The Vienna High School cross country district championship streak is alive at five!

The Eagle boy runners, paced by senior meet medalist Hunter Schwartze, captured its fifth consecutive district team crown Saturday, Oct. 31, winning the Class 1 District 3 Meet at Vandalia.

In all, Vienna qualified its entire boys’ team as well as sophomore Sophia Neubert from the Lady Eagles to the Missouri Cross Country State Championships, to be held Nov. 6-7 at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia. It’s the second straight trip to state for Neubert.

The top four teams, along with the top 30 individuals, advanced from the district meets to the state meets.

The Missouri Class 1 State Meet boys’ and girls’ races are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7. The Class 1 girls’ race is scheduled for 11 a.m. followed by the Class 1 boys’ race at 11:45 a.m. The Class 1 awards ceremonies are to begin at 12:30 p.m.

The Class 2, 3 and 4 boys’ and girls’ state races are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 6 while the Class 1 and Class 5 state races are slated for Saturday, Nov. 7.

There is a $12 admission fee for spectators at the state venue. Gates open at 8 a.m., and parking is available at Gans Creek on a first-come, first-serve basis.

It is the 78th boys’ Missouri Cross Country State Championships, and 48th for girls.

Vienna won the boys’ District 3 championship with 55 points while host Van-Far was second with 68 and New Haven third with 132.

Schwartze set a school and district record in winning the 5,000-meter race with a time of 16:08.9, comfortably ahead of runner-up Jason Hoffman of Clopton, who ran 16:31.4.

Four other Eagle runners were individual qualifiers, as Eli Messersmith was 11th overall at 17:35.4, Bryce Ewers 12th at 17:39.6, Paxten Jeremy 21st at 17:58.6 and Tanner Hallahan 22nd at 18:07.0. All five Eagle scorers earned all-district honors. Other Vienna runners in the field were Kevin Russell and Alex Wieberg.

The Lady Eagles were fifth in the team standings. Glasgow was the girls’ team champion with 38 points.

Brooke Klein of Silex was the girls’ medalist at 20:32.0. Neubert finished 18th for Vienna at 23:03.6.

“We had great weather,” Vienna coach David Martin said of the district meet. “It was cool and the course was firm of foot. The boys were determined to not let the district win streak end this year. Everyone ran really well on Saturday. Five of the seven boys ran PR times. And five of the six girls ran their best times of the season. The boys had five all-district runners for the first time in school history. Hunter set the all-time school record by 20 seconds and also now owns the best district race time.”

This weekend Martin feels the Eagle boys could battle for a state title, and Schwartze will be among the pack leaders.

“The boys do have a chance to get in the top four teams at state,” he said. “It would be a lock if we run like we did (at district). Hunter could be in the top three individually and we could come away with a couple more all-staters if they run like they did at district.

“Sophia is looking to improve on her freshman year state performance, where she ran 23:34 for 64th place.”

Oct. 31 at Vandalia

Class 1 District 3 Meet

5,000-Meters

Boys

Team Standings: 1. Vienna 55*, 2. Van-Far 68*, 3. New Haven 132*, 4. Northeast Cairo 144*, 5. Paris 153, 6. Northwest Hughesville 164, 7. Glasgow 165, 8. New Franklin 194, 9. Columbia Independent 218, 10. Clopton 233, 11. Russellville 248, 12. Knox County 248, 13. Green Ridge 279.

*-Team State Qualifiers

Individual Top-3: 1. Hunter Schwartze, Vienna, 16:08.9; 2. Jason Hoffman, Clopton, 16:31.4; 3. Quincy Dorson, New Franklin, 16:41.9.

Other Vienna Results: 11. Eli Messersmith 17:35.4, 12. Bryce Ewers 17:39.6, 21. Paxten Jeremy 17:58.6, 22. Tanner Hallahan 18:07.0, 38. Kevin Russell 19:45.8, 44. Alex Wieberg 20:14.7.

Girls

Team Standings: 1. Glasgow 38*, 2. Paris 49*, 3. Van-Far 68*, 4. Clopton 92*, 5. Vienna 110.

*-Team State Qualifiers

Individual Top-3: 1. Brooke Klein, Silex, 20:32.0; 2. Halle Morrison, Otterville, 20:52.4; 3. Beau Beauchamp, Clopton, 21:22.3.

Vienna Results: 18. Sophia Neubert 23:03.6**, 41. Lillian Williams 25:14.3; 42. Kaylee Bresnahan 25:36.3, 61. Ella Hollis 28:56.6, 67. Lainey Magner 32:02.7.