STATE CHAMPS
Tue, 11/12/2024 - 4:47pm
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Zizzers break 16-year drought, Lady Zizzers are State Runner-ups!
By:
Sue Fiorino, contributing writer
It was a muddy mess, but both of the Zizzer Cross Country teams kept up the winning tradition last Saturday at the State Championship meet in Columbia, Mo.
The Zizzer boys brought home the State Championship trophy for the first time since 2008. This win is the 14th State title for the boys breaking the tie with Herculaneum to make West Plains making the winningest cross-country program in all of Missouri. For 47 consecutive years, West Plains has sent athletes to the State Meet and has brought home 38 trophies.
This is the second year in a row that the Zizzer girls have placed second at State. The Lady Zizzers are also the winningest cross country program in the State with 14 State titles (as recently as 2021), 28 trophies, and 42 consecutive appearances at State.
The team score is based on the top five finishers from the same team and the lower the score the better. The Zizzer boys scored points from Kyler Gunter, senior, (13th- 16:45.8), Carson King, senior, (16th place- 16:48.4), Hunter Stanley, sophomore, (22nd- 16:55.1), Joseph Roberson, sophomore, (23rd- 16:57.2), and Trevin Smith, junior, (26th- 17:03.9). Also competing for the Zizzers were Blake Romans, freshman, (38th- 17:15.2) and Hoyt Stiner, senior, (52nd- 17:31.00).
The highest Zizzer finish was Addison Sanders, a senior, on the girls team with a 6th place finish and a time of 19:46.9. Other Lady Zizzers who ran are Seri King, junior, (12th-20:16), Emily Ritter, junior, (28th- 20:42.8), Karlee Romans, junior (33rd- 20:49.3), Emma Dixon, junior, (40th- 20:57.2), and Lena Finke, freshman, (48th- 21:14.4).
It is also a family tradition for the Gunters. Kyler Gunter, the top finisher for the boys’ Zizzer team at State, is the son of Head Coach Alicia Gunter and Assistant Coach Wes Gunter. Coach Gunter is a 1995 West Plains alumnus and was part of the 1992 and 1993 Girls State Championship teams. The other Coach Gunter, a veterinarian by day and assistant coach at all other times, is also a Zizzer alum and was a member of the 1992 Boys State Championship team. They are also the parents of Jayna Gunter, who is still running Division II cross country in college at Missouri Southern State University. Jayna was a ‘21 Zizzer alum and a member of the 2020 and 2021 Girls State Championship teams. That’s six State Championships among 4 Gunters.
Are there more championships to come?
The Zizzers are likely to continue the tradition of winning for a long time. The boys team will graduate three seniors but is loaded with young talent. The girls team is thin on numbers but long on ability. They will lose just one runner to graduation -- Addison Sanders.
The Gunter family tradition of State Championship teams is likely to continue as well. They have another son in elementary school.
“Ryken is a 5th grader at Junction Hill and yes, I hope to coach him too!” said Coach Gunter.