(Note: A previous version of the story overlooked Purcell’s medal-winning finish, and also failed to note the Lady Tigers’ first-place finish in the 2014 Republic Invitational.)
The Republic girls cross country team placed four runners in the top ten and five in the top 20, dominating the Lebanon Invitational to capture their first team event championship in seven years. Miha Nambara finished second, Misora Nambara and Kristin Probst were neck-and-neck, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. Freshman Gracie Troester finished ninth, and another freshman, Brooklyn Douglas, finished 20th.
The Lady Tigers blew away the field, finishing with an average time of 21:59. The second-place team, Rolla, averaged 22:46.
Coach Christie Bishop said the team win is a testament to the runners’ dedication to each other.
“They really work hard in practice, and they are really good friends outside the running part of it,” Bishop said. “So I think they do it for each other. It’s kind of like a little family.”
Ethan Haynes was the top finisher in the boys race, running the difficult course in 17:54.80. That was good enough for fifth in a field of 83 runners. Brady Purcell also picked up a medal, finishing 14th. Those two led the team to a finish of fourth overall, out of 11 teams in the field.
The JV boys team also earned a plaque, finishing second overall in their race. Kaden Howard and Dak Henning finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Molly Mason was the top finisher for the JV girls, finishing fourth. Kennidy Verheyen was ninth.