The Missouri Southern Stampede cross country meet in Joplin is one of the farthest places that any of Manhattan High’s teams go to compete.

Last Friday, members that ran a total of 200 miles over the summer piled into a bus for five hours to get to a hotel where they would stay overnight before competing on Saturday morning. The Missouri Southern Stampede meet is typically one that expects new personal records and the team shoots for a trophy to bring back to Manhattan. The girls cross country team met those expectations and the boys ended in sixth place overall.

Out of 289 competitors in the girls race, MHS had three runners that placed in the top ten. Junior Cara Melgares ended in fifth place with a time of 18:57 which is a 24 second PR. Freshman Clara Mayfield wasn’t far behind in eighth place with a time of 19:11 and senior Anna Keeley came in ninth place with a time of 19:12.

“I was really happy with my race,” Melgares said. “My goals going in were to medal and to break 19:00 in the 5K. Not only did I medal, but [Mayfield] and [Keeley] did also and all of the girls ran great, which led to our team title, so that was awesome. It was definitely a good day.”

Sophomore Cooper Schroeder was the top placer in the boys race from MHS in 15th place with a time of 16:11. Sophomore Logan Logback was behind him in 56th place with a time of 16:51.

“For a team, I thought we did pretty good,” Schroeder said. “We got sixth out of about 52 teams and almost all the boys got PRs and the girls won.”

After getting the first two meets of the season out of the way, head coach Susan Melgares is optimistic about the team’s chance of improving throughout the season.

“[We want to] continue to learn strategy and continue to work hard so that we can be our best at the end and be on the hunt to get on the podium at the state meet, both boys and girls.”