Potosi Trojans win state, Thebeau places first

By DONN ADAMSON \ Daily Journal Sports Editor

JEFFERSON CITY - The Potosi Trojans broke state records and confirmed their status as the best boys high school cross country team in the state on Saturday with their first-place finish in the Class 3 race of the Missouri State Meet.

It was their second state championship in a row and Potosi's fifth overall with four in the last five years. The Trojans have won first place in every meet they have run in this season.

The Trojans broke the record for the All-Time Low Score with a an adjusted score of 16 as a team. The previous record was 19 set in 1955 by Central High School of Springfield. The adjusted score is the adding together the places of a team's top five runners after deleting all of the places of runners who participated only as individuals and not for a team.

West Plains, Class 3 state champions in 2004, came in second with a score of 115. Cape-Notre Dame, last year's Class 2 champs, came in third at 142, and Branson took fourth at 160.

The first-place finish also moved the Trojans into a tie for fourth place for the most first-place finishes.

Josh Thebeau was this year's individual state champion in Class 3 with a time of 15:37.91, the fastest time in Class 3 history and the fastest time on the day as it bested Kyle Rood's time of 15:38.12 for Ft. Zumwalt South in the Class 4 race which was run just before Class 3.

Thebeau's time broke Josh Mathis' record which he set last year as state champion at 15:41.6. Mathis came in second on Saturday at 15:49.37. The fastest recorded time at a state meet is 15:26.7 set in 1999 by Matt Tegenkamp of Lee's Summit in Class 4. Both Thebeau and Mathis are seniors.

The Trojans claimed all of the first three spots as sophomore Jacob Swearingen placed third with a time of 15:52. 71. The next runner in the race would not cross the finish line until 10 seconds later. Potosi's Nick Niggemann, a sophomore, took sixth with a time of 16:19.95, and Daniel Forbes, a senior, finalized the team score with an eighth place finish at 16:24.94.

‘Shoeless' Evan Kelly, called such because he lost a shoe with about a fourth of the race left to run, came in 19th at 17:02.59, good enough to still qualify him for All-State honors as a junior. Joe Skelton, a junior, came in 68th with a time of 17:57.92.

Ste. Genevieve's lone state qualifier, Will Everett, placed 15th 16:53.35, also good enough to make the All-State squad. The top 25 runners are automatically placed on the All-State Team.

In the boys Class 2 race, Arcadia Valley's Mickey King took second place with a time of 17:03.34 just nine seconds behind Justin Brown of Mountain Grove. King was the Tigers only runner who qualified for the state meet.

In the girls Class 3 meet, the Ste. Genevieve Hunters found things a little harder than last year when they won the state championship in Class 2 with only 27 points. This year's team took fourth place in Class 3 with a point total of 121.

West Plains was first with 73 points, Notre Dame de Sion was second at 84, and St. Francois Borgia took third at 107. Only the top four teams receive state plaques.

Sophomore Nicole Rottler was the Hunters' first runner to cross the finish line with a time of 20:27. 22 for 16h place. Senior Kristi Palmer took 20th with a time of 20:33.80. Junior Kelsea Inman came in 31st at 20:49.60, freshman Allana Palmer was 55th at 21:17.50, and Erica Naeger, a senior, finished 76th at 21:42. 17 to round out the team score. Rottler and Palmer both made All-State.

Freshman Lydia Huelskamp came in 84th at 21:47. 60, and senior Jessica Bollinger was 103 at 22:03.43.

Potosi had two runners in the meet who ran for individual honors only. Sophomore Megan Bourbon made the All-State team, placing 18th with a time of 20:32. 24. Katherine Fitzwater, a senior, was 71st with a time of 21:36. 97.

Farmington's Angela Turner finished only five seconds out of All-State honors with a time of 20:46.47, good enough for 28th place.

Brittani Johnson, a junior from West Plains won the Class 3 race with a time of 19:01.90, over 36 seconds ahead of second-place winner Alyssa Allison of Festus.