Last Monday at Hood Park in Cuba, Samantha Ridenhour’s Belle High School cross country squads looked to add more hardware to the trophy case during the annual Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) Cross Country meet run in conjunction with the Cuba Invitational.

Finishing nearly a minute ahead of the field, Tiger freshman Jackson Prater captured his first GVC title with a winning time of 17:23.5.

Fellow Tigers earning All-GVC honors were sophomore Colton Hazelwood (5th, 19:02.0) and junior Malachi Fredendall (6th, 19:04.9).

Also helping Belle to a second-place team finish behind Steelville in the GVC standings were Ryker Huebner (10th, 19:55.2), Miles Frey (11th, 20:44.3), Braxton Ahart (12th, 21:09.4), Tharon Kent (13th, 21:10.1) and Alden Zabel (14th, 21:14.7).

In addition to Belle’s trio, those also earning All-GVC honors for their top-eight finishes were Steelville freshman Andrew Jensen (2nd, 18:13.9), Steelville senior Owen Rutledge (3rd, 18:32.2), Bourbon freshman Elijah Frederick (4th, 18:52.2), Steelville freshman Brantley Booker (7th, 19:05.9) and Steelville sophomore Lucas Garms (8th, 19:51.7).

Belle’s Lady Tigers also had three harriers earn All-GVC honors led by junior Ellanor Kent’s fourth-place time of 23:28.3).

Joining the younger Kent among the top eight for Belle were freshman Skylar Stevens (5th, 23:33.1) and Marianne Francis (7th, 25:39.5).

Fellow Lady Tigers helping Belle to their second consecutive GVC team title included senior Saylor Kent (9th, 28:50.5), junior Kenadie Bailey (10th, 28:52.5), junior Allania Moore (13th, 30:33.9) and freshman Sedora Carroll (14th, 31:47.3).

Earning All-GVC honors along with Belle’s Lady Tiger trio were Steelville sophomore Adalei Perkins (1st, 21:17.1), Steelville sophomore Elisabeth Warden (2nd, 22:54.9), Steelville freshman Wyntr Yates (3rd, 23:15.1), Cuba junior Ella Basham (6th, 23:57.6) and Bourbon senior Leah Negretti (8th, 26:49.4).