By Richard Polen
rpolen@joplinglobe.com
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — College Heights Christian School, led by a record-breaking performance by Caleb Hoover, won the Missouri Class 1 cross country championship Saturday at Oak Hills Golf Center.
Hoover’s time of 16 minutes, 22 seconds shattered the Class 1 record of 16:33.9 set by Tommy Neal of Leeton in 2000. Trenton Morris of College Heights was second in 17:06 and Joshua Carter was fourth in 17:58.
Still, the times fell short of what some of the Cougars were expecting. “Everybody has been running slow today,” Hoover said. “It’s hot and people are collapsing because of it. It’s quite a bit slower this year.”
Adam Lewis, a freshman, was 44th, and sophomore Derek Hoover was 50th in rounding out the Cougars’ effort, coached by Thane Garnett.
“We planned to keep a fast pace, but when we hit the mile marker, everybody slowed down,” Hoover said. “You can’t do that (pace) in the heat, not when you’re not used to it.”
Morris, who won the Class 1 boys championship in 2008, had a similar perspective.
“In between the mile marker and the two-mile marker, we really fell behind,” Morris said. “I didn’t notice the wind. I didn’t really notice anything until after I got to the top of the hill.”
The final 500 yards of the course is uphill, and runners who were unable to keep up with the leaders struggled all day with the grueling layout of the course.
“We didn’t know how bad it was going to be,” Hoover said. “We took off fast and it hurt us, a lot. And we were in one of the first races this morning.”
Hoover’s time was tied for the third fastest of the day. Maksim Korolev of Harrisonville won in Class 3 in 15:48, while Springfield Kickapoo’s Danny Thater prevailed in Class 4 with a time of 16:12.
East Newton was seventh in Class 2, led by junior Jacob Watson’s 19:01, which was 47th overall.
In Class 3, McDonald County led area schools with a 10th-place finish.
