Seven PRs power Knob Noster girls XC to third in Class 3

Published 1:07 am Saturday, November 7, 2026

By Joe Andrews

Knob Noster girls cross country peaked at the perfect time.

All seven Panthers logged personal bests, anchoring the program’s third-place finish in the MSHSAA Class 3 Championships on Friday, Nov. 6, at the Gans Creek Recreation Area in Columbia.

The showing, which featured 147 points in the team standings, marked their second trophy finish. In 2025, the program finished fourth.

“I was a little choked up,” Knob Noster head coach Bridgette Carpenter said. “When we think about what can happen, we always wonder if every girl ran the best they could run; it would be an amazing day. It would be a perfect day. Today, that was that day. They left me speechless. They ran phenomenally, and I couldn’t ask anything else of them.”

A comparison of the two state podium finisher teams shows a much different lineup than a year ago.

Knob Noster graduated two runners from 2025 in Lyla Stiles and Trinity Howard.

Lyla Stiles, who anchored the 2025 team, was followed by Summer Stiles and Ady Applegate in the results. Applegate ran with the Panthers for the first half of the 2026 season but missed the last month with injury, while Summer Stiles did not take the course at all due to injury.

The factor left senior Charlie Miller, sophomore Lillian Bridges and sophomore Corrie Berislavich as the only three athletes overlapping between both state trophy-clinching teams.

“We had some girls step up, and a couple of those were freshmen,” Carpenter said. “They stepped up. They weren’t afraid of the challenge, and every week they improved to gain that confidence to get to where they are.”

Carpenter said the sign of confidence for her team began to show in practice leading up to the postseason.

The girls won their third straight district title in Kearney on Oct. 31 – 10 days after they placed behind Lexington and Lafayette County in the MRVC East race.

All three clinched a state trophy, with Lexington winning the Class 2 title and Lafayette County finishing third.

“The last few weeks of training, the girls have shown more confidence in practice, and then the meets starting with the way they ran in conference to the way they ran in district last week,” Carpenter said. “They ran phenomenal last week to get to state. And then today, they ran lights out. They were ready to go and they peaked at the right time.”

Miller led the Panthers at state, clinching All-State recognition in 25th while earning 14 team points with a time of 19:55.6 — a new school record.

The time is nearly one minute and four seconds faster than last year. Her personal best heading into state was 21:10.5, set during districts.

“Charlie ran phenomenal today,” Carpenter said. “She ran a PR last week – it is arguably a very tough course in Kearney. She ran a PR – we kind of joked a little bit about it – ‘Hey, at state can you run a school record?’ She goes, ‘Yeah, I can do that.’ Then we just had a great week of practice and came out and beat that school record by over 15 seconds. She had a phenomenal day. She ran hard. She looked good – and good enough for more.”

Bridges finished 50th, securing 26 team points with a time of 20:49.9. Berislavich finished 51st, securing 27 team points with a time of 20:50.3. Freshman Katelyn Frintz finished 68th, securing 35 team points with a time of 21:18.4. Senior Callie Gallgher finished 86th, securing 45 team points with a time of 21:30.2. Senior Jenna Berislavich finished 92nd, securing 49 team points with a time of 21:35.5.

“It’s a great group of ladies,” Carpenter said. “They just work hard every day. This is what they work hard for; it all paid off. Winning back-to-back trophies is very, very exciting. A lot of emotion goes into that and we are super proud of each and every one of them.”

The Knob Noster boys had three compete at state.

Freshman Chase Hall finished 62nd with a time of 17:21, freshman Michael Dais finished 137th with a time of 18:39.9 and freshman Dakota Scott finished 138th with a time of 18:39.9.

Holden junior William Claxton also ran, finishing 90th with a time of 17:40.9.

“We took three freshman boys, which is an accomplishment in itself,” Carpenter said. “The things that they learned, I think, are very huge in the steps moving forward to next year.”

The Lady Panthers’ third-place trophy, in addition to their Class 3 District 4 title, are the first MSHSAA accolade to be earned with students inside the new Knob Noster High School, which opened this fall.

Joe Andrews can be reached at 660-747-8123.

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