LEMAY • With a little less than a half-mile until the finish at the Hancock Invitational on Saturday, Amanda Behnke knew what she needed to do. But her body just didn't want to cooperate.
"I felt like I was fighting myself," said the Lutheran South senior, who at the time was locked in a three-way battle for the lead with Ste. Genevieve's Shelby Werner and Elizabeth Kiblinger of Cape Notre Dame. "I gave it all I had."
Her finishing kick wasn't enough to stay with Werner or Kibinger. Behnke had to settle for third in the Class 3 girls race at the 49th annual event at Jefferson Barracks Park.
Werner ended up on top with a time of 20 minutes 28.98 seconds. Kiblinger put on a burst just before the finish line in and finished in 20:32.81, nipping Behnke (20:33.60) by a split second.
"We're always telling each other: ‘Don't get passed in the chute," a frustrated Behnke said.
Behnke was passed by Kiblinger a few yards before the finish line. Werner was able to open up a bit of distance between the two in the last 200 yards.
"Finishing in the top five was my goal," said Werner, who was seventh at Hancock last season. "It felt amazing. I feel like all my hard work since last year has paid off."
Behnke knows all about the work it takes to compete at the upper levels of her sport. Coming off a ninth-place finish at last year's state meet, she rolled up mile after mile during the summer.
Hancock was a strange meet for Behnke because there were no Lancers on hand for her to lead. Behnke and senior Travis Connelly were the only South runners entered in the race. Connelly wound up finishing the Class 3 boys race in 17:51.70, which was good enough for 10th place.
"It's weird not having my team here," Behnke said. "Normally I'm the one giving them a pep talk. But none of the other girls are competing."
South coach Nathan Johnston said Hancock can be an overwhelming meet for some of his athletes, especially those who are not elite runners.
"I think it was best for our other runners to get a break," Johnston said. "This is a sport where kids can get worn down really easily.
"Every athlete hits a wall and the question is whether they can break that wall down. ... That wall is at a different place for everyone. She (Amanda) broke it down last year."
Behnke may have made that jump, but Johnston said she still has a way to go to end her career on a high note.
"We want to put her in a position where she can go out on top as a senior," Johnston said. "She has a good shot to finish in the top five."
Behnke, who had to choose between cross country and softball a few years ago, has been spurred on by the success of older brother Adam, who is a senior cross country and track athlete at Columbia University.
"I remember watching Adam run and seeing how much of a family the cross country team was," she said. "He had to give up sports he was good at, too. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made."
Like Adam, Amanda is an excellent student and is interested in science. She hopes to run in college and is interested in doing it at Syracuse, South Carolina or Belmont, off of which have programs in exercise science.
Johnston is focused on preparing Behnke for one last run at the state meet.
"If you look at the top runners, most of them are freshmen and sophomores," he said. "Few are seniors. A lot of it has to do with physical changes in women, like getting hips. It isn't that they aren't good runners, but they are competing against those who have not gone through some of the changes."
Though Behnke has made great strides during her career, Johnston said he and the senior standout still are reviewing race strategies.
"We're still toying with how she runs. She had been going out really quick, so we had her hold back this time," Johnston said of the meet.
A more measured start meant Behnke needed a bigger finish. But when it was time to pick up the pace, Johnston said, "the body wasn't responding to what the brain was telling her to do."
Since the Jefferson Barracks course is similar to the demanding state-meet course, Behnke really wanted to break 20 minutes on Saturday.
"When I didn't do that, it was pretty disappointing," she said. "It isn't the end of the world, but I wanted to be running faster by now. I know I am in a good position, but Hancock opened my eyes a little bit."
Johnston said that even before Hancock, Behnke was focused on the state meet. And that's where her thoughts need to be.
"In the end, that's the only race that matters," he said. "As long as we get this figured out, she'll be fine."
Jones and Rachel Brekrus (5th, 20:58.28) led the Falcons to a second place finish with 73 points. Only the Lafayette Lancers, whose runners finished in the No. 7 through 10 spots, did better with a score of 47.
On the boys side, Jake Bast of Oakville was the area's top finisher with an eighth-place showing in the Class 4 race.
