Birds of a feather run together: Layton brothers finish 1-2 at Heartland Conference

Woodland Cardinals senior Reed Layton glided to first place in the Heartland Conference Meet on Tuesday, Oct. 17, in Cape Girardeau.

"I'm super excited about this because I think it's just proof that we can do really well as a team in state and districts as well," he said.

His sophomore brother, Calvin, was right behind him, finishing in second place.

"It's really special to be able to run with my brother," Calvin said.

It's not the first time the Layton brothers finished a cross-country race in first and second place together. They did it in their home meet and also at the SCAA Conference Meet at Dexter, with only a few seconds of separation.

"That's a big part of our training," Reed said. We train together and we practice packing up because when we run together it's a lot easier to push with your teammate than it is to race with someone from another team."

Throughout the season, Calvin is always there to keep up with his younger brother. Reed (29, 17:00.47) and Calvin (33, 17:03.36) finished among the top 35 out of 470 in Memphis at the start of the season. He finished fourth while Reed won the race at Arcadia Valley. They finished fifth and sixth in Arnold, third and fourth at Notre Dame, and fourth and fifth in Farmington with mere seconds of separation.

"I'm always trying to push to stay with him," Calvin said. "He's always trying to push to get away from me. So that helps us run a lot faster."

Of all the courses the Layton brothers conquered this season, the North Cape County Park course is the most impressive, based on terrain.

"This course is probably the hardest course we run on," Reed said. "A lot of coaches say it's probably the hardest course in Missouri. It's just a lot hillier than any other course we run on."

Reed Layton was twice named the Boys Cross Country Athlete of the Year at the Semoball Awards and is trending toward a third straight honor. He tied the school 5K record and is looking to break it with his next personal record with only the district and state meet left on the schedule.

"I want to win state this year," Reed said. "I have a really good shot to win state at the Class 2 level."

Calvin is hoping to be right beside him.

"We're trying to go 1-2 at state," Calvin said. "Hopefully I can become No. 2 on the all-time Woodland list."