Bryant Wright is ready to stop talking and start racing.
The last week hasn't been easy for the Festus cross country coach or his runners. The favorites to win their second Class 3 state title in three years, Wright and the Tigers have been in idle since running to another district title last week.
“The training's all done,” Wright said.
Training isn't the only thing Wright has crossed off his team's things-to-do list this week. He also has scratched talking about state titles from the Tigers' list. Officially, Festus has been angling for a grab at the state title since its first practice in mid-August. Unofficially, a title run has been the Tigers' dream since Ladue snatched away the crown by a paper-thin five-point margin last November.
By mid-week, Wright figured he and the Tigers had said just about all there was to say about Saturday's Missouri state championship meet at Jefferson City.
“I told them today, this will be the last we talk about it,” he said Wednesday.
It won't be easy to stay mum. The Tigers have been one of the area's top racing stories for the last year. For one thing, there is the memory of last year's back-and-forth duel with Ladue for the Class 3 title. No one knew who was going to walk off with the the championship plaque until the results were announced at the awards ceremony.
“I didn't really think we had won, but people kept coming up to me and telling me we did,” Wright said. “It's impossible to tell sometimes. You kind of go by your gut feeling, and I didn't feel like we won.”
Saturday, the Festus boys in Class 3 and the Herculaneum boys and girls in Class 2 look like they will be the area's best bets for team titles. St. Louis University High and Marquette have been the top Class 4 boys teams and Eureka and Francis Howell have been the top Class 4 girls teams
Individually, Drew White of Festus (Class 3) and Hannah Long of Eureka (Class 4) have been the area's top runners and have solid title hopes. The Class 2 girls race could produce fireworks with defending champ Courtney Rogers of Lutheran St. Charles trying to hold off challengers Kaitlyn Fischer of Herculaneum and Saga Barzowski of Arcadia Valley.
Festus' duel with Ladue is old news as far as Wright is concerned. More notable is White's run at the individual title – and maybe the course record – and Festus's new team-to-beat role.
White picked up this fall right where he left off when he won the Class 3 3,200-meter run last spring. He has several of the state's best times this fall. His 15 minute, 19 second run at Forest Park in the season's first big event remains the area's fastest 5,000-meter run of the year. He ran 15:24 and beat defending Class 4 state champ Zach Herriott of Rockhurst in a ballyhooed showdown at Rim Rock Farms in Lawrence, Kan.
White isn't predicting a state title, but it's tough to argue with his cross country resume – two-time all-stater, key member of the 2009 state champs and runner-up last fall.
“It's my race to lose, really,” he said.
While there's no obvious challenger, White notes that the state meet inspires terrific efforts.
“It's the essence of the state meet,” he said. “I'm sure at least one of those kids is going to have a great day.”
If there's a surprise challenge, it could come from White's teammate Shane Brown. White is the fastest returning runner in the Class 3 race; Brown, who was 11th last year, is the second fastest.
“I want to see those boys get first and second,” Wright said.
As for the state record, the time to beat is 15:26.7, a mark set by Matt Tegenkamp of Lee's Summit in 1999. White ran 15:57 last year, but has posted a number of record-caliber runs this year. Interestingly, with Rockhurst's Herriott taking aim at the mark in the Class 4 race, the record could be a few ticks faster than 15:26.7 by the time White steps to the starting line.
Wright brushed off worries about White run at the title. He said the senior is up to any challenge.
“He never gives up,” Wright said.
That approach rubs off on the rest of the Festus lineup. “He sets the tone for us,” Wright said.
White and Brown are a pretty unbeatable one-two punch, and Festus is getting help behind the stars. At last week's district it had five runners in the top 13. Coming in behind White and Brown were Christian Hunter in fifth, Max Manansala eighth and Dakota Hunter 13th. Festus's sixth and seventh runners, Stephen Wolk and Sean Brown, were 16th and 21st at the district.
Wright, who didn't have a good feeling when officials were sorting out the numbers at last year's state championships, has a good feeling heading into Saturday's race.
“If we can just run our race, something good can happen,” he said.
