Zangaro Wins Districts, Lady Dragons Qualify For State

 

BY MICHAEL BOYD JR.

HERALD SPORTS EDITOR

Hollyn Zangaro has done it again. Another important 5K race, another cross country title.

The sophomore crossed the finish line first out of 68 competitors to claim the individual district championship Saturday morning.

Showing a return to dominance, she and her six other teammates each claimed all-district medals after placing in the top 30 for a third-place team finish at the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 meet at Arcadia Valley High’s Sports Complex in Ironton.

Therefore all seven Lady Dragons extend their season as they are headed to Columbia this coming Saturday to compete at the MSHSAA state meet.

“It is awesome that we have them all healthy and running well,” said fifth-year Dragons head cross country coach Sierra Boyd, wife of SGHS Principal John Boyd Jr. “Those medals mean more than any of the other earlier-season medals. I know some of them are excited about that.”

It is the Lady Dragons’ first trip to state together since 2015, the final year of Taylor Werner, who now is a professional runner with Puma.

“It was awesome,” Boyd said. “Just to see everyone start the day with a positive attitude, ready to be really competitive. I think just having that mindset really set them for a good start. They were really feeling good and all had great races, so it made for a very exciting morning.”

Zangaro finished this day with a time of 19 minutes and 27.57 seconds. She also won the MAAA conference championship earlier in the season and this district medal adds to her trophy case that also includes the state fourth-place team trophy from earlier this year in girls’ track.

“Hollyn has definitely wanted to take on every challenge and we encourage her to go for the conference championship win, go for the district championship win,” Boyd said. “It’s awesome to see that.”

MSHSAA allows the top-four district teams and the top-30 individual placers to move on to the state meet.

The Dragons had the third lowest score of 61. The rest of the top four was your every-year state qualifying squads.

The Potosi Trojans won the girls’ field with 45 points, while the Herculaneum Black Cats were runner-up with 51 points. The Central (Park Hills) Rebels were fourth with 91 points.

“We were keeping our eye on all of (those top teams),” Boyd said. “The girls all knew because those runners were their toughest competition today. We talked about how every point counts. You’re racing every single person in that race, so you’ve got to keep your eyes up and moving forward.”

Also earning district medals for the Dragons to advance was lone senior Dakota Medows, who posted an eighth-place time of 21:02.86. The rest were sophomores like Zangaro.

Sadie Greminger (22:30.67) finished 20th, Olivia Klump (22:46.40) was 23rd and Sophia Fritsch (22:59.52) was 27th.

Sophomore Brianna Mitchell (26:24.96) also competed as she was 54th. Sophomore Kayden Huck (daughter of SGHS head girls’ track and field coach Tyne Huck) did not compete but will also joining the team in Columbia.

Potosi senior Celeste Sansegraw (19:40.79) took second overall, while Herculaneum senior Raven Vance (19:42.41) took third.

BOYS

Four young Dragons ran at the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 meet at Arcadia Valley’s Sports Complex in Ironton with the first three crossing the finish line one after the other.

Freshman Gavin Gegg took 61st with a time of 20 minutes and 10.23 seconds.

Junior Adam Oder (20:17.39) was 62nd, freshman Gavin Zerwig (20:19.40) was 63rd, and sophomore Shay Coleman (21:12.51) was 72nd.

There were 95 total boys’ competing.

“The guys have had a positive mindset this season as they’ve grown,” Boyd said. “Throughout the course of the season, several of them have increased their times from the beginning by a substantial amount, over a minute, and over two minutes for one of them. Seeing that improvement is a great accomplishment and I’m just eager to see them grow.”

Lutheran South (Affton) senior Adam Snoke won the boys’ competition with a time of (15:45.25), followed by Herculaneum junior Sam Vaughn (16:07.33) and his teammate Nathaniel Wright (16:22.28) for the top three.

Herculaneum won the boys’ district title with 52 points, Dexter (55) was second, Potosi (81) was third and Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau-89) was fourth.

MSHSAA allows the top-four district teams and the top-30 individual placers to move on to the state meet.

THIS WEEK

The seven Lady Dragons will compete as a team at the MSHSAA Class 3 girls’ championship meet at 11:15 a.m. Saturday as they will take to the Gans Creek Recreational Area course in Columbia.

“Going into state, we definitely just want to keep that same mindset that we brought to districts, wanting to be competitive, wanting to believe in ourselves as we race. But really, we just want to go up there and see what we can so with it being the first time for several of them at state, so it will definitely be an experience even for those girls who have been before.”

TICKETS

Tickets may be purchased online at MSHSAA.org only. There will also be a processing fee added to the price of admission. Just click on the blue ticket icon to get started.