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Ava Hosts Cross Country Meet Here Monday; Fetes Seniors In Final Race Before Districts

The Ava Cross country team, with a little help from their friends, hosted their invitational meet on Monday, Oct. 28.
The afternoon began with Ava’s high school choir singing the National Anthem, followed by senior night recognition.  Three seniors were recognized:  Jordan Dimirsky, Garrit Swainston and John Vineyard.
Eleven schools participated in the meet –  Ava, Bradleyville, Bakersfield, Chadwick, Dora, Eminence, Forsyth, Mountain Grove, Plato, Sparta, and Summersville.
In the Varsity Boys Division, Tristan Eaton from Sparta won the race in a time of 17:33.  That beat Dakota Renner’s 2012 1st place finish by 24 seconds.  John Burd from Mtn. Grove came in 2nd with a time of 17:46, and Ava’s Caleb Stillings finished 3rd in 17:55.
The rest of the Ava team finished with these times:  Jordan Dimirsky in 19:02, for 10th place overall; Jacob Luebbering in 11th place with a time of 19:07; Hayden Schuster finished in a time of 21:29; Sage Clunn finished in 21:57; John Vineyard in 21:57; and Garrit Swainston finished in 23:08.
Mtn. Grove won the meet as a team with 62 points.  Plato scored 65 points for 2nd.  Ava took 3rd with 80 points, 4th was Bakersfield with 85, 5th Sparta 87 points, 6th Eminence with 102 points, 7th was Summersville with 146 points.  Other schools attending did not have full boys teams.
K. Wolter from Mtn. Grove easily won the varsity girls race in 21:49, a full minute and 8 seconds ahead of 2nd place S. Strong from Dora with a time of 22:57.   For Ava, Bailey Ray continues to run successfully, being the only Ava girl to medal,  with a 6th place finish in a time of 24:20.
Megan Cooper came in next for Ava to finish in the 11th spot with a time of 25:11, Kayla Cooper was in next for the Lady Bears with a time of 25:40 to finish in 13th place.  Jimi Lynn Raybould had a time of 28:18, and close behind was  Madison Schuster, who ran a 28:21.
Dora won the girls’ division with 47 points, followed by Sparta with 62 points.  Ava came in 3rd with 77 points, 4th place was Plato with 86 points as well as Bakersfield who placed 5th also with 86 but because they did not have a tie breaker 6th runner got the lower placing.  In 6th place was Mtn Grove with 107.
In the final race of the afternoon, the junior varsity, junior high and 6th grade boys and girls all raced together in a full loop around the golf course that consisted of 1.65 miles.
JV boy, L. Thomas for Bradleyville, won the overall with a time of 10:23.6.  Ava’s JV top runner, Brett Mitchell, was 2nd but just barely, coming in at 10:23.8.  Eighth grader Braden Swofford from Ava was 3rd overall and first in the junior high division, with a time of 10:33, then 7th grader Jacob Key from Ava came  in 4th overall but 2nd in the junior high division with 10:55.  Jonah Brown finished in 11:00 even to finish 5th.
Aubree Schuster was the first girl finisher in 11:13.  In 2nd place  was 8th grader Darci Ray with a time of 12:19.  Eden Little won the 6th grade girls’ race with a 12:22.  Dylan King won the boys’ younger division with a time of 12:56.
Claire Fossett  got 2nd in the 6th grade girls with a time of 13:14.
Seventh grader Gavin Goss ran a 13:17 to finish 5th in the junior high division. Sixth grader Olivia Heriford placed 3rd with a time of 14:53 and Sydney Snelson was 4th in 15:58.
The top 10 medaled in the boys and girls varsity, the junior varsity race and the junior high race.  The top five medaled in the younger 6th grade and under division.
The cross country team is grateful to all the volunteers that helped make the local meet such a success.  From all the finish line workers to the corner judges and the mile timers, as well as the tech department and the Ava choir, all the help was much appreciated.
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Chance provided the trailer, electricity and parking at their home near the start line, and the Ava Country Club makes their facility available each year for this annual meet.
The cross country team will be vying for a state bid at the Class 2 District Championships at Willow Springs this Saturday, Nov. 2.  The girls’ varsity race begins at 11:10.  The boys’ varsity race is at 11:45.  The top two teams and the top 15 individuals advance on to Jefferson City on Nov. 9.