High School and middle school Wildcats and Warhawks competed in the Sept. 29 St. James Invitational at Maramec Spring Park.

Bourbon High freshman Elijah Frederick was the top high school runner for either school, finishing the boys 5000m race in 18:34.4, earning him 13th place out of 100 runners. Junior Warhawk Paul Studdard took 55th place with a 21:28.7 time and freshman Joshua Gibbs finished in 65th with a 21:57.1 time. St. James junior Ashton Moreland won the race with a 16:40.6 time, just narrowly defeating Belle freshman Jackson Prater, who crossed the finish line with a 16:41.0 time to finish in second.

Junior Reese Bell and freshman Alaina Evans were the only Lady Warhawks running in the varsity girls 5000m race. Bell finished in 48th with a 26:49.2 time and Evans took 73rd with a 30:35.1 time.

Cuba High School junior Ella Basham continued her stretch of top-20 medal-winning performances, earning 17th place with 23:24.5 time.

Freshmen Tristan Cross, Matthew Herwig and Ayden Mabe, sophomore Zaylen Kammer, junior Jamison Scott and seniors Jackson Herwig and Brody Bayless all competed in the boys varsity race for Cuba.

Cross was the first Wildcat to cross the finish line, finishing in 74th place with a 22:21.9 time. Jackson Herwig took 89th with a personal-best 23:16.8 time. Bayless ran a 24:26.9 to earn 97th place. Scott finished in 100th with a 24:52.9 time. Matthew Herwig took 102nd with a 25:13.6 time. Kammer finished in 112th and Mabe earned 113th after finishing in 26:33.3 and 26:34.7, respectively.

Bourbon Middle School girls competed in the 1.6 mile junior high race, finishing in second place as a team on the backs of three top-20 medal-winning performances. Eighth grader Eva Wertich continued to shine for the Lady Warhawks, earning fifth place with a 10:26.4 time. Fellow eighth graders Mina and Auria Williams earned 12th and 18th place, with 10:48.6 and 11:08.7 times, respectively.

Sixth grader Clara Gibbs took 28th place with a 12:03.7 time. Seven grader Lily Ranson earned 35th with a 12:39.7 time and fellow seventh grader Hadleigh Harper finished in 57th with a 14:10.6 time.

Seventh grader Justin Evans and sixth grader Walter Wertich were the only Bourbon boys running in the 1.6 mile boys race. Evans took 78th with a 14:03 time and Wertich finished in 86th with a 15:20.7 time.

Cuba Middle School had one girl and one boy achieve medal-winning performances. CMS eighth grader Elsie Rutz ran a personal-best 10:41 time to finish in 10th place.

CMS seventh grader Karter Peters earned 11th place with a 9:37.5 time in the boys race one day after scoring a game-high 17 points for CMS’ basketball team in their win over Laquey.

Other CMS girls runners included seventh graders Naomi White, Olivia Copeland and Harlow Maxwell, who took 32nd, 40th and 44th with 12:19, 12:55 and 13:02 finishing times, respectively. Eighth grader Lilian Yates ran a personal-best 13:02 time to earn 45th place and fellow eighth grader Nora Jones ran a personal-best 14:02.5 time to finish in 54th. Eighth grader Lily Craig crossed the finish line in 14:41 to take 60th.

Eighth grader Gage Baker and seventh grader Jensen Myers were CMS’ only other boys runners. Baker ran a personal-best 10:09 time to earn 27th place and Myers finished in 60th place with a 11:45 time.

Cuba High School and Middle School cross country teams are scheduled to run next Oct. 6 in the Hermann Invitational Cross Country Meet. The Wildcats’ varsity team will then compete Oct. 13 in the Owensville Invitational.

Bourbon High School and Middle School cross country teams are scheduled to run in the Oct. 10 Potosi Meet. The Warhawks’ varsity team is also scheduled to run along with the Wildcats in the Oct. 13 Owensville Invitational.