On November 9, 2024, Katrina Cantwell (10) and the Boys Cross Country team ran in the Missouri State High School Class 3 Cross Country Meet in Columbia, Missouri. Cantwell placed 9th in the girls division, making her a two time all state runner.
At the district meet on November 2, 2024 in Plato, Missouri, Cantwell placed 1st in the girls division. Nolan Geitz (12) placed 15th and Tyler Whitehead (9) placed 16th in the boys division, qualifying them individually for the state meet. The Fair Grove Boys Cross Country team placed 4th and qualified for state as a team.
Cantwell has not shied away from postseason meets, as she has qualified for state, both her freshman and sophomore years. During her freshman year she placed 7th at state. As well as making all state her freshman year, she set the school 5k record at 19:10.
Jalen Supancic, cross country coach, described Cantwell’s work ethic. He stated, “Katrina has been a constant workhorse and seeing her earn All-state honors again this year with back-to-back top 10 finishes at the state level is an incredibly proud moment for me. She has overcome a challenging season to finish strong and run one of her best races of the year.”
Supancic loved seeing his athletes work so hard this season. He expressed, “It is a really awesome feeling seeing these athletes work so hard and accomplish their goals! Our boys team has been determined all year to be the first boys team in school history to qualify as a team and they have accomplished that goal! They are the fastest boys team in school history and it is really cool seeing their hard work continue to pay off.”
Geitz has become a regular at the state meet, as he has qualified for state all four years of his high school career. Getiz stated, “Qualifying for state has made and continues to make my senior season super memorable and exciting.” Geitz finished the race in 61st place out of 162 runners in Class 3.
Whitehead’s first year at the state meet led him to walk away with 93rd place in the boys division. Whitehead stated, “It feels great to qualify for state as a freshman, and it’s good to know that I’ve got three more years of progress coming…”
Whitehead and Geitz hope that the future is bright for the cross country team in years to come. Geitz expressed, “I’m… happy for our freshmen to experience that state atmosphere and to hopefully use that experience when they go back to state for years to come.”
Whitehead also said, “Not only did we do really well this year but we are looking really good for next year’s season. We will lose Nolen, and he is our fastest runner, but if the rest of us work hard I think we could qualify as a team next year as well.”
Geitz gave a word of advice for the underclassmen, “Keep it simple both mentally and physically. Running and any sport for that matter is hard and you’re going to fail more times than not. Don’t make it harder than it already is.”
