Three Republic cross country runners earned a berth in the state championship at Columbia next week. Gracie Troester, Kristin Probst, and Brady Purcell are all state-bound based on their performances at the Class 5 District 2 race in Nixa Saturday.
Troester finished second in the girls race, and she shattered the Republic cross country record in the process, finishing in 18:51.69. That’s more than six seconds faster than the previous record, set by Miha Nambara in 2021.
Probst finished 15th, with a time of 20.03.50. That was a personal best for her.
In the boys race, Brady Purcell finished in 16:42.56. That was good for 29th place, earning him one of 30 spots at the Class 5 state meet next Friday.
The near-miss of the day belonged to Misora Nambara, who shaved four seconds off her previous best time from the COC Championship, held on the same course 11 days before. But even with that improvement, Nambara finished 31st, just one spot away from qualifying for state.
Hayden Mitchell also turned in a personal-best record, shattering his old PR by more than a minute and finishing in 17:51.06.
The Republic girls finished sixth as a team, and the boys finished ninth.