Blue Valley West’s Stuart McNutt finishes 21st in national race

Sitting on the beach in San Diego, Blue Valley West senior Stuart McNutt could not help but think that his last two weeks have been a reward.

He was on the beach for the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, where he placed 21st out of 40 runners with a time of 15 minutes, 51 seconds. That followed a trip to Portland, Ore., where he placed 10th in the Nike Cross Country Nationals last weekend.

“It seems like all the hard work is starting to pay off when I get to come to places like this,” McNutt said. “It was a really fun, laid back weekend, and I got to meet a lot of good people. It’s been a great experience.”

Although he enjoyed the setup, McNutt was disappointed in his time, which he attributed to a few different factors. He had won the Kansas Class 5A state championship in October with a time of 15 minutes, 24.50 seconds.

“I definitely thought I could do a lot better,” McNutt said. “It was a long season, and I approached it a little differently than I did most races. I’m not really used to a field of only 40 kids so it was a little different than what I’m used to.”

McNutt, who is signed to run at Tulsa University, already has his eyes on track season where he will compete in a handful of other national meets including the Dream Mile in the Kansas Relays.

This story was originally published December 13, 2014 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Blue Valley West’s Stuart McNutt finishes 21st in national race."