After a year hiatus, Bethany Slovensky was back at the Class 1 state cross country meet this fall.

Even though she didn’t leave Columbia with an all-state medal, the Wellsville-Middletown junior was thrilled to not only make her second state appearance, but to join senior Kaleb Peak and sophomore Hunter Bickell at state.

“I really liked getting together with my team,” Slovensky said. “We had a really fun time.”

Slovensky, Peak and Bickell continued the Tigers’ long streak of 29 consecutive years of having state qualifiers. Peak and Bickell also made their second state appearances.

Getting three state qualifiers was the biggest highlight of the 2022 season for the Tigers, who had five boys and five girls on their team. Seniors Natalie Boeckelman and Molly Scott, junior Jenelle Boeckelman and sophomore Indica Scott were the other runners on the girls team. Sophomores Gage Marshall and Jonah Slovensky and freshman Zackery Vogel joined Peak and Bickell on the boys team.

Peak, Bickell, Marshall and Jonah Slovensky returned from last year’s team that finished third at state.

Bickell was the Tigers’ top runner for most of the season, earning medals in five meets, including a 15th-place finish at the Eastern Missouri Conference meet that earned him all-conference honors for the first time. He also had a first-place finish in the junior varsity division at the Hermann Invitational.

Peak picked up medals at the Wellsville-Middletown Invitational and the Clopton Hamburger and District 3 meets. He ran a personal-best time of 19:06 in his 19th-place finish at the EMO meet.

Jonah Slovensky finished with medals at the Van-Far and Linn meets and Marshall earned a medal at Linn.

Bethany Slovensky finished with four medals this season. She also placed 15th with a season-best time of 24:03 at the EMO meet, earning her all-league notice for the first time. Bethany, who competed at state in her freshman year, clinched a berth to Columbia by placing 26th at the District 3 meet in Fulton.

Natalie Boeckelman, who was a state qualifier in her freshman year, picked up two medals, one at Van-Far and the other at Wellsville-Middletown. She placed 37th at districts, coming up seven places short of a state appearance.
Jenelle Boeckelman, who participated at state the last two years, finished with an 11th-place medal at the Wellsville-Middletown Invitational on Sept. 19.

Molly Scott competed with the team for the first time this fall. She finished 13th at the W-M meet for her first and only medal of the season.

Vogel and Indica Scott also ran cross country for the first time this season. Vogel ran a season-best 24:28 at the District 3 meet and Scott finished with a season-best 28:34 at the conference meet.

Also this fall, the W-M boys earned a second-place plaque at the W-M Invitational and the W-M girls received a second-place plaque at the Clopton Hamburger meet.

In the junior high division, Reid Bickell earned medals in all seven meets he competed in, and Mia Reese and Emma Null picked up medals at the W-M meet.