JACKSON, Mo. --Fall weather arrived just in time for the cross country season to heat up.
"It made a major difference, I could tell, in my running," Poplar Bluff senior Katie Sliger said after placing third in the SEMO North Conference meet Thursday.
Sliger finished the 5,000-meter course at Jackson City Park in 21 minutes, 2.17 seconds to earn all-conference honors for the second time.
Jaden Deaton placed seventh and Wesley Moore finished ninth to earn an all-conference medal and lead the Mules to third place.
"I don't know if you run better but you feel better while running," said Moore who finished in 18:17.
Jackson swept the team titles, winning the boys race by two points over Notre Dame, 35-37. The Mules were third at 78 followed by Cape Central (100) and Dexter (129).
All five of Jackson's girls earned all-conference honors to beat Notre Dame 27-55. Cape Central beat Poplar Bluff 84-94 for third followed by Dexter (102).
Emily Ladd led the Bearcats in fifth place at 21:23 while Margo Nea (21:56) was 13th. Dawson Kasting (19:49) placed 19th followed by Carter Dontan (20:13) to lead the Dexter boys.
Jackson's Ean Buffington defended his individual title, winning in 16:49.13, as the top three broke 17 minutes after running together until the final 1,200 meters.
"It's been so hot for a long time, we've been wondering when fall was going to show up," said Buffington.
Just in time as runners prepare for the MSHSAA district race, which will be held on the same course a week from Saturday for Class 4 teams like Poplar Bluff. Dexter will host the Class 3 meet.
It will be a much different atmosphere with more runners trying to crack the top 30 to advance. Thursday's race featured just over 30 runners.
"With a race this small, it spreads out quite a bit so it's hard to see, (but) I think some of them definitely took advantage of the cooler (weather)," Mules coach Beth Lewis-Muse said.
Sliger ran the final 3-plus miles on her own after losing contact with Jackson's Kennedy Bauer and Alaina Baumgart of Notre Dame. Bauer won the race by 13.5 seconds in 20:09.72.
"I kind of expected them to kind of go ahead and take the lead," Sliger said. "I just kept on thinking like, 'I'm getting closer to being done, just push to keep going.'"
Deaton, a freshman, crossed the finish line in 17:54 while Moore followed in 18:17. Deaton ran with the lead pack for the first mile before losing contact while Moore also ran long stretches by himself. Both were passed over the final 400 meters with Notre Dame's No. 3 runner edging Moore by 0.28 of a second.
"If you don't have anybody around you then you're just running in limbo, all by yourself," Moore said.
Victor Olivan placed 17th for the Mules in 19:44 while Seth Ingle (20:21) finished 22nd followed by Brent Worley (20:24), who edged Notre Dame's Andrew West by 0.4 of a second and teammate Dylan Cisne by 0.59 of a second. Brendan Yarbro (20:40) finished 27th for the Mules who took third for a second straight year.
Katelyn Moeller finished 15th at 21:58, missing all-conference honors by 13 seconds. Brooke Slayton (23:53) placed 23rd while Ava Smith (25:19) finished 26th ahead of Kenya Jones (25:37). Alexis Smith (27:15) was 29th followed by MacKenzie Dowd (28:29).
Sliger, Slayton, Dowd and Alexa Owings are all seniors.
"I was happy with the way I ran," said Sliger, a state qualifier as a sophomore. "I thought I ran this race better than what I had been running. I've been holding onto my pace better."
Moore, who missed advancing out of the district race by 14.3 seconds last year, will also get a final shot at the hilly Jackson course.
"I've just got to use these hills," he said. "I've just got to know when to pick it up and start running."
JUNIOR HIGH
Sarah McCormack placed sixth to lead Poplar Bluff's girls to third place as a team while Brady Robertson finished eighth in the boys race.
Robertson finished in 9:23 while McCormack ran a 10:34.