Lady Jays 15th at cross country championships

It wasn't exactly what the Jefferson City Lady Jays wanted.

Jefferson City placed 15th out of 16 teams at the Class 4 Missouri State High School Activities Association Cross Country Championships on Saturday at the Oak Hills Golf Center.

"There's nothing good to say. We were disappointed in being 15th, of course," Jefferson City head coach Brett Phillips said. "Who wouldn't be?"

Jefferson City finished with 299 points, besting only West Plains' 363 points.

Francis Howell won its second straight state championship with 102 points, while Nerinx Hall (113), Lafayette (133) and Eureka (133) rounded out the trophy-winning teams.

"We just didn't race our best," Phillips said. "We felt like we were a top-10 team and didn't have quite the race we needed to have. We just have to work harder and be better in the future."

Emily Deeken led the Lady Jays with a 39th-place finish in 19:51.02.

"She raced hard," Phillips said.

Kaley Ruff, following an injury-riddled season, placed 71st in 20:26.34. The junior had earned all-state honors her first two seasons.

Lindsey Biesemeyer (98th, 20:48.82), Tori Bonnot (117th, 21:06.30) and Jaycie Sabala (132nd, 21:29.22) rounded out Jefferson City's scorers. Madison Hart (148th, 22:05.05) and Natalie Vance (153rd, 22:24.42) completed the Lady Jays' team.

"I did not have them ready to go," Phillips said. "Put that in the paper. I didn't do a very good job of getting us ready to race the state race."

Eureka's Hannah Long won the state title in 17:46.82.

St. Louis University High won the Class 4 boys race with 103 points, Rock Bridge was second with 119, Lafayette was third with 124 and Liberty was fourth with 131. Marquette's Noah Kauppila won the race in 15:22.34.

See also:

Cross Country: Class 1-4 state championship results