Blair Oaks boys post 10th-place finish in Class 3

Levi Frisbie of Blair Oaks runs Saturday in the Class 3 boys state cross country championships at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.
Levi Frisbie of Blair Oaks runs Saturday in the Class 3 boys state cross country championships at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.

COLUMBIA, Mo. - It was a step in the right direction for the Blair Oaks Falcons.

Blair Oaks, qualifying for the Class 3 boys state cross country championships for a second straight season, came in 10th place with 203 points at Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

The Falcons were only 30 points behind district champion Father Tolton, which finished fourth in the state and claimed the last of the state trophies. Five teams finished in a tight bunch between Tolton and Blair Oaks in the team standings.

"It's always the 'what ifs' but we did our best," Blair Oaks coach Marc Keys said. "They gave their all, we got out fast. Teams were just better today."

Blair Oaks finished 13th as a team at state last season. This year was the Falcons' best state finish in program history.

"We were close, but it's a little bit disappointing," Keys said. "We've started something and we have to keep it going. We know what it takes to be at the top level."

Senior Levi Frisbie put himself in contention for an all-state medal Saturday. He was in 19th place through the first 1,000 meters, then bumped up to 18th at the 2K checkpoint.

Frisbie finished in 33rd place out of 170 state qualifiers with a time of 17:11.9, cutting 40 seconds off his time from last season's state meet.

"He ran beautifully," Keys said. "He went out, he put himself in position to be all-state."

Seniors Nick Stover and Thomas McCauley crossed the finish line next for the Falcons. Stover was 51st in 17:44.2, while McCauley followed closely at 54th in 17:47.5. McCauley gained 13 spots in the final 1,000 meters of the race.

Last season at state, McCauley was 79th and Stover was 89th. They cut their times by more than 30 seconds Saturday.

"We haven't had a group of three (seniors) like this in a long time," Keys said. "You can't replace them, but what they've started is going to snowball and keep going."

Sophomore Easton DeMilia placed 79th in 18:07.9, while sophomore Cody Pickett rounded out the Blair Oaks team score by finishing 102nd in 18:22.7. DeMilia dropped his state time by 1:12, while Pickett was more than two minutes faster than last year's time.

"That's a big difference from last year," Keys said. "Our seniors have helped Cody and Easton. They've got a taste for this, so they're going to be the ones that will carry it forward in the next couple of years."

Freshman Nolan DeMilia finished 160th in 19:49.9 and senior Dex Crane was 167th in 21:09.3 for the Falcons.

"The day was wonderful," Keys said. "I think we handled pressure well, no one had a bad day. You just need a little bit of luck to have a great day. We didn't have that today, but that's OK."

Herculaneum won the team title with 95 points, followed by Maryville (122), East Newton (127) and Tolton (173).

Southern Boone's Connor Burns won the Class 3 state title with a first-place time of 15:13.5. El Dorado Springs' Daelen Ackley was runner-up in 15:36.2.

Last season, Ackley was the state champion and Burns was second.

"That was wonderful to see him to finally get his win over the young man from El Dorado Springs," Keys said of the two-time Tri-County Conference champion. "That was important for him, for his personal goals."