The Waurika girls cross country team has overcome a number of obstacles during the 2022 season.
For most of the season, the Lady Eagles did not have enough participants to qualify for the team race in the majority of meets they participated in.
But, in the last few weeks, the Lady Eagles have had additional participants that have enabled them to be part of the team standings.
While still battling some illness, the Lady Eagles managed to finish seventh in last Saturday’s Class 2A Regional Cross Country Meet and that put the Lady Eagles into Saturday’s state championship meet.
The Class 2A State Cross Country Meet will be Saturday at Edmond Santa Fe High School. All classes will be held at the same location.
The Class 2A races will begin with the girls at 11:45 a.m., while the Class 2A boys will race at 12:15 p.m. An awards ceremony for Class 2A will follow at 1 p.m.
The top three teams will be awarded medals and 15 medals will be awarded to the top individual finishers.
Lucas Boyd, who has had an outstanding freshman season for the Eagles, qualified for the state meet as an individual and will be competing Saturday as well as the Lady Eagle team.
The Lady Eagles finished with 181 points – which trailed sixth-place Hobart that finished with 172 points. Riverside won the team title with 55 points.
Aubree Showalter, who has competed for the Lady Eagles in recent weeks, missed the meet due to illness and that meant other runners had to step up to enable Waurika to qualify for the state meet.
Waurika’s Jaci Gholson led the way for the Lady Eagles as she finished sixth in the meet with a time of 13:42.04 – which is her top time of the 2022 season.
The Waurika junior has had an outstanding season and she received a silver medal for her performance in the regional meet on the Lady Eagles’ home course – Harmon Park.
Also playing a key role in the Lady Eagles qualifying for the state meet were Harleigh Loftis, Liberti Simmons, Jaden Adams, Niecsa Camarillo and Jasmine Henry.
Loftis finished 67th in the race with a time of 16;24.74, while Simmons was 71st with a clocking of 16:34.71. Adams was 87th with a time of 17:32.15 and Camarillo finished 109th with a time of 20:16.18. Henry was 118th recorded a time of 23:05.23.
The top five finishers from each school figure into the team standings.
A total of 126 runners competed in the Class 2A girls’ race.
Boyd finished 11th in the boys’ competition and he was the fourth best individual that was not part of the team competition and the top seven individuals not on a team qualify for the state meet.
Boyd earned a bronze medal with his time of 19:28.45.
Alex Gomez and Trent Arellano also ran in the regional for the Eagles.
Gomez finished 17th with a time of 19:39.67 – just two seconds behind the last individual qualifier for the state meet.
Arellano turned in a time of 23:25.29 and that was good for 80th place among the 112 runners in the Class 2A race.
Class 2A had considerably more participants than the Class 3A and Class 4A races.
Class 2A Girls Regional Results
TEAM STANDINGS: Riverside 55, Goodwell-Texhoma 58, Velma-Alma 59, Hollis 92, Walters 146, Hobart 172, Waurika 181, Konawa 197, Mountain View-Gotebo 245, Santa Fe South 273.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS: 1. Karliey Parker (Riverside), 12:03.89; 2. Reese Coleman (Watonga, 13:07.14; 3. Jessie Foster-Anderson (Velma-Alma), 13:09.21; 4. Kayla Meason (Walters), 13:24.24; 5. Isabel Bush (Carnegie), 13:30.99.
Class 2A Boys Regional Results
TEAM STANDINGS: Riverside 71, Sweetwater 95, Earlsboro 118, Christian Heritage 125, Santa Fe South 134, Merritt 134, Goodwell-Texhoma 162, Apache 170, Hollis 192, Wynnewood 237, Hobart 243, Konawa 261, Stonewall 345.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS: 1. Brayden Cowan (Watonga), 17:32.62; 2. Asa Worthington (Carnegie), 17:59.28; 3. Andrew Moore (Earlsboro), 18:09.90; 4. Tice Seewalker (Riverside), 18:29.73; 5. Riley Herndon (Merritt), 18:37.03.
Class 3A Girls Regional Results
TEAM STANDINGS: Bethel 30, Heritage Hall 96, Valliant 110, Lindsay 113, Prague 117, Lexington 143, Comanche 149, Marietta 159, Kingston 172.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS: 1. Katie Bosley (Okla. City Christian Aca.), 13:00.84; 2. Baylee Tapley (Bethel), 13:14.43; 3. Kylie Nunneley (Bethel), 13:19.90; 4. Canon Russell (Lindsay), 13:48.92; 5. Brilee Combs (Comanche), 13:53.89.
Class 3A Boys Regional Results
TEAM STANDINGS: Heritage Hall 60, Bethel 76, Lindsay 106, Silo 132, Lexington 145, Marietta 148, OC Christian Academy 159, Lone Grove 178, Comanche 180, Kingston 215, Frederick 236.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS: 1. Jackson Fowler (Heritage Hall), 17:19.64; 2. Brycen Ward (Kingston), 17:43.68; 3. Daniel Ponce (Lindsay), 18:19.28; 4. Brycen Lassley (Comanche), 18:26.29; 5. Luis Garcia (Marietta), 18:40.84.
Class 4A Girls Regional Results
TEAM STANDINGS: Cache 40, Pauls Valley 45, Madill 115, Sulphur 131, Marlow 139, Plainview 141, McLoud 144, North Rock Creek 241, Tuttle 243, Tecumseh 265, Harding Charter Prep 289.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS: Kenzie Readnour (Pauls Valley), 12:54.47; 2. Cora Lane (Cache), 13:14.07; 3. Amidat Olokunola (Cache), 13:15.43; 4 Kara Daniels (Cache), 13:21.12; 5. Isabella Gutierrez (Pauls Valley), 13:32.65.
Class 4A Boys Regional Results
TEAM STANDINGS: Cache 42, Plainview 64, Tecumseh 78, Sulphur 117, Marlow 121, Madill 168, Harrah 206, McLoud 228, Tuttle 230, Harding Charter prep 236, North Rock Creek 269, Pauls Valley 288.
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS: 1. Jordan Coody (North Rock Creek), 17:26.18; 2. Anthony Radke (Cache), 17:54.48; 3. Logan Haworth (Tecumseh), 18:00.17; 4. Cooper Phillips (Plainview), 18:02.01; 5. Cade Parks (Plainview), 18:16.64.
