Some teams have established a tradition, and expect to get to the state meet year in, and year out. On the girl’s side throughout the state, Notre Dame (10), Herculaneum (14), Jefferson City (21), and West Plains (28) are among the teams that have been to state the most times consecutively. On the boy’s side, Liberty (15), De Smet (17), St. Louis University High (19), and West Plains (34) have all been to state consecutively longer than some of their runners have been alive.
But this year, there are seven programs across the classes competing as a team for the state title for the first time. Racing in the class 1 boy’s race for the first time is Drexel. The class 1 girl’s race has a pair of first time competitors. Valle and Salisbury both qualified for the first time last Saturday. Salisbury is coached by Robert Kelsay. He has coached track and field at Salisbury high school for the last 14 years, and he took over the cross country program when it began this season. With the program being in the first season, they have to compete with softball and golf for girls to join the team. Salisbury only raced six girls while winning districts by 55 points on Saturday, one of which, Amber Linneman did not join the team until after districts for softball were completed. Even though they only race 6 girls, they are the right 6 girls. Coach Kelsay compared track times with other runners’ 5k times and tried to predict how competitive his squad could be.
“I didn't know at the beginning how good we would be. I knew Maria Weimer would be competitive by looking at 3200 runners who also ran cross country. As the season went on, we were finishing second and third at meets with several Class 3 schools, so I knew we could be competitive. Then when I looked at last year's state times and times from this year as they were posted, I knew we had a good chance to finish in the top two at district” Coach Kelsay said.
The girls from Salisbury have been racing with an extra burden on their shoulders all season. They have been racing to keep their cross country program.
“The school board approved cross country on a one year trial basis. I think they wanted to prove that it was worth keeping. I think they are a little nervous about going to state, but they now know that they can compete at that level. We are racing to bring home a trophy” Coach Kelsay explained.
In class two, the girls’ teams from California high school and Arcadia Valley will be racing in Jefferson City as a team for the first time. Likewise, on the boy’s side, Lamar qualified for the first time. Junior Drew Buckner is excited to see hard work pay off.
“Last season was disappointing for everybody. We fell short on all of our goals. We had no guys qualify for state individually last year. I think that our falling short of our goals last year really stung everybody. Needless to say it got us motivated and fired up for this season. This season we put more miles in in the summer than we ever have, so we came into the season in much better condition than previous years. Everybody has been focused and determined to accomplish the things no Lamar cross country team has accomplished before. Coach Baldridge has pushed us at practice every day too” Buckner said.
“It's a tremendous honor to be a part of a team that has accomplished all it has. This team is composed of a great group of guys and I’m proud to say I’m part of it. This year has been a year of "firsts" for Lamar XC and nobody is ready to stop that trend just yet. We won the Big 8 Conference for the first time in school history, we won our District meet for the first time, now we're all excited for the chance to make even more school history this Saturday. Personally I would be disappointed if we finished any lower than 4th Place. We're all ready for the challenge. And none of this would be possible without the strength God gives us day in and day out. To God be the glory” Buckner explained.
The last team that will be running in state for the first time will be racing in the class 4 boys’ race. The boys team from Glendale finished in third sectional 3 led by sophomore Spencer Haik and junior Chris Mooneyham who both broke 16 minutes last Saturday. As Mooneyham explained, the team was not the most optimistic heading into districts and sectionals.
“Our third man Jacob Young fractured his leg the week before districts and we were a little worried” Mooneyham said. “But we kept hope, and our guys pulled through”.
Haik talked about the school’s response and goals for Saturday.
“Our school is really excited. We did not get much respect until now so it is a good feeling. The goal for Saturday is to be top 10 as a team”. Haik said. Both Mooneyham and Haik are both also racing for an all-state medal.
These seven teams have different goals in mind for the weekend. Some are racing for a trophy. One is out to prove the cross country should be a permanent program. Other teams have already accomplished their goals by qualifying. But one thing is for sure, these athletes will never forget they were members of the first team to qualify from their respective schools.