At one of the premier cross country courses in the country, Fulton girls cross country runner Emery Mayfield finished first in the Gans Creek Classic Blue division 5,000-meter run Saturday at Gans Creek in Columbia.
Mayfield clocked in at 18 minutes, 50.6 seconds which was 0.8 seconds faster than Platte County's Sisley Mitchell, who finished in second.
"She ran really smart, being patient by running behind the first and second place runners for the first 3K of the race and then moving up to the front, going toe to toe with Sisley Mitchell from Platte County High School for the remaining 2K of the race," Fulton coach George Yates said. "They rounded the final turn and Emery held on to outrun her opponent to the finish line for first place. Her previous best time this season was 20:01 and her goal was to run under 20."
Mayfield did just that; she wasn't the only Hornets runner with a good showing at the event.
In the boys' Blue division, Carter Meyerhoff recorded a career-best time of 17:53.1 and finished 49th. It was Meyerhoff's first time breaking 18 minutes.
Bowling Green's Ben Chance won the race with a time of 16:01.4.
Meyerhoff led the Fulton boys team to a 20th place finish with 522 points, while Mayfield guided the girls' squad to a 26th place finish with 593 points. Tolton won the boys' Blue division race with 141 points; St. Joseph's Academy took first in the girls with 91.
Following Meyerhoff, Fulton's boys' finishes were Kai Foster 86th (18:29.4), Noah Thompson 113th (18:50.4), Noah Combs 126th (19:00.8), Bryer Mullins 169th (19:40.2), Adrian Lozano 184th (19:50.9) and Robert Monroe 223rd (20:48.1).
After Mayfield, Fulton's girls' finishes were Emily Boyd 141st (24:20.9), Jonna Vanzetti 158th (24:42.8), Emmy Begemann 205th (26:39.3), Greta Patten 206th (26:42.2), Abigail Bonnel 210th (26:51.5) and Chloe Schwinke 225th (27:57.7).
"Schools traveled from all over the state to compete at this race so we were up against really great competition," Yates said. "Our kids ran well, even with the return of warm weather. ...I saw a lot of positive things today and loved seeing the team challenged. It was a good day."
Meanwhile, South Callaway, North Callaway and New Bloomfield competed in the White division. All three teams ran both races, but North Callaway was the only school with enough runners for a team to finish in the girls' race.
In the boys' race, North Callaway's Tristan Young's 18:46.6 was the best time out of the Callaway County schools' runners; he finished 58th overall. South Callaway's best runner was Dylan Dugan, who placed 88th with a time of 19:40.9, while New Bloomfield's was Riley Connell, who took 89th with a time of 19:41.5.
West Platte's Charlie Kinslow won the event with a time of 16:33.4.
Behind Young, North Callaway's finishes were Brendan Reinhard 77th (19:20.9), Gavin Rasmussen 150th (20:44.1), Kyle Scott 206th (22:18.3) and Caleb Rohrbach 249th (29:35.9).
After Dugan, South Callaway's finishes were Tucker Jones 97th (19:55.5), Nathan Russell 126th (20:20.5), Cole Brewer 135th (20:27.5), Ayden Munford 198th (22:02.4), Calvin Stuckey 202nd (22:07.0), Blaine Davis 232nd (24:51.3) and Aiden Wetherell 237th (25:29.0).
Following Connell, New Bloomfield's finishes were Porter Hurt 170th (21:02.5), Ben Loseman 229th (24:34.3), Cooper Webb 238th (25:36.6), Andrew Piper 239th (26:05.0), Brenan Fessler 240th (26:19.7), Hunter Young 241st (26:25.9) and Lane White 242nd (26:53.1).
For the team leaderboard, South Callaway placed 26th with 597 points, North Callaway 29th with 661 points and New Bloomfield 32nd with 845 points. St. Michael the Archangel won the event with 49 points.
In the girls' White division race, North Callaway's Pressley Schmauch ran the best time of the Callaway schools' athletes, clocking in at 22:00.2 and placing 24th. South Callaway's top runner was Kilea Holtmeyer, who took 63rd with a time of 23:44.2, while New Bloomfield's was Kaelyn Tighe placed 108th (25:42.4).
Taking gold as an individual in the event was St. Michael the Archangel's Elsa Henry, who clocked in at 18:55.6.
Behind Schmauch, North Callaway's finishes were Grace Rasmussen 65th (23:47.6), Cassidy Murphy 126th (26:59.5), Carmen Overstreet 143rd (29:19.4), Kaitlynn Murphy 150th (30:25.1) and Katie Bernicky 157th (33:15.8).
After Holtmeyer, South Callaway's finishes were Alexandra Spence 100th (25:29.4) and Shelby Doster 161st (34:28.5).
Following Tighe, New Bloomfield's finishes were Ella Trigg 132nd (27:19.0) and Alexis Mears 163rd (39:32.6).
On the team leaderboard, North Callaway took 13th with 321 points. Summit Christian Academy placed first with 65 points.
Up next, Fulton will compete in The Laker 5K at 9 a.m. Saturday at Ha Ha Tonka in Camdenton. North Callaway and South Callaway will run in the T-Bird Invite at 9 a.m. Saturday at North Callaway in Kingdom City. New Bloomfield will take part in the Show-Me Conference meet at 4 p.m. on Oct. 5 at South Callaway in Mokane.