Lamar Boys Stumble, But Do Not Fall
Just as the Fatima girls were heavy favorites to repeat in Class 2, so too were the Lamar boys. Several estimations had them scoring anywhere from 25-40 points and winning in dominating fashion. Though the "dominating fashion" part did not hold true in this one, the Tigers were still able to hang on for their second straight state title and third in the last five years.
Led by 4th and 5th place finishes from Venable and Overstreet, the Tigers still put 4 boys in the top 16 and, as we thought, had an extremely low point total (21) through 4 as a result of the amount of individual finishers. Had senior Parker King finished in the top 25 as we thought he might, then Lamar would have locked up a sub-40 point total fairly easily, even pushing sub-30 depending on where he would have placed. Key finishers in the race for Lamar at 3 and 4 were senior Garrett Morey, who made it three Lamar boys in the top 10 (9th) and freshman stud Ethan Pittsenbarger took 16th. Though Venable, Morey, and King will be graduating this spring, the Lamar boys appear to have a good foundation for sustained success next season. It will not be easy for them, though, as they will have to battle an incredibly young Fatima squad who took 2nd just 13 points behind Lamar. We will talk more about them later. We spoke with the Lamar boys on Friday, but were unable to converse after the race Saturday:
In 3rd was Stockton who made their 2nd straight trip to the podium. Stockton was led by Bryson Coulter, the surprise District 7 champion, as he earned 6th in this one and made his first trip to the state medal stand. Fellow junior Tyler Adams was 22nd in 17:40.98 and the rest of their scoring teammates placed in the top 75.
St. Vincent surprised the field to jump up and grab 4th in Class 2, but grabbed their 3rd trophy in 4 years and first since moving up to Class 2. With only one boy ranked in the top 25 - junior Joseph Baer, 24th - the Indians were not exactly the hot pick for a trophy this year. But with Baer jumping 14 spots for 10th in his ranking and senior Andrew Lipe just barely missing out on an individual honor (the dreaded 26th), there was a solid foundation in place for them to grab that 4th spot. They would receive help from the fact that only the three teams ahead of them had more than one boy in the top 25, but also from a 15 second personal best from freshman Kyle Steinbecker who would take 57th. St. Vincent is another team that is set up well to enjoy sustained success.