Blue Springs South junior Tori Findley places third in Missouri Class 4 cross country meet

The route winds across Oak Hills Golf Course, up steep hills and down others, before making a final turn toward an incline approaching the finish line. The last stretch is notoriously referred to as “Heartbreak Hill” by some of its runners, and that’s why many view it as one of the most challenging courses in the state.

And why Blue Springs South sophomore Tori Findley loves it. Findley calls herself a tough-course runner, and that style is perhaps never more applicable than at Oak Hills.

Findley took third place at the Missouri Class 4 state championship meet Saturday, her time of 18 minutes, 7.18 seconds finishing behind only Lafayette seniors Anna West and Sarah Nicholson.

“It’s probably my favorite course,” said Findley, a sophomore. “After being here last year, I knew all the turns and twists. I told myself I was going to make it up the hills and that’s where I would make up ground. I’m not sure I did it every time, but that’s what I tried to do.”

Findley’s teammate, sophomore Danielle Hotalling, placed 10th, helping the Jaguars to a fifth-place team finish.

Platte County sophomore Rebekah Geddes took sixth.

Raymore-Peculiar senior Kiley Deain used the final stretch to move into ninth place, a finish that propelled the Panthers to a second-place team standing. Lafayette ran away with the first-place trophy.

“Last year, I got passed by like five people on the hill, and this year, I did a little bit of passing, which was so much more fun,” Deain said. “It was a weird feeling this year having enough energy at the end of the race to do that.”

CLASS 4 BOYS

In the moments after a second-place showing in last year’s Missouri Class 4 boys meet, Kearney runner Clayton Adams turned his attention toward 2015. More specifically, from only a few steps off the course, he set a goal to win a state championship.

Those hopes quickly vanished.

Adams fell behind early Saturday and never recovered, settling for fourth place in the Class 4 boys race. He was still the top local placer with a time of 15 minutes, 58.96 seconds, but that equaled a 15-second dip from his time as a sophomore in 2014.

“I was all over the place today. I just never felt great,” Adams said. “I would fall back and then catch up, then fall back and then catch up. I needed to just catch up and just hold on, but I couldn’t do it.”

Blue Springs sophomore Victor Mugeche was seventh; Rockhurst junior John Luder was eighth; and Blue Springs senior Cody Berry took ninth.

Rockhurst finished second in the team standings, behind Lafayette.

CLASS 3 BOYS

In 2011, Pembroke Hill then-freshman Evan Peterson ran a cross-country race for the first time.

Four years later, he capped his high school career with a second-place finish in the Missouri Class 3 boys meet.

Peterson completed the course in 16 minutes, 23.18 seconds, behind Ste. Genevieve junior Ben Naeger.

“This has been a really good four years for me,” Peterson said. “I’ve just come to love running, especially the team aspect.”

Pembroke Hill freshman Reece Jones was 10th. Pleasant Hill took fifth in the Class 3 team standings.

NOTABLES

A burst across the finish line moved Grain Valley freshman Mariah Lister into fourth place in the Missouri Class 3 girls race — 0.07 seconds ahead of O’Hara sophomore Caroline Meyers, who was fifth.

“I tried to save some energy for the end,” Lister said. “I was just running as fast as I could up that hill.”

In Missouri Class 1 boys, Lutheran was third in the team standings, led by junior Aaron Boatman, who placed eighth.

In Missouri Class 1 girls, Lone Jack took third, and Lutheran was fifth.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Blue Springs South junior Tori Findley places third in Missouri Class 4 cross country meet."