It's been a pretty good first few months in Kayla Yanskey's senior year.
Yanskey, who was voted Homecoming Queen at Helias last month, wrapped up her cross country career Saturday by taking 10th in the Class 3 state championships at the Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City.
"It's exciting to know that your hard work can pay off," Yanskey said.
With Yanskey and teammate Abby Hake winning all-state honors, the Lady Crusaders finished third as a team with 138 points. It's Helias' third consecutive team trophy after having taken fourth last year and third in 2014.
And while Helias brought state title hopes into the championships this year, third is just fine.
"If you get a state trophy, you've really accomplished something," Lady Crusaders coach Brad Hake said.
Bolivar was first with 80 points, while Cape Girardeau Central was second with 86.
"I'm extremely proud of what we did, we knew Bolviar and Cape Notre Dame were both very good," Hake said.
Yanskey, who finished with a time of 19:42.72, is a four-time state medalist. She was 18th as a sophomore and a junior after taking 24th as a freshman.
"That's an amazing accomplishment," Hake said. "There aren't a whole lot of them out there and now she's one of them."
Yanskey said she was following in the footsteps of former teammate Kaitlyn Shea, a four-time state medalist who now runs at Southeast Missouri State.
"She really inspired me," Yanskey said. "I'm thankful she was my teammate."
Yanskey was 12th before passing a pair of runners running up the long hill toward the finish line.
"She gets what she deserves because she's worked hard to achieve it," Hake said. "She's just an amazing person and she has a bright future, no matter what she decides to do."
It doesn't look like cross country will be part of Yanskey's future in college.
"I don't think so," Yanskey said.
But some habits are hard to break.
"It hasn't sunk in that I'm done," Yanskey said. "It feels like I have to be ready to go to practice on Monday."
Abby Hake, a junior, was 20th in 19:18.30.
"I was training as hard as I could this season to achieve this goal," she said.
Brad Hake, in his first year as Helias' head coach, is understandably proud of his daughter's accomplishment.
"It's been so great to see the work she's put in pay off," he said.
Running with her father as head coach has been a unique experience for Abby.
"It's been different, but it's good," she said. "He keeps pushing me to be my best."
Hake is already looking forward to her senior season.
"I want to medal again and beat my time," she said,
Emma Veltrop was 44th (20:43.38) for Helias on Saturday, while Morgan Yanskey was 64th (21:08.44). Abby Eskens finished 91st (21:35.14), while Lanie Hentges was 104th (21:49.03) and Alicia Engelbrecht was 106th (21:50.55).
Hentges and Enbelbrecht played key roles Saturday as Helias edged fourth-place Herculaneum by a point in the final standings. They both finished ahead of Herculaneum's fifth-place finisher, pushing her down in the point standings to allow Helias to take third.
"It's a team sport, we gave a team effort," Hake said.
Kayla Yanskey and Abby Hake echoed that sentiment.
"I'm proud of this team, we have something special," Yanskey said.
Hake said, "I'm so proud of our team, we worked very hard to get this."
III
The Blair Oaks Lady Falcons had a pair of runners in the Class 3 championships.
Taylor Scott of Blair Oaks was 94th (21:39.85), one spot ahead of teammate Emily Yaeger (21:40.34).
Related:
State Cross Country: Class 1-4 championship results
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
Jays' Schwartz earns state cross country medal as a senior