Chaffee honors state runners-up

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Steven Hendrix felt awkward by being honored with his teammates after Friday's homecoming football game.

"I don't feel like anything that special because I feel like we lost," he said.

Hendrix and his teammates from the 2009 Class 1 state runner-up boys track team were recognized for their accomplishment after Friday's Chaffee vs. Scott City football game. It was the second year that Chaffee honored a past team during its homecoming ceremonies. Last year the school recognized the 1983 state championship football team.

Hendrix was part of three relay teams that helped the Red Devils score 46 points to grab second place, two points behind state champion Chamois. Even though it's been four months since the state track meet in Jefferson City, the sting of losing a state title by two points hasn't subsided for some members of the team.

"It's horrible," Trenton Horman said.

The second-place finish was the best for the Chaffee boys in the program's history. The Red Devils have placed third three times.

"At first, we were kind of sad because we missed tying for first by five-tenths of a second," J.C. Reeves said. "It was close, the 4x4. We were kind of upset, but then we thought about it and were like this is the best we've ever done.

"I'm really proud of how we did. I knew at the beginning of the year we had a chance to go. We competed with the best teams in the state, so we can't really complain."

Key members of the team, including Reeves, Horman, Hendrix, Collin Dannenmueller and Hunter Thomason, graduated shortly after their success at the state meet. Dannenmueller won the state title in the 400 and joined with Hendrix, Reeves and Thomason to win the 800 relay.

Tyson Moyers, who assists coach Terry Glenzy with the boys track team, said he knew last year's senior class had the ability to be special.

"My first year at Chaffee, I coached them at junior high," Moyers said. "I saw then that they had ability. A lot of them, honestly, they don't like to lose."

While Moyers said he saw the potential in junior high, it took longer for the athletes to see the possibilities.

"I never expected going into my freshman year that we would be that good by my senior year," Reeves said. "It came with time. We just came into it as a regular sport. About our junior year, we knew our last year would be really, really good.

"We were more positive about it. Instead of coming out and being like, 'I hate track,' we were positive. We were like, 'We've got a chance to be good, we might as well do it.'"

Horman said the team enjoyed the satisfaction of achieving its potential.

"We'd been looking forward to it for four years," he said. "Something you look forward to for four years and it happens, it's nice to know you accomplished what you wanted to get done."

And after Friday's football game, the community got an opportunity to recognize the team for its success.

"It would have been better to get first, and especially since we missed it by two points, but looking back at it, I can't really say I'm that upset," Reeves said.