How Liberty's Bella Navaro-Sanchez won Class 5 individual title by smallest of margins

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Liberty sophomore Bella Navaro-Sanchez leaned over the finish line at Gans Creek Cross Country Course before walking through the medical tent in a haze.

Navaro-Sanchez did not know if her effort Friday was enough to secure the Class 5 girls cross country individual state title and continued walking toward a horde of cheering fans.

Then a teammate told her to check the scoreboard.

"I was like, 'Bella, you just won,' " Liberty junior Kailey Lawrence said. 

When Navaro-Sanchez saw her name on top of the leaderboard, the realization began to dawn and she broke out in celebration.

Navaro-Sanchez secured the individual championship with a time of 18 minutes and 8.3 seconds, becoming the first Liberty runner since Ally Kruger in 2020 to win a state championship.

"It was unbelievable," Liberty coach Toby Glavin said. "We told her to stay in the pack for as long as possible, and if you're in it late, you never know what will happen."

Part of the reason Navaro-Sanchez was unsure of her finish was because the race couldn't have been much closer. She won the 5-kilometer race by just one-tenth of a second over Liberty North freshman Lucinda Wright (18:08.4). St. Joseph's junior Savannah Amann (18:14.6) rounded out the top three finishers. 

When the pack started pushing the pace in the second kilometer, Navaro-Sanchez didn't know if she could go with them. 

"I was in the back of the front pack and wasn’t sure if I would make it," Navaro-Sanchez said. 

But the diminutive sophomore willed herself to stay up front. 

Glavin lost track of the sensational sophomore as he crisscrossed the course, watching how the rest of the team was doing. It didn't sink in that Navaro-Sanchez was gunning for gold until about 800 meters were left in the race.

"That’s when I realized, holy crap," Glavin said. 

When she crested the hill and saw the finish line, Navaro-Sanchez was surprised with how much she had left in the tank.

"I noticed I wasn’t that tired," she said. "I was like I’m fine I can stay with the leader."

With Wright clinging to the lead, Navaro-Sanchez poured everything she had into her churning legs and closed the gap.

As the pair approached the finish line, Navaro-Sanchez leaned over the finish line to finish the comeback and give Liberty another state champion.

"I was really happy for her," said Lawrence, who was 45th individually to help Liberty finish 14th in the team standings. "I’ve seen her come in as a freshman and she’s worked so hard. She deserves this because she always brings that positive attitude to practice."

Navaro-Sanchez, who burst onto the scene with a fourth-place finish in the 800-meter run as a freshman at the Class 5 state track and field meet, pointed to her teammates as a big reason for her success this season.

And a simple message before the race helped calm the raging butterflies in her stomach.

"My teammates told me it’s like any other race," Navaro-Sanchez said. "Just push through and stay strong."