Kelly takes fourth at state meet

JEFFERSON CITY - The Kelly High School boys cross country team finished in fourth place at the Class 2A state meet on Saturday at the Oak Hills Golf Center.

Adam Lofton earned all-state honors, placing 18th out of 174 runners with a time of 17:38.

"He had a great day -- he really wanted this," said Kelly team manager Janie Merrick. "He's been one of the top runners in just about every race. He showed a lot of guts this weekend. He saved us as far as team points."

Finishing in 42nd place was Lance Scheffer with a time of 18:06. Others were 49th place Adam Daughhetee (18:12), 81st place Ashley Hahn (18:38), 114 Michael Glastetter (19:01), 117 Lance Ferrell (19:05) and 118 Trey Simmons (19:06).

"Last year they finished fourth in the state and we expected to maybe move up a little bit," said Merrick. "But we had some injuries, without those I think we could have moved up. But overall, I'm real pleased with the fourth place finish."

St. Dominic took first place, followed by Priory and Pembroke Hill. A total of 16 teams competed in the meet.

On the girls side, Kelly's Shannon Lawson finished 104th with a time of 24:11.

Kelly will lose Lofton, Adam Daughhetee, Ashley Hahn and Lance Ferrell to graduation.

"It will be hard to replace these seniors, but we've got a good nucleus coming back and they can also be successful," said Merrick.

In other cross country action, Poplar Bluff's Ross MacDonald took 15th place in the Class 4A race with a time of 16:40.03. Sikeston's Sam Klimmek took 19th place in Class 3A with a time of 17:18.94.