JEFFERSON CITY • Drew White was chasing Missouri cross country's triple crown. He wanted to win individual and team state championships, and he wanted to take a run at the 12-year-old state record at Oak Hills Golf Center.
The Festus senior settled for one out of three. White won the Class 3 state title going away, but his team finished second and windy conditions made a run at the state record impossible.
"I'm happy, but ... the team thing brings it down," White said. "It was our last shot at getting a title as a team."
While White's Festus team finished second in Class 3 for the second year in a row, the Tigers' Jefferson County Conference rival Herculaneum was the only St. Louis boys team to win a state championship. Herculaneum didn't have its best day, but managed to scramble by Kansas City St. Pius X and Fatima for the Class 2 title.
Paced by Ryan Jackson and Jacob Coffman, second and fourth, respectively, the Blackcats finished with 123 points. St. Pius and Fatima tied for second with 143.
The state title - Herculaneum's fourth in five years and 12th overall - came as a surprise to Blackcats coach Ruyn Kasten.
"I thought we were dead at the two-mile mark," he said.
There was some grumbling that the victory wasn't decisive, but Jackson brushed off the talk about what could have been or should have been.
"You know what, a win's a win," he said.
Besides Herculaneum, only Festus and MICDS managed to finish in the top three in a boys team race. Warrensburg won the Class 3 title with 72 points. Festus was second with 96, and MICDS third with 113.
The Class 3 boys race featured the day's best showing by area runners. With White leading the way, St. Louis runners grabbed five of the top six spots. Nathan Henry of De Soto was third, followed by Amos Bartelsmeyer of MICDS, Kirk Smith of John Burroughs and Devan Wright of St. Dominic. Travis Connelly of Lutheran South also broke into the top 10, placing ninth.
Festus, the 2009 state champ, was edged out by Ladue last year in a close race for a team title.
"I wish we had done better," White said. "Everybody worked so hard."
While some of Saturday's disappointments could be written off as operator error, White's run the state record of 15 minutes, 26.7 seconds set by Matt Tegenkamp of Lee's Summit in 1999 was blown off course by to a steady wind that affected all eight championship races Saturday.
White turned in a winning time of 16:05.71, eight seconds off his second-place time in 2010. White had the day's best showing by a St. Louis runner and the third fastest time of the day behind Class 4 leaders Caleb Wilfong of Rock Bridge (15:54.13) and Kolton Sheldon of Lee's Summit North (16:01.17).
"It stood you up, and you felt like you were going nowhere," White said.
Record or no, Festus coach Bryant Wright said he thought White's showing Saturday - and all season - put him in a special - and select - group.
"You can argue he's the best in the state," he said.
