Photo Courtesy Of Shanin Parks
Princeton’s Preston Thomas, center, came home with a medal from the MSHSAA Class 1 Cross Country Meet on Saturday, thanks to a 20th place finish.
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Thomas placed 20th with a time of 16:50. He was one of 154 runners competing in the race held on the Oak Hills Golf Course. The top 25 finalists earned medals and received all-state designation. According to Coach Shanin Parks, Thomas ran well, posting his best time on the 3.2-mile course. He became the second Princeton Tiger runner to place in the top 25 in the history of the program, the first being Blake Goodin.
Princeton had three runners in the state competition. In addition to Thomas, junior Logan Dunkin returned to the state meet for the third time and placed 38th with a time of 18:25. Dunkin had previously qualified his freshman and sophomore years.
Sophomore Tyler Richter placed 129th with a time of 20:28.
Thomas, Dunkin and Richter all qualified for the state meet after finishing among the top 15 runners in the Class 1 district meet at Smithville a week ago. Thomas finished in second place while Dunkin was sixth and Richter was 10th.
Dunkin and Thomas are members of the Princeton High School football team and played on Friday evening in the district championship game before heading to Jefferson City that evening. The Class I boys ran at 9:35 a.m.
“All three boys ran well considering we checked into the hotel around 1:15 a.m. and were at the course by 8 a.m.,” Parks said. “It is a very hilly, difficult course. “
Princeton added cross country in 2009 with one runner, sophomore Blake Goodin. He qualified for state that year, placing 30th out of the field of runners. He returned his junior and senior years, placing third overall both years. Every year since 2009 Princeton has had at least one runner compete at state, but had not had a top 25 finisher since Goodin.