The Fatima Comets weren't quite sure what to expect.
In addition to losing three seniors from last year's fourth-place team, many of Fatima's returning cross country runners were disappointed with their past state performances.
Their disappointment didn't carry into Saturday's Class 2 boys championships at the Oak Hills Golf Center. The Comets finished third with 139 points to earn their sixth straight top-four finish at state.
"I'm more proud of what this group did than any of them," coach Marc Bridges said, referring to Fatima's previous five trips to state. "The fact that they worked so hard to get back to the podium, and then to execute the race they did, it was nothing short of miraculous."
Lamar won the state championship with 81 points, followed by Stockton in second with 130. Woodland took fourth with 149.
Fatima doubled its number of all-staters from last season, claiming two spots in the top 25.
Senior Alex Krieg finished fifth out of 172 runners, posting a time of 16:44.97. The time was more than a minute faster than Krieg's time in 2015, when he finished 37th at state.
"Alex had a bad race his junior year, and he probably should have placed a little higher," Bridges said. "He used that as motivation and we talked about it this week. Alex just basically made the decision that he was going to finish in the top 10."
Krieg, a three-time state qualifier, also knocked more than a minute off his time from last Saturday's district meet, where he finished second.
"I wasn't worried about my first-mile time," Krieg said. "I was worried more about position. This year we were more worried about where we wanted to finish instead of coming out in a specific time."
Logan Borland also claimed all-state honors for Fatima, taking 16th place in 17:27.32. The Fatima junior finished 44th at state last year, knocking more than 40 seconds off his time.
"There wasn't a returning all-stater on this squad," Bridges said. "We have two, and one of them is coming back. In some ways, we're already starting out ahead of where we were this year.
"I think that will be motivation for the boys, to really put their nose to the grindstone and get some work done."
Dalton Luebbert placed 46th (18:11.76), Kagan Froning finished 79th (18:39.28) and Maxson Muenks rounded out Fatima's team score with an 86th-place finish (18:45.31).
Zach Even placed 111th (19:08.08) and Jordan Kremer took 118th (19:15.31) in their final races for the Comets.
"I couldn't be more proud of the way they ran today," Bridges said of his team. "They ran absolutely fantastically. They all ran what they were capable of."
Simon Gelber of Whitfield won the Class 2 boys individual title in 16:24.62.
The California Pintos finished 10th in the team standings with 224 points. Senior Hunter Carpenter paced the Pintos, finishing 33rd in 17:53.87.
Trevor Porter placed 52nd (18:17.61), followed by Jordan Bondurant in 54th (18:18.07). Dylan Vines finished 100th (18:58.95), Caden Kirksey took 141st (19:44.48), Austin Bolin placed 146th (19:57.99) and Tyler Long came in 155th (20:14.42).
The Russellville Indians also qualified for state, finishing 12th with 233 points. Anthony Bertucci missed all-state honors by one spot, finishing 26th in 17:40.59.
Austin Roe followed in 67th (18:29.94) and Austin Randolph came in 87th (18:46.71). Harrison Frank took 112th (19:08.58), followed by Beau Bryant in 115th (19:12.65), Jared Shirley in 134th (19:33.43) and Kyle Brautigam in 158th (20:23.70).
Tipton sophomore Isaac Ashton was an all-state medalist, as was Linn sophomore Cole Stephens. Ashton placed eighth in 17:02.37, followed by Stephens at ninth in 17:05.44.
Linn had a total of three runners competing Saturday. Noah Voss finished 40th (18:03.17) and Logan Klouzek placed 45th (18:10.77).
New Bloomfield's Robert Morningstar finished 71st (18:31.13), followed by Versailles' Kendall Reger in 72nd place (18:32.11). South Callaway's Daniel McDonald took 84th place in 18:42.61.
In the Class 1 boys championships, Calvary Lutheran's Cal Kolzow finished in 83rd place with a time of 19:32.35.
Related:
State Cross Country: Class 1-4 championship results
Fatima girls capture fourth straight Class 2 cross country title
Jays' Schwartz earns state cross country medal as a senior
Yanskey helps Helias girls to third-place cross country finish
Helias boys finish fourth in Class 3 cross country