Cross Country: Yanskey, Knernschield earn all-state honors for Helias


Kayla Yanskey of Helias finished 18th on Saturday in the Class 3 state cross country championships at the Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City.
Kayla Yanskey of Helias finished 18th on Saturday in the Class 3 state cross country championships at the Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City.

Expecting to win a state medal is one thing, accomplishing it is another.

Helias teammates Kayla Yanskey and Elliot Knernschield did what they expected Saturday in the Class 3 state cross country championships at the Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City.

Yanskey finished 18th (20:03.50) in the girls race to lead Helias to a fourth-place finish as a team. It's the second straight year the Lady Crusaders have earned a team trophy after finishing third in 2014.

"I wanted top 15 and get my time better than last year, but I'm so happy that our team did well," Yanskey said. "We really came together and ran together."

Yanskey, a junior, matched her finish from last season and was all-state as well as a freshman when she finished 25th.

"Kayla pushed hard and you can't ask for more from somebody who had a rough season with injuries," Helias coach Mary Haskamp said.

Yanskey has a chance to become just the fifth four-time medalist in Helias girls history next year.

"I can't want to come back with my team, it is so much fun," she said.

Yanskey would join Lisa Hudspeth, Melanie Otto, Becca Miller and Kaitlyn Shea as four-time all-staters for the Lady Crusaders.

It's the first time Knernschield, who finished eighth (16:47.53), has made finished in the top 25 to earn all-state honors.

"I was planning on a top 10 finish and I achieved that goal," Knernschield said.

After qualifying for the state championships as a junior, Knernschield was hungry to get a medal as a senior.

"I knew I wanted to be all-state," Knernschield said.

Haskamp was thrilled by Knernschield's finish.

"Realistically, I thought top 15 would be great, but to take eighth was fantastic," she said. "He took things seriously, followed his plan and got a great finish."

The plan came from something Knernschield learned at state last year.

"Find somebody to run with," he said.

So he picked the Ogden twins - Schuyler and Nathaniel - from Ste. Genevieve as his running mates. It was a wise choice as Schuyler finished fifth, one spot ahead of his brother.

"I stayed as close as I could to them," Knernschield said. "I gave it all I had. This week, I was nervous, but excited,. Today, I took advantage of my opportunity."

The Helias boys finished seventh as team Saturday.

Connor Frank was 36th for the Crusaders.

"Conner had an awesome race," Haskamp said, noting that Frank's father attended the race after arriving from Korea on a two-week leave from the military.

Frank was one of three Helias freshman qualifiers, along with Colby Kroll (121st) and Jack Hentges (137th).

"They got some great experience and we'll see what happens from here," Haskamp said.

Brian Kirchoff, a sophomore, finished 65th, while senior Joe Bruemmer was 83rd and sophomore Nathan Wieberg was 108th.

On the girls side, Abby Hake capped a great freshman season by finishing 34th.

"To come up just a few spots short of all-state, that was a great race for Abby," Haskamp said.

Lanie Hentges, a junior, was 41st. Alicia Engelbrecht (71st), Allison Wieberg (84th), Kylie Mulholland (94th) and Katherine McDonald (100) rounded out the Lady Crusader finishers.

"I figured it would be really close for teams 2-7, I'm just happy to be on the awards stand as a team," Haskamp said. "We're happy to get a chance to take another trophy home."

Ste. Genevieve took girls team honors with 52 points. MICDS was second with 91, while Cape Girardeau Notre Dame was third with 110. Helias finished with 151, 16 better than Carl Junction.

Taylor Werner of Ste. Genevieve took individual honors with an overall record time of 17:14.22. The four-time individual champion broke her own mark of 17:31.30 set in 2013.

On the boys side, Helias totaled 206 points. Festus, which had six state medalists, won the title with 47 points. Ste. Genevieve was second with 74 and Westminster Christian took third with 123.

Ben Naeger of Ste. Genevieve was the individual champion in 15:34.56.

Additional results:

Cross Country: Class 1-4 State Championship results