Four Warrenton cross country runners earned spots in the Class 4, District 3 rankings after turning in strong showings at the Missouri Southern Stampede Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 20 in Joplin.

They are Matt Craven, Makenna Faubion, Landon Neace and Jonathan Sweitzer.

“(Those) four runners should be encouraged knowing that they are right there. Sometimes they are a little surprised that they have a chance to qualify for the state meet, so I just want them to know they have a chance and (they should) use it to encourage them,” Warrenton coach Jeremy Collins said. 

Faubion, a new addition to the program this year, has consistently been the top female runner for Warrenton since the season started in August. She finished with a personal-best 22 minutes, 22 seconds. 

Collins noted the senior was around the 80th place range after a mile but kept moving up throughout the race and ended up 55th. With this performance, Faubion is now ranked 30th in the district class. 

“It is encouraging to see that she is ranked that high and hopefully she can continue to improve from week to week,” Collins said. 

Craven was the top finisher for the boys team, placing 48th with a 18:13. He is now ranked No. 18.

“He is about a minute faster at this point in the season compared to last season,” Collins said. “He is in a great position at this point in the season, so hopefully he can stay healthy and just keep getting stronger.” 

Sweitzer and Neace are ranked 30th and 32nd, respectively. Sweitzer placed 86th in 18:54 at the meet, while Neace finished 90th in 18:58 – a new personal record for the freshman. Neace’s previous PR was a 20:14. 

“(Sweitzer) was hurting a lot on the last mile but he is so tough and ran a fantastic race,” Collins said. “I was waiting for (Neace) to have a race like this and he finally did it. Once you have a race like (Neace) did, it really gives a lot of confidence to keep pushing the limits a little more.” 

Other Warriors who competed in the girls race were Sophie Bennett (139th, 25:12), Ava Schneider (156th, 25:59), Payton Street (157th, personal-best 25:59), Trinity Davidson (174th, 26:47), Hadley Survant (189th, 27:59), Madeline McAtee (213th, 32:40) and Taryn Sharp (212th, 32:17). 

Overall, the girls team placed 21st out of 24 teams. 

“It was great to see how hard they ran and the improvement they made. That is what we focus on is working hard each week and running tough. If we can do the little things correctly and put the effort in, they will continue to see improvement,” Collins said. 

On the boys team, three Warriors ran personal-best times. Easton Miller placed 183rd in 21:14, Alex Cutler finished 220th in 22:51 and Noah Joens came in 251st in 27:57. 

Rounding out the boys squad was Ken Le, who finished 197th with a season-best time of 21:39, and Steve Schmitt placed 248th in 26:25. 

“When you have six PRs, five season best times and three best people running their first 5K high school race, it was a fantastic day. Everyone went out there, competed and ran with determination,” Collins said. 

The Warriors placed 20th out of 29 teams in the boys division.

Warrenton will compete in the Gans Creek Classic on Sept. 27 in Columbia. Nearly 3,000 athletes will participate in that meet.