Poplar Bluff's No. 1 player Sara Holland started off a near-perfect day for the Mules with an 8-0 win in singles competition as the team hosted Sikeston. Mya White, Clarissa Varner and Megan Murphy all followed with 8-1 victories in their singles matches to keep Poplar Bluff rolling. No. 5 player Annaleese Williams earned an 8-0 sweep of her competition, and a forfeit from Sikeston in the No. 6 spot made for an unblemished day from the Mules in singles play.
Holland and Murphy dropped an 8-4 decision to begin doubles action, but the No. 2 doubles pair of White and Varner earned the Mules an 8-3 win. Another Sikeston forfeit followed in the No. 3 spot, locking up an 8-1 victory for Poplar Bluff on the day.
CROSS COUNTRY
Kennedy Thies's time of 21 minutes, 2 seconds earned a first-place finish in the girls varsity portion of the Van Buren/Graham Invitational Wednesday.
Senior Wyatt Elliot earned first place among the boys with a time of 18:06 to give East Carter runners first-place finishes in both the boys and girls varsity events.
Kadence Reynolds finished just outside the top 10 for the East Carter girls, clocking 23:57.
Back on the boys side for the Redbirds, sophomore Braxton Walker finished just outside the top 10 with a time of 19:59. Isaac Thompson turned in a 20:22 performance, while Drake Epperson's 20:39 was good for 19th, rounding out the Redbirds in the top 20.
Carson McNeil had a strong outing for Ellington. The sophmore finished second with a time of 18:24 in boys varsity.
For girls varsity, freshman Grace Lloyd placed third with a time of 21:43. Junior Morgan Rains earned 16th with a time of 24:47, and fellow junior Hannah Fitzgerald clocked a 24:50 to place 17th. Freshmen Tyler Conkright and Natalie Barnett finished 20th and 21st with respective times of 25:08 and 25:21.
The Greenville girls were anchored by senior Kate Bangert's sixth-place finish with a time of 22:54.
Senior Tye Huff led the boys with a 20:51 time, good for 26th.
Sophmore Jason Yates turned in a solid time for the Kennett boys, finishing in 19:03 for third place. Larry Payne finished just outside the top 20, clocking 20:39.
For Dexter, Margo Nea led the girls team, finishing second with a 21:11 time. Grace Milam placed 13th for the Bearcats by clocking a 24:30. Fuyu Fujii earned a top-25 finish, running a 26:09. Sophomore Gavin Cartwright placed sixth for the Dexter boys with a time of 19:14. Andrew Ellinghouse clocked in at 20:07 for 14th.
Sophomore Nic Carter finished seventh for the Bloomfield boys, turning in a time of 19:20. Freshman Josh Reynolds placed ninth at 19:28.
For Clearwater, sophomore Jacob Cheney earned 12th by running a time of 19:52 to lead the boys.
Faith Hoppe led the Clearwater girls with a time of 27:38, earning the senior 34th on the day.
The Van Buren girls were led by freshman Addison Lewis, who clocked a time of 23:19 to earn seventh. Katie Griffin finished 12th with a time of 24:09.
Hayden Barnes and Will Towner earned 15th and 22nd, respectively, for the boys. Barnes clocked a 20:09, while Towner earned a time of 20:40.