For only the second time in Nixa's history, the boys and girls cross country teams qualified for the state championships as a team.

In a field of 100 runners, Nixa ran to a top-four finish on a 50-degree day at the Class 5 District 2 meet on its home course at Inman Intermediate on Nov. 1.

The boys team kicked off the day with two individual top-ten finishes and two placing in the top-25, which alone would've sent four runners to the state meet. Nixa averaged a time of 16:30 with all seven of its runners. Those performances helped lead the Eagles to a fourth-place finish, behind Rockhurst, Raymore-Peculiar, and champion Kickapoo. Nixa scored 90 points as a unit, edging Webb City's 96.

Reyes Martinez and Alex Flannery ran the majority of the race side-by-side in the pack and were the boys top performers, running to sixth and eighth-place finishes of 15:29.67 and 15:52.14. Gage Holmes (21st) and Zane Novinger (23rd) clocked in at 16:14.73 and 16:17.14, respectively.

Rounding out Nixa's runners were Dylan Mabe (32nd), Evan Brett (42nd), and Max Dodson (77th) with times of 16:39.48, 16:56.58, and 18:06.13.

On the girls side, they also had four individual qualifiers alone, who all ran to personal-best times and were within 10 places of each other in the top-25, helping lead the team to a third-place overall finish. The Eagles scored 120 points, averaging a time of 20:13 amongst their seven runners, and finished behind Webb City (60) and St. Teresa's Academy (44). Nixa edged Ozark by eight points for third.

Brianna Bidinger (17th), Emma Hurst (19th), Meliah Copley (23rd), and Mackinzie Harris (24th) were all running together in the pack and were the team's top times, clocking in at 19:30.06, 19:31.76, 19:41.06, and 19:45.54, respectively. Karah Sackman (20:41.40), Molly Hill (21:02.69), and Charlie Dunkel (21:24.18) also set PRs and placed 38th, 51st, and 60th.

Nixa advances to the Class 5 state championships meet on Friday, Nov. 7, at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo., where both the boys and girls will compete together as a team for the first time since 2021, when each placed 13th.

Click here to view the entire results of the Class 5 District 2 meet.
Click here to recap the Class 5 District 2 meet and view photos.