BY JASON PEAKE

At last year's state cross country meet, Webb City's Haddon Spikereit felt like something was missing — teammates.

This year, Spikereit won't feel so lonely.

Webb City qualified its entire boys squad to the state meet by finishing fourth in the team standings at the Class 4 Sectional 3 cross country meet on Saturday morning at Missouri Southern's Tom Rutledge CrossCountry Course.

"Last year it felt empty at state running without my teammates," Spikereit said. "I remember thinking, 'Where's my team?' It feels good to know that we made it to state all together as a team this year."

At the sectional, the top four teams and top 30 individuals advance to next weekend's state meet in Columbia. The top four boys teams were Raymore-Peculiar (54), Rockhurst (73), West Plains (95) and Webb City (99).

"I'm just really proud of this team for how they've developed throughout the season," Webb City coach Dustin Miller said. "They trusted the process. We didn't run our best today, but we made it through. I'm so proud of them for getting it done. Now we get the reward of competing at the state meet."

A senior, Spikereit crossed the line eighth, finishing the 5K in 15 minutes, 46 seconds. He was the top local finisher.

"I didn't run to my ability, but I knew I had a good team to back me up," Spikereit said. "I knew if we all worked together, we could get it done."

Webb City's Joseph Dawson (15:51) and Owen Weller (15:56) finished 10th and 13th, respectively. Also competing for the Cardinals were Roman Borboa (45th), Parker Hansen (55th), Samuel Winesburg (65th) and Marcos Encarnacion (70th).

Joplin Globe 11/03/19 (Used by permission)