St. Vincent boys cross country team places second at Class 1 state meet

Senior Levi Krauss finished third and was one of three St. Vincent boys cross country runners who earned all-state honors, helping lead the Indians to a second-place finish in the team standings at Saturday's Class 1 state meet in Jefferson City, Missouri.

It's the second year in a row St. Vincent has finished second at the state meet, and coach Terry Wood was pleased with the way his team competed all season.

"We've been running this whole season with just that goal in mind to return to state and repeat what we've done and try to get better, and when we got to state, they rose to the occasion just like I saw last week at districts," Wood said. "To match what they raced at districts with such a flat course at Dexter compared to the state course they ran today, it's pretty surreal."

Krauss finished in 17 minutes, 3.11 seconds while teammate Isaac Baer placed 11th in 17:34.54 and teammate Andrew Lipe placed 24th in 17:53.64. St. Vincent tallied 85 points in the team standings, finishing one spot behind first-place Hermitage (61). Lutheran (Kansas City) took third with 149 points.

"It completely bookends where we finished our season last year to where we are now," Wood said. "... To see the level of competition rise along with you, it's been pretty amazing. Then to see a young kid like Andrew Lipe, a sophomore, step up and earn his all-state honors, it's a great moment and a great feeling for him."

Zalma finished fifth in the team standings and also had three runners earn all-state honors, led by Peyton Ford, who placed fifth in 17:18.09. Alex Steinberg finished 15th in 17:41.85 for the Bulldogs while Jacob Steinberg placed 17th with a time of 17:43.39.

On the girls' side, St. Vincent's Corin Carroll placed 10th with a time of 21:41.50 to earn all-state honors. The Indians finished eighth in the team standings. Crystal City won the state championship with 114 points, followed by Summit Preparatory (118) in second and Lone Jack (144) in third.

Peyton Ford, a Zalma junior, fights to get to the finish line in the Class 1 Boy's race at the 2015 MSHSAA State Cross Country Championships. Ford finished 5th, leading his Zalma squad to a 5th-place team finish, 22 points shy of a trophy.

"With Corin, it was really just trying to convince her that, at this stage, she still had what it took to get up on that podium, and to have her place in the top 10, that's a pretty awesome thing for her," Wood said. "As far as the girls' places go, we came into this looking like we were going to be 12th place overall. They showed up to race today, and they ended up better than what they were last year."

GIRLS

Team scores -- 1. Crystal City 114; 2. Summit Preparatory 118; 3. Lone Jack 144; 4. Salisbury 152; 5. Lutheran (Kansas City) 180; 6. School of the Ozarks 198; 7. Mound City 204; 8. St. Vincent 212; 9. Van Buren 232; 10. South Nodaway 234; 11. Hermitage 239; 12. New Haven 241; 13. Glasgow 242; 14. Liberal 264; 15. Dora 270; 16. Wellsville 367

Local finishers

CHAFFEE -- 54. Alyssa Lunsford 23:11.70; 80. Hannah Glueck 23:50.90

DELTA -- 44. Jamie Hodge 22:58.90

OAK RIDGE -- 38. Taylor Seyer 22:48.80; 94. Jordan Layton 24:07.40

ST. VINCENT -- 10. Corin Carroll 21:41.50; 52. Maddie Lappe 23:08.50; 71. Emily Welker 23:37.10; 112. Fayth Brewer 24:54.00; 123. Abbey Hotop 25:30.80; 130. Courtney Brewer 26:06.40; 143. Shelby Lynne Schumer 27:00.30

ZALMA -- 98. Hannah Steinberg 24:18.90

BOYS

Team scores -- 1. Hermitage 61; 2. St. Vincent 85; 3. Lutheran (Kansas City) 149; 4. New Haven 155; 5. Zalma 177; 6. Sparta 186; 7. Lone Jack 195; 8. Humansville 198; 9. Glasgow 201; 10. West Platte 244; 11. Van Buren 260; 12. Northeast (Cairo) 264; 13. New Bloomfield 273; 14. North Platte 282; 15. School of the Ozarks 355; 16. Mansfield 425

Local finishers

ADVANCE -- 91. Cade Long 19:27.28; 123. Gage Bien 20:00.29

OAK RIDGE -- 19. Nathan Bolin 17:50.88; 87. Drew Kranawetter 19:23.98; 117. Jordan Barker 19:51.54

ST. VINCENT -- 3. Levi Krauss 17:03.11; 11. Isaac Baer 17:34.54; 24. Andrew Lipe 17:53.64; 38. Joseph Baer 18:25.82; 58. Sam Baer 18:50.84; 86. Dominic Sauer 19:21.65; 137. Peyton Doza 20:16.14

ZALMA -- 5. Peyton Ford 17:18.09; 15. Alex Steinberg 17:41.85; 17. Jacob Steinberg 17:43.39; 115. Luke Robertson 19:50.48; 133. Charles Freeman 20:10.18