CHESTERFIELD, Mo. – Lafayette wanted to use the district meet as a statement race.
Consider the message received.
The Lancers had four boys at the front of the Class 4 District 2 cross country meet Saturday at Parkway Central, and only Parkway South’s Nicky Matteucci was there to break up the quartet at the finish line.
Sophomore Austin Hindman and junior Alec Haines pulled away over the final quarter mile and made it a two-man race to break the tape, and Hindman got to the finish line first in 16:22.
“Our strategy was to go out a little more conservative and just stick together try to run the best race possible,” Hindman said. “I find it’s really helpful when you’re with the guys you train with in a race. You know each other’s breathing patterns, you know each other’s strategies and how each other runs.”
Hindman said this season has been a gradual ascension after overcoming a stress fracture this summer.
“I just couldn’t be happier with how I ran today. It was a long summer, and now I’m back so I’m really happy,” Hindman said.
Haines was right with Hindman until the final turn uphill and took second place in 16:27. He said the Lancers emphasized running together in this race.
“It felt fun to run as a team; it felt just like practice,” Haines said. “We were talking the first mile. The final hill, Austin and I were like, ‘We’ve just got to push this,’ but he got me that last hill, but that’s fine.”
Dylan Quisenberry was racing for the first time in two weeks after being sidelined with some stiffness in his back. He nearly caught Matteucci at the line with a strong kick but finished fourth (16:43). Junior teammate Devin Meyrer completed the foursome with a fifth-place finish in 16:46.
Lafayette coach Sean O’Connor said he expected a performance similar to this. He wanted his squad to show up and compete, but mostly he wanted them to escape healthy and hungry to keep fighting for next week’s sectional race.
“It’s about what we expected,” O’Connor said. “Coming into next week and then state, all four of them should be able to hang together. They can work together for at least the first half of the race and have encourage each other.
“It also shows those other two (Hindman and Haines) aren’t slouches either. They’re fairly good too, and that’s confidence building I guess for them.”
Tommy Laarman closed out the scoring in 17th as the Lancers dropped a low score of 29 points. That added touch of confidence could make this team, which finished third at state last year, even more stout in the coming weeks.
“We’ve had a pretty good season so far, but you can never let down, so you’ve always got to keep pushing and show everyone what you’ve got,” Hindman said. “These races – districts and sectionals – they’re pretty big races. Being able to come out here and throw down a good performance definitely is a big confidence booster for all of us.”
Marquette was runner-up with 92 points. The Mustangs are trying to get back to state after finishing sixth in Class 4 last year, and they had a 1-2 punch of Ryan Hart in eighth and Kevin Ganahl in ninth to keep the team tally low.
“We knew if we ran well we had a real good chance to get back, but we also knew it’s a tough district and if you’re a little bit off your game there’s a lot of good boys’ teams that aren’t moving on. I think they were definitely motivated to get back to state,” Marquette coach Mike Ebert said. “This time of year you want them to have the right attitude and just put it out there, and they did that.”
Parkway West captured third with 118 points, and CBC claimed the final sectional qualifying spot in fourth with 147 points.
The top four teams and 30 individuals advance to meet District 1 qualifiers at next Saturday’s Sectional 1 meet at Farmington High School.