Saxony is on crusade to repeat in Class 1

Saxony Lutheran's first year of cross country netted a fourth-place finish in Class 1.

In their second season, the Crusaders brought home the school's first state title.

When the state cross country meet takes place today at the Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City, Mo., third-year varsity program Saxony Lutheran will enter the Class 1 field as the clear favorite.

"We're 6 years old as a school and achieving all this," senior Trey Maevers said. "We're going for back-to-back, that's pretty exciting."

Maevers, Peter Winningham, Brandon Etzold, Max Wieser and Grant Lehmann all return from last year's championship team. Etzold finished third at last year's state meet, with Maevers close behind in fifth.

Winningham, a junior, said the team's familiarity with the state meet is a definite advantage.

"We know what to expect, all the craziness involved," he said. "We know it takes a lot of hard work, and we are prepared for the hard work."

Saxony Lutheran showed it was ready for the state meet by dominating the field at the Class 1 District 1 meet. The Crusaders had the top four finishers, placed five runners in the top seven and had all seven of their runners in the top 15. Valley Park, which finished third at last year's state meet, was a distant second in the team standings.

"Those top five averaged over a minute faster than last year's [district] times on exactly the same course," Saxony Lutheran coach Larry Cleair said.

Winnigham topped the field, followed closely by Etzold, Maevers and Wieser. Lehmann finished seventh in 18:04, a time which would have won the district last year.

Maevers, one of three seniors on the team, said the depth of team is a real strength.

"If one of us has a bad day, even in training, we can carry each other," he said. "That's how we got through districts. We worked as a team."

Wieser said the team's competitive nature, even within itself, should help carry them today.

"If there's no one there to race, we'll run against each other," he said. "It's really exciting to go back and defend state. It's kind of neat, because everyone's saying we're going to win another state title."

The Crusaders will be in an unfamiliar position this year as the favorite. With so many runners returning from last year's title team-- and four runners back from last spring's state championship 3,200 relay squad -- the Crusaders should have plenty of confidence.

But Cleair said he knows anything is possible at a big meet. The comparison of times clearly favors the Crusaders.

"I know other teams have to be looking and thinking they can get second," he said. "I don't think there's a team in the state -- if they look at the numbers and try to match them up -- I don't think they can honestly say if they run their normal race and we run our normal race, they'll beat Saxony."

Not only will Saxony Lutheran attempt to become the first area cross country team to win consecutive state titles, but the Crusaders also have a chance to bring home the first boys individual champion.

"That's one of our goals," Etzold said.

Advance's Cody Roper and Nate Middleton, and Terry Hafner of Meadow Heights will also run in the Class 1 boys race.

Deanna Dippold of Saxony Lutheran, Whitney Breightenstein and Erica Wilfong of Meadow Heights and Delta's Jessica Drew will run in the Class 1 girls race.