Saxony boys pull double duty

JEFFERSON CITY -- An incident in the final seconds of Friday night's Class 1 District 1 championship game in boys soccer looked like it might cause problems for the Saxony Lutheran boys cross country team Saturday.

Senior Ross Gage, the Crusaders' top runner, was kicked in the back of his right leg as time expired in Saxony's 2-0 victory against Kennedy.

"Initially, I thought it was a lot worse than it actually was," said Gage, who had to be helped up by a teammate. "I took a cleat to the back of the leg. I had some swelling, but when I got up today, no worries, no problems, everything was fine."

No worries, indeed.

Gage cruised the 3.1-mile course at Oak Hills Golf Center in 18 minutes, 1 second to place ninth and earn a state medal at the Class 1 state cross country meet. More importantly, he helped the Crusaders return to the podium with a fourth-place team finish.

"We were disappointed last year," said Gage, who finished 35th as the Crusaders placed fifth as a team.

That ended a streak of four years finishing as one of the top four teams, each of which brings home a trophy from the meet. Saxony won state championships in 2004 and 2005.

"We're so spoiled," said Saxony Lutheran coach Larry Cleair, who has led the program since its inception in 2003. "There's a lot of great programs that don't get a chance to get up there very often.

"I couldn't be prouder of our kids. They worked hard and kept improving all season."

One of Cleair's biggest challenges to keep the program among the state's best is balancing his program with the school's 3-year-old soccer program, which won its first district title Friday night.

Four athletes are on both teams -- Gage; senior Sam Kluesner, who was Saxony's second runner in 32nd place; junior Trevor Mabuce, who finished 102nd; and senior Andrew Etzold, who finished 43rd after scoring both goals in a game that ended about 16 hours before the race began.

The four made the two-hour commute from St. Louis to Jefferson City last night.

"It's hard," Gage said. "We have a little less practice time in both sports and get a little banged up in soccer, but soccer keeps us in shape for cross country and vice-versa definitely."

Etzold said he took an ice bath and had a good night's sleep before running a personal best on the state course. He also had a sore leg.

Kluesner said the challenge of both sports wasn't easy.

"It wore my legs out," he said. "I had a tough time keeping up with everybody at the start of the season, but I did it."

"These are just tough kids," Cleair said. "They played last night and a couple of them got banged up, but they came out and ignored it. I'm as glad as can be for them and I hope they go all the way [in soccer]."

Gage, in fact, thought the elation of Friday night's upset win against the top-seeded Celts, who were ranked No. 5 in the final state poll of the regular season, helped calm him Saturday.

"After last night, I was real excited and everything," he said. "I was able to calm down a little bit after the game and all the way up through the race. Having that excitement last night helped because I was calm and not as nervous as I usually am. I didn't let myself get caught up in the race like all the other times I was up here. I ran my own race, didn't worry about what anyone was doing in front of me and because I ran my own race, I was able to catch some people."

Cleair had heard about the incident at the end of Friday's game, which did leave a bruise on Gage's leg.

"It would be a great excuse for a kid to hang it up and say it's not my day," Cleair said, "but he just ran super. He did a great job."

Also earning a state medal in Class 1 boys were Meadow Heights freshman Dylan Davis, who finished 16th; and Oak Ridge junior Garret Light, who finished 23rd for his second state medal. Oak Ridge finished eighth as a team.

College Heights Christian won the meet with a score of 18 by placing five runners in the top seven.

In Class 2 boys, Kelly junior Cody Kern finished 12th in 17:40 to earn a state medal.

Class 1 boys

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Teams -- 1, Joplin College Heights Christian 18; 2, West Platte 118; 3, Hermitage 121; 4, Saxony Lutheran 125; 5, Independence St. Mary's 150; 8, Oak Ridge, 207.

Individuals

Saxony -- 9, Ross Gage, 18:01; 32, Sam Kluesner, 18:44; 40, Rhett Obermann, 19:01; 43, Andrew Etzold, 19:04; 48, Joe Buerck, 19:09; 102, Trevor Mabuce, 20:23; 122, Jarod Mueller, 20:45.

Meadow Heights -- 16, Dylan Davis, 18:12.

Oak Ridge -- 23, Garret Light, 18:24; 39, Stephen Bolen, 18:57; 56, Caleb Elam, 19:24; 86, Tyler Lappe, 20:00; 105, Dillon Myers, 20:25; 143, Logan Mangels, 21:21; 157, Brett Thomas, 22:39.

Delta -- 31, Zach Riegert, 18:42; 156, Austin Seabaugh, 22:38.

Advance -- 63, Grant Gray, 19:35.

Class 2 boys

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Kelly -- 12, Cody Kern, 17:40.

Woodland -- 50, Dylan Drum, 18:26; 120, Corey Chapman, 19:31.