LAWRENCE, Kan. – Max Jobson was just glad he was able to run at Rim Rock this year.
Jobson, a senior at Liberty North, not only was able to compete on the University of Kansas course Saturday, but he blew open the Blue Division in the final half mile to win by nearly 20 seconds with a 16:28.
Jobson had to miss the Rim Rock Farm Classic last season after he pulled a muscle that surrounds his heart.
“This was one of the races I really wanted to run but didn’t get to,” Jobson said. “I have no idea (how it happened). It just kind of went away. It happened during track freshman year. (The doctor) said if it hurt to push through it, and if it really started to hurt to stop, but I pushed through it.”
Jobson had nothing wrong with his heart on Saturday when he charged from back in the chase pack to run away with the title. The race started fast, and Jobson said he went through the first mile in 5:03, which is much quicker than he normally would like to start.
The fast pace didn’t faze him, and he became determined to start picking off runners. “Seeing those top guys up there made me want to go up there and get behind them,” Jobson said. “Going into the two mile, (Cory Donley) was still ahead of me, and at two and a half I was right next to him. I thought, ‘I don’t just want to stay with him till the end. I want to pass him now.’ I picked it up a little bit and started to leave him.”
Jobson said he entered the race expecting a top 20 finish, so he was pleased with his accomplishment. But he was equally disappointed with his time, which was his primary goal. “My time today, I was not very happy with it,” Jobson said. “Last week I set a course record at Platte County, and that was a really hilly and hard course to run on. I figured I’d break 16. “I’ll be beating myself up a little. I like to go for times, the places will come.”
Donley, a junior at Sacred Heart (Salina, Kan.) was racing at Rim Rock for the first time. Last year, his school was classified at 2A, so Donley ran his state meet at Wamego Country Club. Donley was third at state as a sophomore.
He is still waiting to hear where Sacred Heart will be classified this year after the recent enrollment count. If Sacred Heart is placed in 3A, Donley and his team would return to Lawrence for their state meet. “I knew there was going to be good kids in it,” Donley said. “I saw the results from last year, and I knew there was going to be some good kids, so I knew I had to go out and run my hardest. “None of us had ever run here before. If we go 3A, we’ll be here.”
