BonnerSprings.com

Lawrence — Perfection, it turns out, is extremely difficult to attain.

That is what Bonner Springs senior cross country star Brooks Ballou found out Saturday at Rim Rock Farm.

Ballou entered the race undefeated through six meets this year, and he was confident he would be among the top runners at the Class 5A state championships.

Six straight times he ran to his potential. Six straight times he did not make a mistake that cost him.

However, everything went wrong at Rim Rock according to Ballou, who finished the race in 11th with a time of 16:57.41 — three seconds behind his time from a year ago when he placed 10th.

“It went about as bad as it could have gone today,” a disappointed Ballou said after his race. “Finishing eleventh is a lot lower than I would have liked.”

He was sitting pretty at the two-mile mark and felt confident, but everything fell apart when the course dipped into a tree-shaded hollow. Ballou stepped in a soggy patch of mud and his feet sunk six inches into the ground for three steps. To get out of the spot, he said he had to push extra hard, and it cost him some strength.

With so much energy already exerted and falling behind, Ballou had to start his sprint earlier than he had planned.

“I started my kick at the base of the hill, and I think it cost me in the end,” Ballou said. “I was so far back from (the leaders), I knew I had to start kicking then to even make it a race.”

Upon crossing the finish line, the exhausted Ballou crumpled to the ground. Emotion and exhaustion had overcome the senior who had trained for this moment for five months, only to come up short.

After being helped to his feet by a trainer, he was embraced by his father, Tim Ballou.

“I was proud of him,” Tim Ballou said. “He just works so hard. I hated for (him to struggle) today, but (bad things) can happen at any time — it’s just the way it is.”

BSHS coach Bill Downing also was proud of his senior.

“He went out a little fast and the middle of the race cost him, but he finished strong,” Downing said. “Sometimes you get stuck — it’s part of cross country.”

McPherson senior Adam Porter took the individual state title with a time of 16:07.97. Wichita Bishop Carroll took the team title and had three runners finish in the top 10.

Mandy Ballou, Brooks’ sister, also qualified individually for state. Expectations were not as high for her as they were for her brother, but the freshman turned in an outstanding performance. She finished 47th with a time of 17:35.56, but she jumped more than 20 spots from where her qualifying time indicated she’d finish (74th).

Her confident performance wouldn’t have been predicted based on her demeanor before the race. She looked nervous while waiting at the starting line about five minutes before the race began.

The nerves disappeared when her brother came up from behind her and hugged her. He gave some advice that seemed to ease her mind.

“He told me he was really proud of me,” Mandy Ballou said. “He told me to go get it. It made me really happy to have my brother come up and give me a hug and tell me he is proud of me. It made me realize that no matter how I do, he is going to be proud of me. I am proud of him too. He is one of my best friends.”

Ballou wisely paced herself early in the race while other runners went out too fast. As the race went on, she quickly made up ground. She pushed hard up the hills and passed more runners. She used a strong kick at the end.

“I thought that I might tire out,” she said. “So for me to finish where I did, it was a really big accomplishment. I am really excited and try my hardest to keep moving on up.”

Junior Mackenzie Maki from Wichita Kapaun-Mt. Carmel was the state champion with a time of 15:01.52. St. Thomas Aquinas won the team title.

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