The West Plains High School Lady Zizzers cross country team managed to pull off a feat that will not be soon forgotten, being the undefeated state champions, not once, but twice in back-to-back years.
The 2021 championship trophy makes 14 in the history West Plains’ girls program.
Twin sisters Jordan and Brayden Kantola stood atop the podium in the No. 1 and 2 spots, but the team had four runners earn all-state medals.
Jordan won the state title just ahead of her sister, Brayden, less than a full second ahead. Jordan finished in 18:28.5, while Brayden was second in 18:29.4.
Both runners were side-by-side as they headed down the straight away at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course toward the finish line.
“It was an amazing moment and it showed that our hard work paid off,” Brayden Kantola said. “I think we were worried the girl behind us was going to catch us.”
“This was a fun year. In a rare occurrence, we had every single girl back from last year's state championship on this year's team. Some might think that would make things easy, but winning a state championship is never easy,” said Zizzers Head Coach Alicia gunter. “This year we had nine varsity runners and that was one of the things that made us do well. We pushed and challenged each other for the top seven spots all season long. There were bumps along the way but this group of girls are fighters. They weren't willing to let someone take this championship away from them. All nine girls played a major role in securing this win and earning the title of back-to-back state champions.”
There were a lot of spot changes over the season and all the girls ran different positions on the team at different times. There are no timeouts in cross country, but this crew could literally make adjustments to the race plan mid-race. They looked and listened every time they saw a coach and always ran for the team first and individual spots second. At the state meet, we had four girls earn all state honors which means placing in the top 25.
Senior Jayna Gunter was close behind the Kantola twins placing 7th overall.
The trio of the Kantolas and Gunter ran through the first half of the race together as they did all season long and then split their pack to attack and pick off people one at a time. Gunter has been a great team leader. She is an obvious leader in workouts and races that has had a very positive impact on this team. All three of these girls are selfless individuals who go out every race to lead their team to victory.
In 21st place, and earning All State honors as a freshman, was Addison Sanders. Addison was a new addition to our team this year that we quickly figured out was going to be a very instrumental player. From the first day, she was soaking it all in and learning from her older teammates. She has an extremely bright future ahead of her. Seniors Kyia Weisbrod and Kaylee Lambe were the 5th and 6th Zizzers to cross the line, finishing in 41st and 44th place.
These two have plugged along all season and never given up. Both have faced more than their share of adversity over the course of time but they have always cross trained and worked hard with what they could do. They have run a lot of different positions on this team over the last two years. Weisbrod was able to run her very best at the end of this season which sealed the deal for our team. They are tough minded and have a never quit attitude that served our team well this season. Daphnie Dollins, the 7th Zizzer across the line, finished in 90th place. She ran her guts out and gave all she had for the team. She will have the opportunity to come back next year as a junior and be a team leader and an instrumental part of keeping the Zizzer tradition alive. This year's alternates were Jorden Tollenaar and Kaylea Dixon. Tollenaar ran on the state championship team last year and struggled with some injuries this year that kept her out. Dixon took a year off her sophomore year and rejoined us this year. Both Tollenaar and Dixon could have ran if needed and helped the team. They were true alternates with the ability to make a difference and were a part of all of the team’s success.
This year's varsity team has five seniors, three juniors, and one freshman.
“We will be sad to see this group of Seniors graduate. They have truly embodied what it means to be a Zizzer Cross Country Runner. Every one of them have run with West Plains Running Club and each other since 7th grade and several of them a few years before that,” said Coach Gunter. “They have a special bond and friendship that will last a lifetime. They refer to themselves as the Wolf Pack because ‘The Power of the Pack Lies in the Wolf and the Power of the Wolf Lies in the Pack’, and nicknamed themselves the KantolaGodSquad several years ago.”
On the boys side, West Plains managed a sixth place finish. The Zizzers showed so much growth this year, and if that program continues to progress as they have this year, they’ll soon be holding a state championship trophy of their own.
2021 was the 44th consecutive state championship appearance for the Zizzers.
“We are honestly super proud of this strong performance at the state meet. The Zizzers are always shooting for the trophy stand, but 6th as a team this year was a good performance for this young team led by two seniors and one junior,” said Coach Gunter.
Seniors Drew Stewart and Brodie Callahan ran the 1-2 spots on their team all season long and were able to finish 24th and 25th to claim All-State Honors.
Drew was also all-state as a junior. Coach Gunter has sent these two out front all season to lead the boys team. Ridge Smith has made every effort to lead this team this year and bring them together. He has made huge improvements as a runner and did a great job this season running bridging the gap between the first and second pack. He has been a great leader for the freshman crew.
Having four freshman boys on a varsity team is not common. These boys lacked racing experience but have lots of talent and heart that got them through this season.
Carson King, Hoyt Stiner, Parker Rhoads, and Kyler Gunter will all undoubtedly see huge improvements next season even though all four of them had strong freshman seasons. After they have trained with our program for a full year and had the opportunity to gain the valuable experience of racing at the state meet, these four, plus Smith, should be ready to make things happen next season.
“I think they will definitely be a podium level team and the skys the limit depending on other additions to our team and how hard they choose to work in the off season,” said Coach Gunter.
In addition to Stewart and Callahan's All State Performances, Smith was 47th, King 75th, Stiner 94th, Rhoads 108th, and Gunter 151st.
All seven Seniors are currently finalizing their plans for after high school. They intend to either run in college or join the military. Announcements should be coming soon about their future plans.
"I'd like to thank the West Plains R-7 Administration for their support this season. We appreciate the kind words and support we have felt and received from community members, family and friends. We have a great parent group who provides for our needs and we appreciate them. I'd like to personally thank our assistant coaches Zach Feurt, Abby Eldringhoff, and Lee Laughary. These aren't just people I work with, they are my team and my friends. Coach Feurt was a new addition to our team this year and I'm so thankful he took a chance on us and moved to West Plains to coach Cross Country and Track. He has been a true blessing. Coach Eldringhoff has been with us for a while now and does so many things behind the scenes to make this program run smoothly. Lee Laughary joined us at the middle school level this year but also helped make our lives easier so that we could have success at the high school level. These coaches work really hard and they are appreciated by myself, the kids, and parents. At the end of the day, it's been a really fun season. I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to coach Zizzer Cross Country. I love these kids and they will forever hold a special place in my heart,” said Coach Gunter.
