Seeing the back of Warrenton teammate Matt Craven’s blonde hair come into view was just the spark Landon Neace needed at the GAC XC Conference Meet in McNair Park on Oct. 16. 

“I really wanted to try to go for him,” the Warrenton freshman said.

Neace made a huge sprint to the finish line to place sixth in a personal-record time of 18 minutes, 49 seconds, shaving nine seconds off his previous best time. He earned first-team all-conference honors.

Craven also received first-team all-league notice as he placed fifth with an 18:41. Neace said even though he didn’t beat Craven, he was determined to turn in a strong finish in the race.

“As the gun blew, I had a slow start and towards the end, I wanted to stop but I kept going,” Neace said. “I saw Orchard Farm (towards the end) and just went.” 

Warrenton coach Jeremy Collins was impressed with Neace’s performance. 

“Based on times going into conference, he was right around the 15th spot. For him to get sixth in a pretty good time on that course, it was great to see,” Collins said. “He went out there, competed and really pushed himself.” 

The first team selection came as a happy surprise for Neace. He admitted there were moments, especially with one challenging hill on the course, where he wanted to quit running, but a simple discipline kept him moving. 

“I kept telling myself ‘no,’ and just kept going,” Neace said. 

Collins said he was pleased with the efforts of both boys and girls teams. Warrenton placed second with 48 points in the boys race and third with 65 points in the girls race.

“It was a really good meet. Our goal for boys was to get second place and our goal for the girls was to get third and we were able to do that,” Collins said. 

Warrenton runners who made second-team all-conference in the varsity races were Jonathan Sweitzer (eighth, 18:55), Ken Le (14th, 20:32), Makenna Faubion (ninth, 23:13) and Sophie Bennett (13th, 25:29). 

Trinity Davidson won the conference championship in the junior varsity girls race in 26:34. Madeline McAtee (10th, 30:39). Charlotte Naes earned first team in 27:21. Taryn Sharp (11th, 35:55) earned second-team all-league honors with their finishes.

“(Sweitzer) did a little better than what was expected, (Le) was ranked around 20th to 22nd and he had a PR on the course and (Bennett) was ranked 16th, got 14th and ran a really great race,” Collins said. “Also, watching (Davidson) win the JV race was really neat to see.” 

Other Warriors who competed in conference were Easton Miller (23rd, 21:42), Alex Cutler (27, 22:58), Payton Street (15th, 26:14), Maria Garcia-Baquero Tapia (16th, 26:18), Ava Schneider (17th, 26:32), Steve Schmitt (15th, 24:58) and Noah Joens (19th, 27:46). 

The Warriors will compete in the Class 4, District 3 championship meet on Nov. 1 at Sioux Passage Park in Florissant. 

“Sioux Passage is ranked as one of the hilliest, toughest courses in Missouri, so we’ll be working on more of the mental part of it,” Collins said. “Physically, we’re in good shape so we’re just still working on getting ready mentally for that race.” 

Collins noted his team has done a workout at the course before and will hold some hill workouts during practice to help prepare them for districts.

“We’re trying to get them to understand how it could feel and what they need to do during the race and getting them to be tough. We’ll be working on form with things like driving the knees and using your arms – just the little things that we’ll be doing the next couple of weeks before districts,” Collins said. 

Neace said he hopes to turn in a strong performance at his first district meet.

“After Border Wars last week, it’s going to be 10 times harder so I have to go in there with an open mind and run hard,” Neace said. 

Warrenton will compete in its last regular season meet on Oct. 24 in the Clayton High School invitational