Cuba Middle School and Cuba High School’s cross country season got underway with a pair of meets in Sullivan and in Columbia. Both of Cuba’s teams are led by head coach Aurora Pfeiffer and assistant coach Heather Silva. The results from both meets are detailed below.

The Wildcats will cruise down Highway 19 Sept. 17 to compete in the Steelville Invitational at Steelville City Park in its next meet. Bourbon will then compete in Belle on Sept. 22 in the Belle Cross Country Meet.

Sept. 8 Sullivan Invitational

Cuba High School and Middle School’s cross country season began Sept. 8 when the Wildcats competed in sweltering temperatures at the Sullivan Invitational.

Cuba junior Ella Basham is the lone Lady Wildcat competing on Cuba’s cross country team and ran in the girls’ 5k race. Basham finished in 12th place out of 36 competitors after crossing the finish line in 26.34.40. Lutheran South junior Kaitlin Naeger won the race with a 22.59.80 time.

Four Wildcats competed in the boys’ 5k high school race. Freshman Ryan Ray was Cuba’s first runner to cross the finish line, completing the race in 24.55.05 to earn 36th place out of 59 runners. Junior Jamison Scott finished in 25.48.55 to take 42nd, senior Jackson Herwig crossed the finish line in 26:18.05 for 44th place and his younger brother, freshman Matthew Herwig completed it in 26:52.31 to earn 47th place.

Cuba eighth grader Elsie Rutz was Cuba’s top performer at any level. She finished in third place in the middle school girls’ 3200 meter race after crossing the finish line in 15.09.12. Union’s Chelsie Goodwin won the race with a 14.25.81 time. Cuba came in sixth as a team out of eight teams competing.

Harlow Maxwell and Naomi White also earned top-23 finishes for the Lady Wildcats, taking 22nd and 23rd with 19.16.79 and 19:17.66 times, respectively. Nora Jones took 30th with a 21:59.73 time, Lillian Yates finished in 33rd after completing it in 22:40.16, Ada Mabe finished in 34th with a 23:07.32 time and Lily Craig took 35th after finishing in 24:19.05 to round out the Lady Cat performances.

Cuba had three middle school boys competing in the middle school boys’ 3200 meter race. Karter Peters was the Wildcat’s top runner, finishing in 15th place with a 14:34.76 time. Gage Baker took 28th after completing it in 15:56.47 and Jensen Myers took 41st with a 16:51.66 finish.

Sept. 12 Father Tolton Catholic Cross Country Invitational in Columbia

After a few cooler days, the heat reached 90 plus degree temperatures for Cuba’s second meet in Columbia. The Wildcats competed with hundreds of other athletes in each race in one of its larger meets of the season.

Basham was Cuba High School’s top performer, earning 59th place in the girls 5,000 meter run with a 23:41:41 time.

On the boys side, Tristan Cross was the Wildcats’ first runner to cross the finish line with a 22:50.77 time to take 177th place. Ray finished in 183rd with a 22:57.55 time, Herwig took 210th after completing it in 24:32.91, Zaylen Kammer earned 216th with a 26:05.75 and Scott finished in 216th after crossing the finish line with a 28:16.36 time.

Rutz continued her blistering start to her eighth grade year with a 13:24.06 time in the middle school girls 3,000 meter race to earn a 12th place finish out of 151 runners. Olivia Copeland was the next Lady Cat middle schooler to cross the finish line, completing it in 16:38.69 to take 66th place. Yates took 79th with a 17:02.25 time and Maxwell finished in 87th after completing it in 17:25.34 to round out Cuba’s top 100 middle school girls finishers.

Baker was the first Cuba Middle School boy to complete the 3,000 meter middle school boys event. Baker took 66th with a 13:32.39 time. Peters wasn’t far behind, earning 72nd with a 13:45.31 time. Myers was the only other Wildcat middle schooler to compete, finishing in 134th after crossing the finish line with a 15:38.49 time.