Nevada cross country opens season Tuesday

The Nevada High School cross country team kicks off its 2017 slate on Tuesday at the Joplin High School varsity-junior varsity quad meet. Three Lady Tigers (Calli Beshore, Virginia Haverstic and Patience Lockhart) qualified for the 2016 Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 3 State Championships in Jefferson City. Beshore, a sophomore and Lockhart, a junior, return — but coach Ryan Watts’ squad lost Haverstic to graduation. The NHS cross country team has excellent numbers, with 24 distance runners on the high school team and 20 on the Nevada Middle School squad. “We have a great group of runners who are also great young people,” said Watts. “We hope that with great effort will come great success this season.” Pictured above: NHS cross country runners (from left) Amara Pippen, Calli Beshore and Will Johnson lead the pack down College St. during Wednesday’s practice just outside of Larry Testman Track.