Two years ago, Jackson Schwartz was less than two seconds from being all-state in cross country.
It took two more years for him to earn the elusive state medal.
On Saturday, Schwartz was able to step onto the awards stage at the Missouri Class 4 cross country championships at the Oak Hills Golf Center and receive a medal after placing 11th with a time of 15:59.49.
"Probably should be three times all-state and just coming out here and finally getting a medal, I was just so pleased with myself," Schwartz said. "It's been such a long journey here. I'm very happy with it."
Schwartz finished 26th in 2014 as a sophomore, 1.2 seconds from an all-state spot. Last year, he placed 90th.
"This year I was much more relaxed," Schwartz said. "Last year I was very tense. I was very nervous because I had an injury in the season and I wasn't really where I was supposed to be and I tried to force it. This year I really let the pack take me and then I made my move and it worked out really well."
Schwartz admitted he was sill nervous Saturday, but was focused once the race began.
"I'm not going to lie, I was really nervous because this was my last shot," he said. "It all came down to today. Everything I've been working for for four years accumulated up to today. I was really nervous, but once that gun went off I knew I trusted myself. I really just brought out the best of my ability today."
One mile into the race, Schwartz was in 13th. He worked his way into the top 10 after two miles.
"I'd say the strongest part would be right about 4,000 meters after the big firehouse hill," Schwartz said. "I was in fifth place, felling good. I faded a little bit in the last 600 meters but I can't be displeased with a 15:59 and an 11th-place finish. Really I felt good for all of it, especially from mile one to mile three."
The Jays had four runners finish in the top 100 to help them take eighth place as a team.
"We're not disappointed with the results, but we feel like we could have raced just a hair better here and there," Jefferson City coach Brett Phillips said.
Thomas Nield placed 57th in 16:37.21, an improvement of more than 1:30 from last year's state time.
Nield made it to the top 35 at the two-mile mark before dropping around 55-60 for the last part of the race.
"He came really far for running 5Ks," Schwartz said. "He's really more of a speed guybut he really improved his 5Ks this year. For a sophomore to be your second run in the state meet on the biggest stage is just incredible. I'm really proud of him and I'm really looking forward to him and some of the other runners improving our program."
Cole Biesemeyer had his best finish in the state meet, taking 76th (16:50.66) in his third trip to the event.
Dawson Schulte, a freshman, placed 94th in 16:59.51.
Other finishers for the Jays were Landon Dunlap (120th, 17:16.89), Ben Krause (124th, 17:20.47) and Brendan Bena (132nd, 17:25.04).
Four of the Jays' runners are underclassmen.
"I just didn't think we were quite the caliber of a top four team yet, but I think we have some young runners that will get there next year," Schwartz said.
Rockhurst won the team title with 109 points. Rock Bridge (116) edged Lafayette: Wildwood (117) for second. Blue Springs also earned a team trophy in fourth.
Austin Hindman of Lafayette: Wildwood was the individual champion, breaking the previous meet record of 15:22.34 with a time of 15:22.30.
Jefferson City had two girls running Saturday: Laura Sherwood and Kayelee Payton.
The pair remained within a few seconds of each other for the entire race, with Payton finishing 38th in 19:47.88 and Sherwood taking 39th in 19:48.82.
"It's a respectable race, they raced pretty strong," Phillips said. "They both had aspirations of being in the top 25."
Payton was 54th at the one-mile mark while Sherwood was less than three seconds behind in 71st.
Payton worked her way to 32nd at two miles with Sherwood in 46th.
"They knew they might have had a few more spot in them, but it's a pretty good race," Phillips said.
This was Payton's second state meet and Sherwood's first. Both will be seniors next season.
"I really think they'll both be in the top 25 next year," Phillips said. "No. 1, they'll be hungry for it, No. 2, the experience."
Jackson won the girls team title with 134 points. Lee's Summit West was four points behind in second. Washington (142) and Park Hill South (143) placed third and fourth, respectively.
Related:
State Cross Country: Class 1-4 championship results
Yanskey helps Helias girls to third-place cross country finish
Helias boys finish fourth in Class 3 cross country
Fatima girls capture fourth straight Class 2 cross country title
Fatima boys continue cross country streak by finishing third