the whole goal anymore.
This program has established itself as one that expects to compete for a state trophy.
This year’s lineup is different from the teams that produced those previous runner-up finishes, but the opportunity remains.
Gunter gives West Plains a strong runner at the front.
Finke, Hart and Mongillo provide a group capable of scoring together.
The next several weeks will tell us whether the Lady Zizzers can close the remaining gaps enough to make another serious podium run.
What We’re Watching Next
For the boys, watch the distance between the first and fifth Zizzer finishers.
Stanley, Roberson, Romans and Shearin have already given West Plains a strong front four. If the fifth scorer moves closer to that group, the Zizzers become increasingly dangerous.
For the girls, watch the same thing behind Gunter.
The group of Finke, Hart and Mongillo has already shown encouraging depth. The closer West Plains can bring that entire scoring five together, the stronger its postseason outlook becomes.
And with every meet from here forward, comparisons with other Class 4 teams become more meaningful.
October is when good cross country teams begin preparing to become championship teams.
For the Lady Zizzers, the pursuit is another place on the state podium.
For the Zizzer boys, the opportunity is even bigger.
Three straight state championships.
The road to November is getting shorter — and from here, every runner and every place matters.
