JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Whitfield senior Nate Gelber was ready for the rematch.
Gelber charged into the lead in the second half of the 5k Class 2 race at the MSHSAA Cross Country Championships to earn the title in 16:04.62. He passed Lamar senior Kaden Overstreet, who had beaten Gelber last year for the title.
Gelber said he saw Overstreet move the front of the race early and remembered he used a similar strategy last year. He didn’t allow Overstreet to get too far away, and when Gelber made his move, he made sure not to hang around to give anyone a chance to pace off of him.
“(Overstreet) looked like he was going to try to do what he did last year, and I was kind of worried about that for the first mile,” Gelber said. “He started to slowly come back and I made a surge up to him.
“I tried not to stay with him for too long because I knew if I stayed with him it would probably tire me out more than if I went ahead. I tried to go ahead and lead the race and see if anyone wanted to come with me. That’s how I’ve won all my races this year. I wanted to keep the same strategy; it seemed pretty faultless so far.”
Gelber also got the better of Overstreet at the Capital City Cross Country Challenge on the same course, winning in 16:24. That race gave Gelber some confidence heading into the state meet.
“That race helped let me know that I could beat him,” Overstreet said. “He’s a great runner. I saw him in the hotel and we talked, and it was really a friendly competition rather than a rivalry. It was awesome.”
Overstreet battled to a second-place finish (16:25) despite still nursing a broken foot from this summer, and he had a slight limp after the race. He missed more than a month of training and said it bothered him slightly during the state race.
“It’s pretty annoying,” Overstreet said.
Gelber’s low score helped the Warriors also claim the Class 2 team title with 72 points. Springfield Catholic was second with 77.
Sophomore Simon Gelber came in eighth. The Warriors added two more all-state runners to the tally with sophomores Chris Hanson and Morgan Leake finishing 24th and 25th, respectively. Getting four individuals on the medal stand proved to be the difference said Whitfield coach Matt Politte.
“We knew we had to get four in the medals is we were wanted to do it, and those were the guys who were running our 3-4, and for them to be able to do that, I think that’s what pushed us over the edge,” Politte said. “We made a decision last year after placing 13th that we were going to do this. They all committed and came together and really became a family in the offseason and it showed today.”
It was the first ever state trophy for the Whitfield boys. The Whitfield girls captured third for their first trophy since 2001.
“That’s incredible. It’s school history,” Politte said. “The school has only ever won three girls (trophies), and that was back 15 years ago. We look forward to getting back to work soon and planning for next year.”
Herculaneum captured third (120) to give the Blackcats their seventh state trophy in eight years. Fatima, the defending champs, took fourth (132).
“This makes the fourth straight year we’ve been in the top four,” Fatima coach Marcus Bridges said. “We set our goal pretty high, so in the moment, some of our boys are taken back by it. If we give it time to soak in, top four is always a goal for us. I’m really proud of the way they ran, and I think we gave a good performance to get back in that group.
“I think there are some good teams out there. Cross country in Missouri has taken a step forward every year. It’s getting better and better, and it takes more to compete every year.”