The Chillicothe Hornets cross country teams wrapped up their regular season with strong performances at the Midland Empire Conference meet Wednesday on the Missouri Western State University course. Both the boys and girls teams finished third overall, while six Chillicothe runners earned All-Conference honors by placing in the top 14.
On the boys side, Spencer Johansen led the Hornets with a second-place finish, earning MEC runner-up honors. Johansen moved into second early in the race and spent the remainder of the course working to maintain his position. He held off the third-place runner with a sprint to the finish to secure his runner-up finish.
Zephaniah O’Berry placed seventh, while Brody Norris finished 14th to round out the boys’ All-Conference selections.
The boys team finished third despite being without one of its top runners because of a school event. The absence meant the remaining runners needed to move up in the team standings, and the Hornets came up just short of their goal of winning the conference.
The girls team also finished third overall, improving on its fourth-place ranking entering the meet despite having two runners still working back from injuries.
Abby Longo led the way with a seventh-place finish, followed by freshman AmRee Neilson in ninth and Sophie Hurtgen in 11th. All three earned All-Conference recognition.
Neilson turned in a personal-record performance to secure a top-10 finish, while Hurtgen battled through the final half-mile to move up in the standings.
With the regular season complete, Chillicothe will turn its attention to the district meet on October 31, where the Hornets will compete for a chance to qualify for the state meet.
