Woodland's Reynolds wins Class 2 District 1 cross country meet

Entering his junior year, Woodland's Garret Reynolds had never competed in cross country. But from the beginning of the season, his coaches and teammates noticed the athletic ability that Reynolds had.

"Garret's consistently been our number one," Woodland coach Ryan Layton said. "He sets the tone for us every time, and he really did that today."

Reynolds crossed the finish line first at the Class 2 District 1 boys meet in 17 minutes, 37 seconds and let out a roaring scream that echoed throughout Jackson City Park.

His teammates surrounded him and celebrated the first district cross country champion in school history.

Saxony Lutheran's Greg Hapgood led the entire race until the final stretch but appeared to be out of gas and could not find the speed to outrun Reynolds at the end. Hapgood finished second in 17:41.

Along with Hapgood and Reynolds, Kelly senior Trey Walker finished in seventh, Woodland freshman Landen Thomsen finished 11th and his brother Logan finished 14th in 18:29 to qualify for the state meet in Jefferson City on Saturday.

In team competition, Arcadia Valley and Herculaneum advanced to the state meet. Woodland fell just seven points shy of Herculaneum.

Cheyenne Wells was the lone local girl to advance to the state meet.

Wells, a freshman from Woodland, experienced her first taste of success when she finished in 15th place, the final spot for qualifying for state.

Wells time was seven seconds faster than Arcadia Valley senior Brooke Benz, who finished 16th.

Wells was able to sneak behind her opponent down the final stretch of the grueling 5K course.

Benz looked as though she was coasting, sure that she had solidified her spot in the state meet. Just as she let up, Wells shot by her and never looked back.

"I've been consistent all year," Wells said. "I do what I always do, and my stride was pretty solid today, but I can and will run better at state."

Wells was not the only freshman standout in the girls Class 2 meet.

Seven out of the 15 runners are freshmen and will get a shot at state in their first year.

Saxony Lutheran junior Kristen Gruenwald saw her season come to a disappointing end on Saturday. She finished just shy of her personal record and a place in the state finals. Gruenwald finished in 18th place with a time of 23:42.

"I tried my best and pushed myself the entire time," Gruenwald said. "The competition was really tough for all of us out there, plus the hills and wind were a factor all throughout the race."

Herculaneum and Arcadia Valley grabbed the top two spots in the team competition.

Girls

Team -- 1. Herculaneum 24, 2. Arcadia Valley 57, 3. Valley Park 73, 4. Woodland 106, 5. Saxony Lutheran 114

Individual results

Woodland -- 15. Cheyenne Wells 23:28, 20. Kathlyn Cooper 24:05, 23. Aiyana Storie 24:37, 26. Taylor Toombs 25:32, 27. Rachel Eckstam 25:38,

Saxony Lutheran -- 18. Kristen Gruenwald 23:42, 19. Grace Hanebrink 24:00, 24. Breanne Etzold 25:17, 28. Abby Breite 25:53, 30. Katheran Wallhausen 26:32

Boys

Team -- 1. Arcadia Valley 51, 2. Herculaneum 60, 3. Woodland 67, 4. Jefferson (Festus) 108, 5. Valley Park 123, 6. Kelly 139, 7 Hancock 155

Woodland -- 1. Garret Reynolds 17:37, 11. Landon Thomsen 18:26, 14. Logan Thomsen 18:29, 19. Kyle Davis 18:53, 28. Cole Schlief 19:23

Saxony Lutheran -- 2. Greg Hapgood 17:41, 36. Aaron Koehler 19:40, 53. Joshua Vogel 21:58, 59. Zach Woodney 22:38

Kelly -- 7. Trey Walker 18:11, 18. Robbie Hopper 18:47, 29. Jerrod Lynn 19:27, 55. Ian Williams 22:08