JEFFERSON CITY -- Poplar Bluff's Jaden Deaton fought through misty rain and a wet course to finish 64th at the MSHSSA Class 4 State Cross Country Meet in 17 minutes, 18.78 seconds.
"It went pretty well. We had a good, steady, misty rain when we got there in the morning," Poplar Bluff coach Beth Lewis said. "The course was pretty soggy and slick in several spots to make it a little more challenging."
Deaton, making his first trip to state as a sophomore, was about 35 seconds shy of making the top-25 and All-State. Christian Baker of Kirkwood won the race in 15:42.03.
"Now that we've got a taste of what state is like, I would like to see him train this next year to get himself on that podium," Lewis said. "For that particular course and for that level of difficulty, (his time) was really good."
Deaton was in 44th place after finishing his first mile in 5:06.40. He crossed the two-mile mark in 62nd in 10:45.50 and was in 68th after passing the 3-mile mark in 16:40.90, meaning he picked up four spots in the final 100 meters.
"I know he had a fall in the middle of his race in the second mile where he hit one of those slick spots, but he bounced back," Lewis said. "Where he was at in the race, it was crowded the entire time. I don't know if that was good or bad for him.
"It was an excellent experience for Jaden to be able to race with competition that is right around his talent level."
East Carter's Kennedy Thies earned a top-10 finish in the Class 2 girls race. Thies finished in 21:14.84 for 9th place, less than a minute behind winner Kendall Haller of Fatima, who won in 20:21.98.
Thies kept her spot throughout the race. She was 11th after the first mile in 6:16.10, and 9th after both the second mile (13:14.90) and third mile (20:28.30).
Kadance Reynolds finished in 128th place in 24:43.34. Jaci Douglas got 133rd (25:00.09), Payton Golden was 137th (25:09.02), Rylee O'Dell was 159th (26:56.79), Audrey Carter got 170th (28:53.26) and Shyann Deshazo was 172 (29:32.44).
Dexter's Margo Nea finished 27th in the Class 3 race in 20:59.22. Mercedes Schroer won the race in 19:36.26.
Nea ran her first mile in 6:09.60 and was sitting in 10th place. She dropped to 19th after the second mile with a 12:57.70 time and 27th after mile 3 with a time of 20:06.30.
East Carter's Wyatt Elliott finished 23rd in the Class 2 race in 17:59.69. Drake Epperson took 83rd in 19:16.62, Kyren West was 130th in 20:01.32, Colby Ducket was 156th in 20:46.23, Braxton Walker got 162nd in 21:11.76, Isaac Thompson finished 163rd in 21:16.10 and Conner Sullivan was 171st in 22:06.18.
Bloomfield freshman Josh Reynolds finished 67th in 19:03.15.
Kolin Overstreet of Lamar won the Class 2 race in 16:34.70.
In Class 1, Van Buren's Addison Lewis took 33rd in 23:32.21 and Katie Griffin was 40th in 23:45.54. Morgan Shockley got 88th in 25:26.44 to give the Lady Dawgs three runners in the top 100.
Zoie Gonzalez finished 124th (27:10.37), Hailee Bressler was 145th (28:52.27) and Hailey Burke was 147th (29:19.88). Riley Arnold of Blue Eye won the race in 20:07.99.
For the Van Buren boys, Dominic Hill finished in 65th place (19:31.89) and Haden Barnes was 142nd (21:14.44).
Ellington's Carson McNail got 57th in 19:22.03. Chase Ratliff of Weaubleau won the race in 17:10.73.