Cross Country/Track & Field | 10/16/2023 2:36:00 PM

Iola, KS - The Neosho County men's and women's cross country teams took to Iola, Kansas for the Firestarter Classic cross country meet at Allen County Community College and came away with some historic performances. This years race at Allen also served as the Region 6 Championship preview meet, as they play host to the Region Championships this season. Despite some blustery conditions the course set up well for the team to have good performances, 23 of the 27 Panthers competing had personal or season best times. The men's team broke the school record team time running an average of 27:40 for the 8k course besting the previous record of 27:56 by 16 seconds per athlete. The team also punched their ticket to the NJCAA Championships with their performance. The women's team was much improved despite still not running to their full potential, on the day the ladies took another minute off of their team time for the season and are closing the gap drastically on where they need to be in two weeks time to also earn a trip to the National Championships.

Highlights of the day beyond the team time finishes were the individual finishes by some of the athletes. Once again the Chouteau, Oklahoma boys of Hayden Stutzman and Brayden Russell lead the way for the Men's team running 26:43 and 26:56 respectively, Hayden now sets at #3 all time in the Panthers Cross Country record books and Brayden comes in just behind at #4. Pedro Mulero had a PR by over 1 minute to move himself to #9 All-time in 27:52, and Nathan Barrett had a 34 second PR in 28:08 to move into #16 all time on the records list. On the ladies side Mia Cruz and Amy Styles had standout performances each making significant PR's running 23:38 and 23:54 respectively, with those performances Mia now sets at #24 All-time for the Panther Women's program and Amy #27.

"The day set up really perfect for us, there was great competition, the temperatures were cooler for once, and we came in more motivated than we had been all season. I am extremely proud of what we accomplished, it felt great to finally run to the potential we knew was there. This men's team in terms of time average is now the best team in Neosho History but there is still a lot to prove and a lot to work for so we can't settle now. We have just ticked one check mark off of our goals and now on to the next ones. I was really proud of our women's performance as well, they have been dealing with a lot of things that have kept holding them back just a little but it is clear to see they are ready for some big things, it started Saturday and is going to carry into Regionals, I know they are really going to surprise some people there," said Head Cross Country Coach Trey Bruton.