Poplar Bluff runners Hannah, left, and Travis Blalock start one of their half-mile laps around Hendrickson Park on Tuesday as they prepare for the MSHSAA cross country championships on Saturday in Jefferson City. (Brian Rosener/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

By BRIAN ROSENER ~ DAR Sports Editor

As the Poplar Bluff wrestling team warmed up with a few laps around the parking lot Tuesday, Travis and Hannah Blalock were running down the street to Hendrickson Park.

That was just the beginning of what the pair called "an easy day" as they prepared for the MSHSAA cross country championships on Saturday.

Once at the park, the pair ran a half-mile lap at race speed -- about 3 minutes per lap -- then rested for a couple of minutes before running another lap. And another. And another. And another.

The workout was not about getting faster or stronger as much as it was just running to run.

"Not much to do," coach Beth Lewis said. "If they don't have it now, they don't have it."

The Blalocks, along with the Van Buren girls team and several other individual runners from area schools, have already put in plenty of work this summer and fall.

Even though this will be their first trip to the MSHSAA cross country championships, the Blalocks say they have been running toward Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City for the past three years.

Trips to AAU races around the country and countless miles of road work -- as much as 90 miles per week -- have been building toward one 3.1-mile race Saturday.

"It's pretty cool," said Travis of qualifying along with his younger sister. "We've always planned this."

Hannah, a freshman, said she's not nervous, adding, "I'm excited."

The hardest part may be over. Only the top 15 runners from each of the eight districts qualify, meaning there are only 135 individual spots per class.

Travis finished ninth in the District 1 race in Potosi on Saturday running a 17:04, while Hannah finished third in 19:57.

The Van Buren girls team and three Bulldogs also qualified for the Class 1 race, which is also Saturday.

Naylor's Camille Goodrum, Doniphan's Curtis Miller along with Brittney Waldner and Jill Temples of Dexter will also run.

All of the runners face the same test on the rolling hills of a Jefferson City golf course.

"You have to be very well rounded on the state course," Lewis said. "It's pretty much a perfect course.

"It's challenging so you've got to be mentally tough, not only physically tough."

For teams not use to starting in such a large group, it's also easy to get lost in a crowd. That's not a problem for the Blalocks, who have run in large AAU national meets.

Travis said the key for him will be not going out too fast and pushing the pace in the second mile.

"It's all right once you figure it out," he added.

Van Buren is led by senior Brittany Peterson and junior Denise Haberl, who each earned all-district medals. Whitney VanWinkle, Courtney Swift, Logan Smith and Grace Betz also finished in the top 20 at district as the Lady Dawgs edged Plato by a single point to qualify for state as a team. Matt Crafton and Zane Betz also qualified for the Class 1 state meet.

Naylor's Camille Goodrum finished ninth in 24:50 at the Class 1 District 1 meet in Jackson to qualify.

Doniphan's Curtis Miller qualified in Class 2 by finishing 12th in 19:24 at the District 5 meet in Willow Springs.

Brittney Waldner and Jill Temples of Dexter qualified for the Class 2 race. Waldner was seventh, running Jefferson Barracks Park in 22:39, while Temples finished 11th in 23:00. Sammy Waldner was 16th in 23:33, missing the cut by just under 3 seconds. Hannah Baker (23:38), Lizzie Kohlbaker (23:45) and Madisson Baker (24:27) finished 19th, 20th and 22nd as the Lady 'Cats ended up third, 18 points behind Principia.

Poplar Bluff's Jasmin Sumrall missed the state cut by four spots, finishing in 21:38.

The Class 1 girls race starts at 9 a.m. Saturday with the final race scheduled for just after 1.