Nevada XC opens season in Joplin

Above: Second-year Nevada head varsity cross coach, Ryan Watts, discusses strategy with his squad during a home meet last season.

Matt Resnick | Daily Mail

The Nevada High School cross country team got off on the right foot Tuesday evening, opening its season at the Joplin varsity-junior varsity quad.

The quad was ran on a two-mile short-course. Nevada and Joplin were joined by Webb City, Carthage, McDonald County and Carl Junction.

“This was a time trial meet the coaches use to set varsity (lineups) for the first official meet,” said Ryan Watts, who is entering his second season as Nevada’s head cross country coach. Watts said he was pleased with his squad’s overall performance, which included a second-place finish achieved by sophomore Calli Beshore.

“We ran well,” he said. “It’s beneficial for us to compete against those bigger schools and see tough competition as it really pushes us to run our best and to get up in the mix and race.”

Added Watts: “It also gives us a good idea of the kind of competition we will see in conference and district meets.”

Lady Tiger results

(Note: Official times were not kept)

• Calli Beshore, second-place; Patience Lockhart, 15th; Amara Pippin, 21st; Heaven Farmer, 37th; Haleigh Leisure, 40th; Zoie Farmer, 47th; Jaden Chei, 59th; Katlyn Dunfield, 60th; and Amanda Blystone, 61st.

Tiger results

• Devin McHugh, 37th-place; Luke Sudkamp, 38th; Will Johnson, 55th; Bronson Smith, 56th; Trent Ellis, 57th; Jaden Ast, 58th; Ben Sudkamp, 71st; Colson Fisher, 79th; Clay Landoll, 82nd; Charles Morton, 85th; Joe Hendrix, 87th; and Caleb Theis, 89th.

— Up next ­ —

Nevada is idle for two weeks, next competing in the Fort Scott (Kan.) High School Invitational, Sept. 7.