Cuba and Bourbon’s high school and middle school cross country teams braved the heat to run locally in the Sept. 17 Steelville Cross Country Invitational. The start of the meet was pushed back one hour due to high temperatures in the area.

Cuba junior Ella Basham was the top finisher at any level for Cuba or Bourbon, earning sixth place in the girls’ varsity race out of 59 competitors with a 23:54.6 time. Basham is Cuba’s lone varsity girls runner.

On the boys side, eight Wildcat varsity runners competed in the event. Freshman Tristan Cross was the first Wildcat to cross the finish line, earning 35th with a 22:27.6 time. Fellow freshman Ryan Ray earned 41st with a 23:37.5 time, senior Brody Bayless took 49th with a 24:28.8 finish, sophomore Zaylen Kammer finished in 53rd with a 24:59.1 time, junior Jamsion Scott finished right behind Kammer, taking 54th with a 24:59.9 time, senior Jackson Herwig earned 55th with a 25:26.1 time, his younger brother, freshman Matthew Herwig took 56th with a 26:22 time and freshman Ayden Mabe earned 62nd after crossing the finish line in 32:23.5.

Bourbon freshman Joshua Gibbs was the Warhawks’ top high school finisher, earning 13th place in the junior varsity race with a 24:29.7 time. Fellow freshman Elijah Frederick earned a medal in the varsity race with an 18th place finish after completing the race in 19:46.6. Junior Paul Studdard earned 37th place with a 22:57.3 time.

Lady Warhawk junior Reese Bell, freshman Alaina Evans and senior Leah Negretti competed in the girls varsity race. Bell earned 35th place with a 29:19.7 time, Evans took 40th with a 31:53.9 finish and Negretti completed the race in 32:00.5 to finish in 42nd place.

Eighth grader Eva Wertich was Bourbon Middle School’s top runner and lone medal winner. Wertich earned ninth place after crossing the finish line in 11:47.3. Mina and Auria Williams earned 33rd and 46th place finishes after completing the race in 13:03.5 and 14:10, respectively. Perseus Kitchen, Justin Evans and Walter Wertich ran in the boys race, earning 107th, 109th and 140th, respectively.

Gage Baker was Cuba Middle School’s top performer, taking 24th place with a 11:09.3 time. Jensen Myers was CMS’s only other male runner, earning 117th with a 14:30.4 time.

Seventh graders Naomi White and Olivia Copeland were CMS’ top girls runners, earning 49th and 50th place, after crossing the finish line in 14:14.9 and 14:16.2, respectively. Eighth graders Lily Yates and Lily Craig took 61st and 71st with 15:17.8 and 16:09.7 times, respectively.

Cuba and Bourbon’s cross country teams competed in Belle Sept. 22, which will be detailed in next week’s edition. Cuba’s varsity team is scheduled to compete Columbia Sept. 26 in the Gans Creek Invitational. Teams from schools are scheduled to then run locally Sept. 29 in St. James.