Cross country competes at Missouri Southern Stampede

Angie Moss, Print Editor in Chief

There are two ways to qualify to compete at the Southern Missouri Stampede cross country meet in Joplin, Missouri: be in the top five for boys and girls, or run over 200 miles throughout the summer.

Though it can sound like a lot of work, it became clear Manhattan High’s cross country team was up for the challenge by the end of the day when results were released. Boys placed third and girls placed fourth.

“It’s a huge meet with teams from multiple surrounding states, so it is usually pretty competitive,” junior Joy Gruenbacher said. “Since so many people are running, you can never really tell how well your team did until all of the results are actually tallied out on paper.”

MHS travels to this meet every single year, but for those who went for the first time, the meet was a little overwhelming.

“I [felt] blessed and thankful to be there,” senior Amber Gloria said. “It was such a big meet and as I was getting ready to race, I was nervous but determined to get a quick fast start. I was satisfied with my results, but still l thought I could of done better. It was just one of those off days.”

Top placers from the meet include senior Cara Melgares, who placed fourth in the 5000m run with a time of 18:40.62; sophomore Clara Mayfield, placing 16th in the 5000m run with a time of 19:26.60, and junior Cooper Schroeder, who finished 16th in the 5000m run with a time of 16:15.80.

MHS cross country will be competing again this Saturday at Rim Rock in Lawrence