Southwest boys win Monett Invitational
September 25, 2019
Lee Stubblefield
The Trojans are back. On Tuesday, September 16, Southwest took a giant step forward, winning the Monett Invitational cross country meet, scoring 32 points.
After a decade of struggles, the Southwest cross country program is on the road to recovery. A cross country powerhouse from the late 1980’s until 2008, the Trojans had just two conference titles to show in ten years of futility.
A perfect storm of circumstances brought the Southwest program to its knees. A coaching carousel a lack of continuity and a lack of participation were just some of the factors that chipped away at the distance dynasty. Those Trojan teams that once regularly produced all state runners and collected district and state team hardware faded in memory as the seasons rolled by.
But on a sweltering afternoon on the iconic hills at Monett, Southwest notched a critical victory in the small schools boys varsity race. Travis Sickles claimed second place in leading the Trojans to victory. Southwest edged a good Stockton team, 32-35, in collecting the signature win of Rusty Roe’s tenure as the cross country coach.
Roe, in his fourth season at the helm, guided Southwest to a victory at Nixa last year as he continued the rebuilding effort.
“I was very impressed with the way that we ran yesterday,” said Roe. “I was a little nervous about how we would handle the hills and the heat combination, but the guys seemed strong.”
Southwest placed six runners in the top 18 positions.
Southwest finishers: Travis Sickles, 2nd in 19:51; Xander Deshields, 10th in 20:35; Christian Long, 12th in 20:45; Caison Uthe, 13th in 20:45; Caiden Uthe, 16th in 21:19; Roper Varner, 18th in 21:40; and Otis Rainer, 27th in 22:36.
Purdy finished 4th in the boys race with 134 points.
Purdy finishers: Dawson Abramovitz, 28th in 22:53; Adrian Tate, 40th in 25:07; Weston Ellison, 45th in 25:57; and Alan Rodriguez, 60th in 28:11.
Exeter finishers: Dominic McMahon, 29th in 23:05; Lane Willis, 51st in 26:43; Austin Mattingly, 69th in 31:07; Jamison Nichols, 75th in 36:34.
In the small schools girls race, Sparta won by default as the Lady Trojans were the only complete team in the competition.
Cally Bowyer of Southwest led area runners with her 10th place finish.
Southwest finishers: Cally Bowyer, 10th in 26:37; Allison Corwin, 22nd in 30:53.
Purdy finishers: Joy Grace, 16th in 28:19; Makenna Orwig, 18th in 29:43.
In the large school races, the Lamar boys and the Carl Junction girls won team trophies.
Cassville did not enter full squads in either race.
Cassville boys: Pace Evans, 12th in 20:33; Quinn Cook, 15th in 20:51; Steven Collinwood, 16th in 20:51; and Kel Wilson, 18th in 21:08.
Lee Stubblefield
The Trojans are back. On Tuesday, September 16, Southwest took a giant step forward, winning the Monett Invitational cross country meet, scoring 32 points.
After a decade of struggles, the Southwest cross country program is on the road to recovery. A cross country powerhouse from the late 1980’s until 2008, the Trojans had just two conference titles to show in ten years of futility.
A perfect storm of circumstances brought the Southwest program to its knees. A coaching carousel a lack of continuity and a lack of participation were just some of the factors that chipped away at the distance dynasty. Those Trojan teams that once regularly produced all state runners and collected district and state team hardware faded in memory as the seasons rolled by.
But on a sweltering afternoon on the iconic hills at Monett, Southwest notched a critical victory in the small schools boys varsity race. Travis Sickles claimed second place in leading the Trojans to victory. Southwest edged a good Stockton team, 32-35, in collecting the signature win of Rusty Roe’s tenure as the cross country coach.
Roe, in his fourth season at the helm, guided Southwest to a victory at Nixa last year as he continued the rebuilding effort.
“I was very impressed with the way that we ran yesterday,” said Roe. “I was a little nervous about how we would handle the hills and the heat combination, but the guys seemed strong.”
Southwest placed six runners in the top 18 positions.
Southwest finishers: Travis Sickles, 2nd in 19:51; Xander Deshields, 10th in 20:35; Christian Long, 12th in 20:45; Caison Uthe, 13th in 20:45; Caiden Uthe, 16th in 21:19; Roper Varner, 18th in 21:40; and Otis Rainer, 27th in 22:36.
Purdy finished 4th in the boys race with 134 points.
Purdy finishers: Dawson Abramovitz, 28th in 22:53; Adrian Tate, 40th in 25:07; Weston Ellison, 45th in 25:57; and Alan Rodriguez, 60th in 28:11.
Exeter finishers: Dominic McMahon, 29th in 23:05; Lane Willis, 51st in 26:43; Austin Mattingly, 69th in 31:07; Jamison Nichols, 75th in 36:34.
In the small schools girls race, Sparta won by default as the Lady Trojans were the only complete team in the competition.
Cally Bowyer of Southwest led area runners with her 10th place finish.
Southwest finishers: Cally Bowyer, 10th in 26:37; Allison Corwin, 22nd in 30:53.
Purdy finishers: Joy Grace, 16th in 28:19; Makenna Orwig, 18th in 29:43.
In the large school races, the Lamar boys and the Carl Junction girls won team trophies.
Cassville did not enter full squads in either race.
Cassville boys: Pace Evans, 12th in 20:33; Quinn Cook, 15th in 20:51; Steven Collinwood, 16th in 20:51; and Kel Wilson, 18th in 21:08.
