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The Bonner Springs High School boys' cross country team saw its season come to an end last Saturday at the 5A State meet at Rim Rock Farm near Lawrence. BSHS turned in one of its better performances in recent years with a 10th place finish.

"Overall, I thought the guys did a good job. We competed," said Bonner Springs coach Bill Downing. "I thought during the middle part of the race the kids were hurting, but we finished strong, which is nice to see. When a lot of other teams were faltering on their form, we were maintaining it, which shows we're in pretty good condition."

On a course marked with the likes of past Kansas greats Glen Cunningham, Jim Ryun and Wes Santee, and with names on the course such as Suicide Turn, Copperhead Trail, Teardrop Downsweep and Billy Mills Ascent, the Braves scored 232 team points for its 10th place finish, two spots higher than a season ago.

Runners from Bonner Springs were near the head of the pack as the 5A state cross country meet got under way Saturday near Lawrence. The Braves placed 10th in the state competition.

"Bob Timmons (former track coach at KU) has done a good job with this course," Downing said. "It's a true cross country course. You run into the woods and there are a lot of turns and hills. You aren't going to necessarily run your best times here, but it's sometimes going to come down to who's toughest mentally."

Bonner Springs was paced by a seventh-place finish from senior Brock Peterson, who ran the rugged 5K course in a time of 17:03.56. At last year's state meet, Peterson placed 15th on the same course.

"I wanted to get in the top five, that was my goal," Peterson said. "But I'm happy with my performance. I felt good. I was glad I could pick it up at the end. During the middle part of the course, I was a little weak, mentally, but I picked it up at the end. I was glad I had a strong finish."

"It's by far the toughest course I've ever ran, but it's a lot of fun," said Peterson of the course, which is north of Lawrence. "If you train for the hills and prepare for them mentally, it's not that much of a change when you get here. But for some of the western schools, like Liberal and Great Bend, where there's not a lot of hills, I feel like I have an advantage over them."

Peterson was in a fight for the seventh spot coming into the final 600 meters, but down the stretch, he outsprinted a pack of runners to the finish line.

"He just took off and blew those guys away," Downing said.

Peterson's seventh-place finish at state is the best since John Miller took seventh in the 4A state meet in 1996. It was also the best BSHS placing in 5A since Steve Christensen was eighth in 1986.

Bonner Springs sophomore Steve Lutjen, who finished 46th with a time of 18:02.76, added that the course was tough.

"The hills killed me. It's a good running course, but it is hard. You go under some bridges and through the woods. They have it set up pretty good with a lot of turns and hills. You can get passed real easy if you stay on the outside.

"I wanted to get out there so I wouldn't get trapped behind everybody," Lutjen said about his quick start. "I was in third going into the first 800, then I let up a little bit so I would have something at the end."

Other Bonner Springs runners competing were: Mike Ashford, 65th, 18:25.88; Chris Stakely, 86th, 19:08.20; Donnie Shepherd, 87th, 19:12.72; Jon Van Maren, 92nd, 19:37.74; Jack Holtzen, 94th, 20:07.28.

The Bonner Springs boys were joined at the state meet by sophomore Morgan McConico, the Bravettes lone entrant in the girls' race.

McConico, Bonner's first female to compete in a state cross country meet since the early 1980s, sprinted out to a fast start as she was in the top three in the first quarter-mile. The fast start hurt McConico in the middle part of the race, but she came back and passed 10-15 runners in the final 600 yards to finish the 2-mile race in 14:32, good for 60th.

"I told her to get out quick, but maybe it was a little too quick," Downing said. "But she did a real good job on the hills and caught some people, then with about 600 yards left, she started picking off people. If you can finish strong like that, it means you've had a good race. I'm looking for good things from Morgan in the future."

To most observers, it appeared McConico ran a good race despite not having any teammates in the competition, but McConico felt she didn't run as well as she hoped.

"I didn't run my race. I thought I ran pretty badly. But next year I'll know what I need to change, like not starting out so fast and to just run my own race."

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