XC LADY VIKES "NEARLY PERFECT"

Cass Midway's cross country squads had not raced since October 17, but there was no sign of rustiness on the part of the Lady Vikings as Midway dominated the girls' side of things at the MSHSAA Class 1 District 7 state qualifying meet. The meet was contested at the Swope Park course in Kansas City on October 31.

The Lady Vikings won the meet with a nearly perfect score of 16 (a perfect score is 15). Drexel was a distant second to the Lady Vikes with a team score of 47.

Mackenzie Weis won her tenth meet of 2009 with a time of 20:23 on the 5000 meter course at Swope Park. Kayla Robinson was second in a time of 22:55. Sabrina Willey was third in a time of 23:01, and Victoria Bynum was fifth in a time of 23:52.

Josie Riggs raced to a seventh place time of 24:09. Caitlin Chaffin was eleventh in a time of 25:41. Leigh Anne Stark was twelfth in a time of 25:53.

"The team goal at districts was a perfect score," said Lady Viking head coach Doug Carder. "Each girl's individual goal was to qualify individually by placing in the top fifteen. The girls made all of their individual goals and just missed the perfect score."

The Viking boys will not have a representative at this year's state meet. None of the Viking boys placed in the top fifteen.

Lone Jack won the boys' team title with a score of 20. Kingsville was second with a score of 35, and Midway was third with a score of 85.

Roy Spurgeon was twenty-fourth in a time of 22:23. Paden Forester was twenty-fifth in a time of 22:29, and Hank Chrisman ran a twenty-eighth place time of 22:43.

Justin Fielder was twenty-ninth in a time of 23:59. Cameron Willey was thirtieth in a time of 23:59.7. Bailey Scholl was thirty-second in a time of 27:08.

"The guys knew it would be tough to qualify individually, but they all gave it their best shot," said Coach Carder. "There are no seniors on the boys' team, so the promise of next year is there for them."

Midway's Lady Vikes will race at 10:50 AM on Saturday, November 7 in the MSHSAA Class 1 state championship race. The MSHSAA State Championships are held at the Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City.

"Last year our girls' team brought home the second place team trophy from the state meet," added Coach Carder. "I feel like we have one of the better Class 1 girls' teams in the state. If our team performs well, we could be holding a state trophy again next Saturday."

This article appears courtesy of The Drexel Star & The Adrian Journal.