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The Lady Jays barely missed qualifying as a team. They placed fifth in the girls standings, two points behind fourth-place Marquette. The Blue Jays finished 10th in the boys standings.
The sectional meet runs Saturday in Jackson at the Jackson City Park. The girls race begins at 12:30 p.m. The boys race runs at 1:15 p.m. The top four teams and the top 30 individuals advance to the state meet Nov. 7 at Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City.
Guasto was Washington's top finisher at the district meet. She placed ninth in the girls race in a time of 21:09.
Venezia finished 15th in 21:32. Wood placed 22nd in 21:43.
"Some teams really stepped up, but what really hurt us was kids being sick," said Washington Coach Mike Olszowka. "I thought our top three would finish three to five spots higher than they did. They ran great, but they were not at 100 percent. They were all over the sickness, but were still weakened."
Also running for the Lady Jays were Kayla Nurnberger, 37th in 22:33, Madeline Marlow, 38th in 22:38, Sarah Diester, 54th in 24:20, and Kasey Wood, 62nd in 25:46.
"The girls team ran very well. We ran our best top five split of the year," Olszowka said. "I figured if Madeline and Kayla ran together in the 30s, we would be OK as a team and get through."
Parkway Central's Emily Sisson, the defending Class 4 individual state champion, dominated the girls race, winning in 18:04. That time would have qualified for sectional in the boys race.
In the boys race, Jackson finished 18th in 17:52.
Also running for the Blue Jays were Adam Lause, 39th in 18:35, Joel Kliewer, 49th in 19:03, Dylan Callaway, 56th in 19:18, Matt Morgan, 64th in 19:45, Taylor Juergens, 68th in 19:57, and Lucas Jasper, 73rd in 20:32.
Parkway Central's Kevin Krumrey won the boys race in 16:44.
"The boys panicked a bit. We had a terrible starting box and had to merge within the first 75 meters. We just went too hard from the gun," Olszowka said. "We train our kids to work to the front. We just do not want to sprint to get there. If the heart rate goes that high with three miles to go, it's going to be a struggle, and it was."
Eureka claimed the girls district title with 50 points. Kirkwood finished second with 54 points followed by Parkway Central with 94 and Marquette with 119.
The remainder of the girls field was Washington (121), Parkway West (151), Lafayette (159), Parkway South (205) and Ursuline Academy (216).
Parkway West captured the boys district crown with 64 points. DeSmet finished second with 72 points followed by Marquette with 84 and Parkway Central with 106.
The remainder of the boys field was Eureka (108), Kirkwood (118), Lafayette (179), Parkway South (198), CBC (212), Washington (226) and Parkway North (300).
