It was business as usual for the Jackson boys and girls cross country teams at the SEMO North Conference Meet as the Indians won their sixth and fifth-straight conference title respectively.
The boys team repeated as conference champions in commanding fashion as it scored 30 points, which was 15 points ahead of conference runner-up Notre Dame (45).
Although Notre Dame senior Blake Morris won the individual conference title for a second-straight year with a time of 15 minutes, 42.94 seconds, the Indians had their first five runners place in the top 10.
Senior Luke Wendel finished in second place behind Morris with a course time of 16:21.97 to earn SEMO All-Conference honors for the second time. He took fourth place last year with a time of 17:01.
The next top-10 finishers for Jackson were in the fifth, sixth and seventh-place spots as senior Ethan Walz took fifth overall at 17:07.79. He also garnered all-conference honors last season by placing eighth (17:29).
Coming in at sixth place for the boys team was junior Evan Stephens with a time of 17:11.48 to capture all-conference accolades once again. He finished seventh in last year’s race (17:22).
Taking seventh for the Indians was freshman Cade McCadams as he crossed the finish line at 17:13.33.
Jackson’s final top-10 finisher was junior Clayton Greenlee at 10th, posting a time of 17:44.51. Freshman Hunter Wendel came in 11th place at 17:50.76.
Another freshman placed in the top 15 for the Indians as Cole Puls took 15th by finishing the race with a time of 18:36.03.
The girls team won this year’s conference meet for the fifth time in a row with a score of 32, which was only five points ahead of Notre Dame’s total of 37.
Dexter’s Margo Nea won this year’s conference race with a time of 19:32.9, and that mark was nearly one minute ahead of runner-up Notre Dame junior Paige Beussink’s time of 20:24.94.
Jackson returned three all-conference runners from last season in junior Elizabeth Steele and sophomores Layla Fliege and Maite Mendez.
Mendez posted the best time for the Indians with a finish of 20:29.12 to take third place. She finished eighth last year (21:09).
The next top finisher for the Indians was not Fliege or Steele as freshman Mallorie Metzger became a first-time all-conference honoree with a fifth-place finish at 20:59.36.
Fliege and Steele did not finish far behind Metzger, however, as Fliege took sixth place at 21:07.65. She also took sixth at conference last season (21:00).
Steele came in two spots behind Fliege at eighth overall as she posted a time of 21:22.05 to earn all-conference honors once again. Steele finished fifth last year with a time of 20:58.
The final Indian to garner all-conference accolades this year was sophomore Addie Heisserer as she took 10th place with a time of 21:40.33. Senior Kayden Fisher and junior Sophie McCadams finished 14th and 15th respectively (22:09.69, 22:18.39).
