For the Hannibal State Cross Country qualifiers, the heat was on Saturday afternoon — literally.
After weeks of running in cold and rainy conditions, the eight Hannibal athletes faced a whole new challenge. With temperatures that topped out in the upper 70s, the fleet-footed Pirates got all they could handle from the challenging Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City.
“It just slowly weakens you, the sun beating down on you,” Brady Novak explained. “It takes so much out of you. But you just fight through it and stay positive.”
But even with those challenges, two Lady Pirates came home with some serious hardware. As has been the case for the entire season, both Emma Burditt and Abbey Jeffries were out in front of their teammates Saturday afternoon. But their teammates were not the only ones left looking at their backs. 158 more of the best Class 3 could offer this year also watched as Burditt and Jeffries burned up the course.
Both Lady Pirates took All-State honors. What was surprising to Jeffries, however, was just how high of an All-State finish she earned, clocking in with a 10th-place time.
“I was thinking maybe Top 25,” Jeffries said. “Not even close to Top 10. It was a dream of mine to be Top 10, but I didn’t think it was going to happen.”
Coming into the race, Burditt had her sights set on finishing in the top five, which is exactly what she did. The junior finished just eight seconds behind the fourth-place finisher, but had a full 10-second lead on her next closest opponent, making her a lock for the final spot in the top five.
Burditt described the sensation as surreal after the awards ceremony.
“You can’t really explain it if you are not in that position, but it’s pretty cool,” Burditt said.
The rest of the Lady Pirates, however, found themselves jockeying for position among the thick of the pack. The next highest finisher for Hannibal was Taryn Dungan, who took 66th place. Jacqueline Gosney, who closed out her high school cross-country career at 115th place, followed Dungan.
But after that, the competition became a little more difficult. Madi Sante, who finished in fourth out of the seven Lady Pirates at the District meet the week prior, suffered from hamstring problems that forced her out of the race at the infamous Firehouse Hill.
Sante’s injury moved Martina Woodard up into the No. 5-spot for the Lady Pirates, a position she didn’t really want.
“Of all people, I didn’t think Madi would be the one to go down,” said Woodard, who finished in 152nd place. “I saw her on the ground and I thought to myself that I owe it to my team to go faster. But I didn’t think that I would have to do that.”
Daquasia Dawson brought up the rear for the Lady Pirates, coming in at 159th place. Dawson, who describes herself as more of a sprinter than a distance runner, was just pleased to cross the finish line at all.
“It was bittersweet,” Dawson said. “I’m relieved that I don’t have to practice hard anymore but I will miss everyone with cross country.”
In total, the girls’ team finished in 10th place.
The only qualifier for the boys’ team, Novak, did not come away with any hardware. But, if there were an award for most improved finish in a year’s time, Novak would have been a strong contender for the honor. After placing 141st in last year’s meet, the sophomore runner jumped into the double-digits, finishing 53rd. And, had it not been for a few factors out of his control, that placing might have been even higher.
“A — it was a hot day, B — I went out a little too fast and C — one of my shoes was half off,” Novak said. “It was a battle from beginning to end. … I think it was okay. I wasn’t disappointed with it, but I still think that I could have done better.”
Hannibal head coach Charlie Newland said that he hopes Novak’s finish is something around which the boys’ team will be able to rally next year.
“He is the type of kid you can build a team around because he is such a good leader,” Newland said. “He’s the captain of our squad this year as a sophomore and that tends not to happen very often. I’m just very happy that he was able to come through with his best race at the State meet.”
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For the Hannibal State Cross Country qualifiers, the heat was on Saturday afternoon — literally.
After weeks of running in cold and rainy conditions, the eight Hannibal athletes faced a whole new challenge. With temperatures that topped out in the upper 70s, the fleet-footed Pirates got all they could handle from the challenging Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City.
“It just slowly weakens you, the sun beating down on you,” Brady Novak explained. “It takes so much out of you. But you just fight through it and stay positive.”
But even with those challenges, two Lady Pirates came home with some serious hardware. As has been the case for the entire season, both Emma Burditt and Abbey Jeffries were out in front of their teammates Saturday afternoon. But their teammates were not the only ones left looking at their backs. 158 more of the best Class 3 could offer this year also watched as Burditt and Jeffries burned up the course.
Both Lady Pirates took All-State honors. What was surprising to Jeffries, however, was just how high of an All-State finish she earned, clocking in with a 10th-place time.
“I was thinking maybe Top 25,” Jeffries said. “Not even close to Top 10. It was a dream of mine to be Top 10, but I didn’t think it was going to happen.”
Coming into the race, Burditt had her sights set on finishing in the top five, which is exactly what she did. The junior finished just eight seconds behind the fourth-place finisher, but had a full 10-second lead on her next closest opponent, making her a lock for the final spot in the top five.
Burditt described the sensation as surreal after the awards ceremony.
“You can’t really explain it if you are not in that position, but it’s pretty cool,” Burditt said.
The rest of the Lady Pirates, however, found themselves jockeying for position among the thick of the pack. The next highest finisher for Hannibal was Taryn Dungan, who took 66th place. Jacqueline Gosney, who closed out her high school cross-country career at 115th place, followed Dungan.
But after that, the competition became a little more difficult. Madi Sante, who finished in fourth out of the seven Lady Pirates at the District meet the week prior, suffered from hamstring problems that forced her out of the race at the infamous Firehouse Hill.
Sante’s injury moved Martina Woodard up into the No. 5-spot for the Lady Pirates, a position she didn’t really want.
“Of all people, I didn’t think Madi would be the one to go down,” said Woodard, who finished in 152nd place. “I saw her on the ground and I thought to myself that I owe it to my team to go faster. But I didn’t think that I would have to do that.”
Daquasia Dawson brought up the rear for the Lady Pirates, coming in at 159th place. Dawson, who describes herself as more of a sprinter than a distance runner, was just pleased to cross the finish line at all.
“It was bittersweet,” Dawson said. “I’m relieved that I don’t have to practice hard anymore but I will miss everyone with cross country.”
In total, the girls’ team finished in 10th place.
The only qualifier for the boys’ team, Novak, did not come away with any hardware. But, if there were an award for most improved finish in a year’s time, Novak would have been a strong contender for the honor. After placing 141st in last year’s meet, the sophomore runner jumped into the double-digits, finishing 53rd. And, had it not been for a few factors out of his control, that placing might have been even higher.
“A — it was a hot day, B — I went out a little too fast and C — one of my shoes was half off,” Novak said. “It was a battle from beginning to end. … I think it was okay. I wasn’t disappointed with it, but I still think that I could have done better.”
Hannibal head coach Charlie Newland said that he hopes Novak’s finish is something around which the boys’ team will be able to rally next year.
“He is the type of kid you can build a team around because he is such a good leader,” Newland said. “He’s the captain of our squad this year as a sophomore and that tends not to happen very often. I’m just very happy that he was able to come through with his best race at the State meet.”
