Finishing tenth out of 16 total teams, the cross country team completed its season on Saturday Nov. 7. 

“We finished at the lower end of our expectations,” Mr. Michael Dierks, head coach, said.

The team traveled to Jefferson City, Mo. with hopes of finishing in the top five to ten teams at the meet, as well as hoping that sophomore Zach Herriott finishes as an all-state runner, a distinction given to the top 25 runners. Herriott missed the mark by one runner, finishing 26th of 162 racers.

Other top finishers included senior Enrique Mejia, finishing 68th, sophomore Scott Tettambel, 84th, senior Matthew Neisius, 85th, sophomore Tanner Shuey, 140th, senior Vince Migliazzo, 142nd and senior Dylan Macoubrie, 149th.

The meet was held at Oak Hills Golf Course, which is a grueling course that is very difficult to simulate in Kansas City, and the 77 degree temperature did not make the race any easier according to Coach Dierks.

“The week leading up to state we ran a mile at a certain pace and a half mile at a certain pace and some hills trying to acclimate ourselves to the challenge of the course and then tried to rest our legs to make them as fresh as possible for the meet,” Coach Dierks said.

The heat affected the runners so much that the Class 4 race was delayed thirty minutes because so many runners from the previous race were in need of medical attention.

“As a distance runner, you are always going to prefer cooler over hotter,” Coach Dierks said.

One idea Coach Dierks stressed over the course of the season and especially at the state meet was for the seniors to take control of their team and enjoy themselves.

“He told us not to be nervous and for us to go out and have fun in our last race, especially the seniors,” Mejia, team captain, said.

 Though the team did not have the finish it would have liked, it can build on this experience with many returning runners for next season. Shuey, Tettambel  and Herriott all competed in the state race as sophomores, Herriott as the squad’s number one runner and Shuey as a surprise to many.

“I definitely feel Tanner worked really hard to get where he ended. Towards the beginning of the season he was nowhere near being a varsity runner then in the last few weeks he just got better and better and eventually was one of our top seven,” Herriott said.