Fatima boys run trophy streak to seven

Comets finish second in Class 2

Fatima team mates Dawson Woehr (left) and Dylan Smith eye the finish line at the MSHSAA State Cross Country Championships at Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017.
Fatima team mates Dawson Woehr (left) and Dylan Smith eye the finish line at the MSHSAA State Cross Country Championships at Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017.

The trophy case continues to get more crowded for the Fatima boys cross country team.

The Comets brought home their seventh straight top-4 finish at the Class 2 state championships Saturday at Oak Hills Golf Center, taking second place in the team standings with 61 points.

"The boys were absolutely amazing today," Fatima coach Marc Bridges said. "The boys went out to win it. They gave it the best they had and that was the best race I've seen out of the boys this season."

This marks Fatima's first runner-up finish during its state trophy run. The Comets won the state title in 2013 and also have three third-place finishes and two fourth-place trophies during their streak.

Lamar repeated as state champion with 48 points. When the two teams faced each other earlier this season on the same course at the Capital City Challenge, Lamar finished 14 points ahead of Fatima.

Saxony Lutheran junior Caleb Cornelius won the Class 2 boys individual title with a time of 16:22.55.

After Lamar received its state trophy, Fatima waited around to shake hands with its opponent, a sight much more commonly seen after football and basketball games than after a cross country race.

"The fact that we were able to push them a little bit, and they were able to push us, it pushed both of our teams to newer heights and we were both able to run really well," said Fatima senior Logan Borland, who led the Comets with an 11th-place finish in 17:23.01.

Borland, a four-time state qualifier, climbed the individual standings with each state appearance. He finished 64th as a freshman and 44th as a sophomore before getting his first all-state medal last season in 14th place.

"Logan had a rough week," Bridges said. "He had a little foot injury earlier this week and I wasn't sure he was going to be able to finish the race today. For him to go out and push through the pain and still come out with a personal-best finish up here, it was absolutely amazing."

Fatima ran together in two close packs Saturday.

Behind Borland, freshman Lucas Laux took 14th place in 17:25.97, while senior Dalton Luebbert finished 15th in 17:30.76 to earn all-state honors for the first time in three state appearances.

Junior Dylan Smith led the second Comet pack of runners, taking 34th place in 17:56.68. Freshmen Dawson Woehr (35th, 17:57.07), Jake Boyce (37th, 17:59.97) and Caden Haslag (42nd, 18:03.11) stayed close to Smith.

"I don't know if that's by design or if it occurs out of habit," Bridges said of his athletes running in bunches. "When we train, there's different groups in training. At one point this season, I had one group of boys instead of five or six groups."

Bridges said the state atmosphere didn't appear to affect Fatima's four freshman runners, which leaves him optimistic about extending the trophy streak to eight years next season.

"It's become an expectation," Bridges said. "They expect that that's going to happen. They expect that, if they put in the work, they'll end up there."

See also: 

State Cross Country Results