State Cross Country
The Cameron Dragon Cross Country teams closed out an outstanding 2017 season as both teams competed in the Missouri State Cross Country meet at Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City last weekend. The Lady Dragons qualified for the second consecutive season and the boys team qualified for the first time as a team in 41 years.
The Lady Dragons who cut 65 points off of last year’s team score, are made up on the varsity level with two freshmen, two sophomores and three juniors placed 16th as a team and will have everyone back next year. The Lady Dragons top performer was sophomore Zoe Foreman who placed 57th with a time of 21:19.43. Junior Nicole Jackson finished 138th with a time of 23:14.51, Freshman Haley Wilson was 148th in 23:42.03, Junior Khayla Hollingsworth finished 155th in 24:40.86, Freshman Payton Dickkut finished 158th in 25:20.46, Junior Abigail Robinson placed 159th in 25:41.07 and Sophomore Kylie Graham placed 160th in 25:43.72.
The boys also placed 16th as a team and were lead by all-district senior Jacob Barbee who finished 84th in a time of 18:06.09. Freshman Caden Hanrahan finished 155th in a time of 19:49.33, Junior Jacob Roach was 156th with a time of 19:55.75, Freshman Tyler Husch finished 157th with a time of 19:59.90, Senior Alec Walser finished 162nd in 20:15.23, Senior Josh Stevenson finished 165th in 20:29.29, and Sophomore finished 166th in 20:35.53.
The relatively new program showed strong improvement last year with the girls qualifying for the state meet and made a huge jump this year with both teams making the trip to Jefferson City. Coach Dickkut has been the head coach the last two years and he is assisted by first year coach Ashley Kern. Christy Webber has been the coach at the middle school since it was reinstated several years ago.
Zoe Foreman, Haley Wilson and Jacob Barbee all ran their best times ever at the meet. The girls cut 65 points off of their team total from a year ago. Coach Dickkut stated, “While I am sure some of our kids wanted to have a better performance at state, I hope they look back on the season and take into account all the things they have accomplished this year. Getting to that level is not easy and I am optimistic we will be working hard not only to get back to state but to also improve.
Photos by Annika Dikkut
