Panthers CC shines in Aurora

Things started off on the right foot for the Mountain Grove boys and girls cross country programs on Sep. 5 when they competed in the Hot Dawg Invitational.
In a field of 87 runners, Hunter Bartlett finished second place overall with a time of 18:04.98.
Joining him with a Top-10 finish was freshman Trace Hadley, who had a 10th place time of 19:00.34.
Other runners included freshman Max Guilliams (21:40.20) along with sophomores Trygg DeVries (22:57.25) and Mark Shaner (23:24.21).
Leading the Lady Panthers, who have no juniors or seniors on the squad, was Keena Roth.
Roth had a 12th place finish among a field of 68 runners with her time of 23:22.63.
Freshman Makynli Blackwell was in the Top-25 as she took 24th place with a time of 25:22.77.
Other runners included sophomores Megan Adams (26:35.75) and Abigail Sons (27:40.90).
Overall, Mountain Grove has a young program as they lost Owen Nelson, Kent Taylor, Trace DeVries, Katie Jarrett and Charis Alsup to graduation.
“I have a really young group of freshman and sophomore athletes,” said head coach Lori Hyde. “We are looking to compete and be running our best at conference and districts. They have some big shoes to fill and they are working hard every day.”
Up next for Mountain Grove is a race at Willow Springs on Thursday, Sep. 12.
They will host a race on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at Randel-Hinkle Golf Course.