JEFFERSON CITY • Cross country coach Ryun Kasten could have started his description of Herculaneum's run to the Class 2 boys state title with, "A funny thing happened ..."
He resisted. Probably because it never seemed funny.
Kasten was the picture of glum as the Class 2 boys race ended Saturday at Oak Hills Golf Center at Jefferson City. One by one, he gathered his runners as they crossed the finish line and exited the chute. The Blackcats were as bummed as their coach.
"I thought we were like third or fourth," Kasten said. "We just kind of blew up."
Kasten has coached the Blackcats for 10 years. Hanging out with his dad, longtime Herculaneum coach Jim Kasten, he has been around cross country since he was in short pants. He doesn't guess wrong on the results very often.
Saturday, however, he was wrong. And he couldn't have been happier -- though it must have been a laughing-on-the-inside sort of happy.
Herculaneum, much to Kasten's surprise, won the state title for the second year in a row and the fourth time in five years. Though the Blackcats came in far short of last year's winning score of 71 points, they outdistanced the second-place tandem of Kansas City St. Pius X and Fatima by 20 points, 123-143.
Herculaneum was only the third boys team in the last decade to win with a score that topped 100.
Coming up with a head count for more than one team can be a maddening guessing game. The scene at the finish line is mayhem. With their red-and-white striped shorts, the Herculaneum runners are easy to pick out of a crowd, but beyond the Blackcats, one uniform blends into the next and the next and the next.
Last year, it was impossible to come up with an on-the-fly count when Ladue eked out a narrow win against Festus in the Class 3 boys race. This year, the same thing happened as Kasten tried to keep track of the finishes of his runners and the other contenders.
"You've got it set where you think they should be (finishing) and when we didn't do that, I didn't know, but I didn't think it was good," Kasten said.
Even after meet officials posted the scores, Kasten was slow to trade in being disappointed with the performance. He said part of what keeps the program in contention for state titles is its focus on performance rather than outcome.
"When you consistently want to be on top, that's what you have to do," he said. "That's what the kids expect."
At Herculaneum, where the boys and girls teams have collected 22 state championships, the kids also expect to win.
While the Blackcats may not have been in top form Saturday, they still brought home a pretty sweet consolation prize -- another state title.
"You'd rather run bad and win than run the race of your life and get beat," Kasten said.
GOING OUT ON TOP
Ryan Jackson and Jacob Coffman came through in a big way for Herculaneum. Jackson was second and Coffman fourth in the Class 2 race and accounted for more than half the Blackcats' winning margin.
Jackson, who led for approximately half a mile before eventual winner Brandon Shemonia of Scott City took over, walked off with a fistful of medals and an ear-to-ear smile.
"It's awesome just to be part of this," said Jackson, a three-time all-stater and a member of three championship teams.
There was no argument from Coffman. The two-time all-state medalist -- he was seventh last year -- eyed the crowds buzzing around the course and said it was impossible to think of a better setting for wrapping up a high school career.
"I've been looking forward to this day for five years," he said.
"I love the state meet," he said. "I love the crowd. I love that wherever you are, there's somebody cheering you on."
TITLE HOPEFULS
Drew White of Festus was the only area winner at state, but there's reason to be optimistic that the number of area winners will jump in 2012 and beyond.
Hannah Long of Eureka and Noah Kauppila of Marquette established themselves as the runners to beat next year. Long, a freshman, finished second (18 minutes 29.72 seconds) in the Class 4 girls race and has the best time among girls who can return next season. Kauppila, a sophomore, was fourth (16:15.68) among Class 4 boys and turned in the best time by an underclassman.
Kauppila's expectations were colored by a tough state run last year. A runner stepped on his heel early in the 2010 race, causing the back of his shoe to come off. By the time the Marquette runner got things straightened out, the race had passed him by and he settled for 82nd.
"I just wanted to finish better than last year," he said.
Kauppila's race plan was to get away from the crowd early -- wise, considering what happened last year -- and then get serious about racing.
"I just went out (fast) for the first mile and then picked a guy and stayed with him," he said.
Kauppilla made a smart choice at the mile mark -- he picked Drew Cargill of West Plains to shadow, and Cargill went on to finish third, seven seconds ahead of Kauppila.
Long, easily the best female runner in the area this season, had her sights set on eventual champ Samantha Nightingale of Blue Springs South from the sound of the starter's gun. Her plan was to stick close to Nightingale through the first two miles and make it a head-to-head race down the stretch.
"I was going to catch up to her in the last mile," she said. "I wasn't really sure what she was going to be doing that last mile."
The fact that Nightingale gave her the slip down the stretch didn't bother Long. "I was happy with second," she said.
Besides, there will be other races.
"It was a good first experience," she said of a freshman season where she won every race up to the state meet. "Now I know what to expect next year."
SUCCESS SOUNDS LIKE ... A COWBELL?
Somewhere down the line, Long or Kauppila or whoever the next St. Louis state champ happens to be will have to compare notes with Festus' White on the run up the final 200-300 meters to the finish line.
Heading toward the finish line at state, White didn't flash on two earlier all-state runs at Jefferson City. Or on winning the 3,200 at the Class 3 track meet last spring. Or on a lost opportunity to set the state record. So what was he thinking?
"There's a cowbell out there somewhere," he said.
Really?
"Yeah, somewhere near the finish you can hear a cowbell," he said.
After everything that goes into a state race, the cowbell is a welcome distraction going up that last hill.
"You're always scared," White said. "There's a lot of pressure on it because a lot of training goes into one race."
White hoped to chase the 12-year-old state record at Oak Hills. The record, set in 1999 by Matt Tegenkamp of Lee's Summit, is 15:26.7. It was possible, though, that by the time White stepped to the starting line the record could have been broken by Zach Herriott of Rockhurst or Caleb Wilfong of Rock Bridge. Running in the Class 4 race, Herriott or Wilfong were eyeing the record, too.
"Whatever time they had I was going to try to one-up it," White said.
Tegenkamp's record survived White, Herriott and Wilfong. Windy conditions slowed the runners at several spots on the course and made a record run impossible.
White's winning time reflected the windy conditions. After posting a string of sub-16 minute times this year, the Festus senior ran 16:05.71.
"I felt kind of sluggish, probably because of the wind," he said. "I wish I had run faster."
ALL-STAR SEASON
A number of area runners will extend their season a week or two beyond the state meet. This weekend is the Nike Midwest meet at Terre Haute, Ind. The following week is the Footlocker Midwest championships at Kenosha, Wis.
White ran a season-best 15:54.8 and finished 44th in an all-star field of more than 300 at the Nike meet last year. SLUH grad Tim Rackers, Rockhurst's Herriott and Westminster grad Daniel Everett all placed in the top 20 at the 2010 Nike meet. Nerinx Hall grad Colleen Quigley was ninth in the Nike girls race.
Among others, Eureka's Long will be in the field at the Footlocker regional.
These all-star events showcase some of the interesting connections runners make during their careers. Saga Barzowski (19:37) of Arcadia Valley and Kaitlyn Fischer (19:47) of Herculaneum, the Nos. 1 and 2 finishers in the Class 2 girls meet Saturday, will travel to Terre Haute together this weekend.
The all-star circuit isn't for everyone. Parkway Central all-stater Eric Sivill (15th place, 16:36) said he'd take a short break from running before starting training for the spring track season.
Marquette's Kauppila said his strong state run was the last outing of his fall season. "I'm glad it's finished," he said.
