Paris Girls and Boys Cross Country Teams Top 10 in State, Chapman, Kinnaman Earn All State

By Chris Willingham

For the second consecutive year the Paris boys and girls Cross Country teams competed at the Class 1 MSHSAA State Championships. The Lady Coyotes were primed for a successful race after a fourth-place finish last year. "Our girls have had a solid season. Winning the district championships was a great accomplishment. Individually and as a team the girls worked hard all season and we knew we were going to be in the mix at the state championships." Coach Doug Buie Mairyn Kinnaman led the way for the Lady Coyotes and for the third year in a row earned All-State recognition. Kinnaman finished in 20th place with a time of 21.29.7. The lone Senior on the team, Kaylee Johnson, was the next finisher completing her final race as a Lady Coyote Cross Country runner in a time of 23.41.8, good for 62nd place overall. She was followed closely by teammate Ava Crain in 63rd place. Crain finished with a time of 23.43.0. "I'm super proud of Mairyn for her accomplishments. She is a 3-time All-State runner and is a great leader on our team. Kaylee has been with us since the beginning of our program. She has been a consistent rock for our program who has worked very hard to improve throughout her career. We are extremely proud of her and will miss her in years to come. Ava has put together two solid seasons for us. She will continue to be a mainstay in our program who has high expectations." Coach Buie

The next two Lady Coyote finishers finished in 101st and 102nd place respectively. Mia Kendrick finished in 24:44.0 and Midori Williams in 24.45.7. MacKenzie Fryman finished out the scoring for the Lady Coyotes, finishing in 136th place with a time of 26.46.5. "These three ladies had solid seasons for us. Mia as a newcomer to the program showed great potential. She will have a high ceiling going forward. Midori has worked hard for us and consistently been an integral part of our top 5 runners. MacKenzie showed huge improvement this year. She continues to work hard and knock time off every time she competes. We are going to be adding some solid runners next year and with our returning runners the future looks bright." Coach Buie

The girls scored 155 points, good for 7th place, an impressive top 10 finish to close out another extremely successful cross-country season. 

The boys race opened with high expectations for the team following their 2nd place district finish and high expectations for Junior Landon Chapman who was looking to improve on his 7th place finish last season. "The boys had a great season. We had several runners who jockeyed for positions throughout the season for us. It was fun to see who was going to have a good day and perform well. We felt confident that we had a chance to finish in the top 10 at state. Landon has had an incredible season. He pushes himself to the limits and sets high expectations for each race. Entering state, Landon was running for a top 3 finish and a chance at an individual state title." Coach Buie

When the gun sounded at the start of the race, Landon and the Coyote runners set out to make history. Chapman raced out the lead and held the first-place position for the first 3 kilometers of the race. As the final 400 meters of the race approached Chapman was in a distant 3rd place, nearly 20 meters behind the 2nd place runner. As the final straightaway to the finish line approached, Chapman found another gear and started a sprint to the finish. By the time his competitor realized what was happening, it was too late. Chapman leaned at the finish line and pulled off the incredible comeback earning 2nd place and accomplishing the best individual performance in the young history of Coyote Cross Country. Chapman finished the race in a time of 16.25.7. "What an incredible accomplishment. Landon is clearly one of the best runners in the State and he proved it on the biggest stage." Coach Buie

The next finishers for the Coyotes were Severeno Olivas in 94th place and Hayden DeOrnellas in 95th place. The two finished with times of 19.22.5 and 19.25. Owen Buie was the next finisher for Paris, in 115th place in 19.59.4. The Coyotes 5th runner was Trevor Burch who finished in 132nd place with a time of 20:26.8. The Coyotes final two state competitors were Michael Rosson and David Wilson. Rosson finished 140th with a time of 20.41.8. Wilson finished 163rd with a time of 21.42.2. With their combined finishes, the Coyotes finished in the top 10 with a 9th-place team finish. "We had a great season and a solid performance at the state level. Landon's accomplishment was incredible and our team overall pushed themselves and performed well on the biggest stage. We are going to miss Reno and David who were good leaders on our team. They both pushed each other and their teammates. We will definitely miss them. We return a solid core to our team in the future and I am excited about what we can accomplish individually and as a team." Coach Buie

Congratulations to the individual runners and the teams on great seasons.