Lopez takes 96th place in girls race
When coach Andy Youngworth saw him near the three-mile marker, Clayton Whitehead was making his move to pull ahead in the Class 4 boys state cross country championship.
The Carthage senior couldn’t hold off Kirkwood senior Christian Baker down the stretch, but still earned second place on Saturday to wrap up one of the great seasons in Carthage history.
“Obviously he did everything he could do, not just on that day but in the weeks and months leading up to it to put himself in a position to battle for a state championship,” Youngworth said.
Running at the Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City, Whitehead was in fourth place after a mile with nine runners within five seconds of each other for the lead. At the two-mile mark he had moved up into third, and a group of four runners had separated from the field. After three miles, Whitehead was leading by three-tenths of a second over Kirkwood’s Baker.
“It turned into a two-man battle and I didn’t see him again until about the three-mile mark when they come to the clubhouse in a big downhill and then turn to an uphill,” Youngworth said. “I saw him for most of that and he made a great move on a downhill right before the three-mile marker. He gained a little separation and turned the corner to head to the finish line and the Baker kid just had a little bit more than Clayton did. I don’t question his decision when to go, he felt it was the right time but that Baker kid was a state champion in the two-mile so this wasn’t a fluke. I know Clayton would have liked to be the first boy to win a state championship in cross country, but second place is a great accomplishment as well and the time he ran was awesome.”
Whitehead finished in 15:44.22, while Baker won with a time of 15:42.03. The third-place runner was 11 seconds behind Whitehead.
Carthage senior Christian Talamantez finished 101st in the race with a time of 17:36.23 and junior Noah Talamantez was 146th in 18:10.52.
“It was Christian’s first time ever at the state meet and that says a lot about his athletic ability and his perseverance throughout the course of the year,” Youngworth said.
“Noah struggled on an uphill early in the race and he had a hard time getting back into it. I know he’s better than 146th in the state. The good thing is he took it as a learning experience and he contacted me later that night to talk about his goals for track season and what he needs to do to do well in the spring. That says a lot about him too that he’s not letting what in his mind was probably a disappointing race from looking towards the future.”
In the girls race, Carthage junior Jenari Lopez finished 96th with a time of 21:09.88. She was running at state for the third-straight year.
“She probably went out a little too fast,” Youngworth said. “I think if she would have reversed her race a little bit and been more cautious in the first mile she would have been able to finish stronger. She had probably the toughest race of them all. It was the first race of the day, it was really pretty cold still and she’s there alone. She had teammates that warmed up with her which was awesome but as far as trying to run a race strategy, she just couldn’t quite improve on what she’s done in the past. Qualifying three years says a lot about her athletic ability and perseverance. I’m looking forward to her senior year.”
