The Warrenton cross country sent three runners to the Class 4 state meet on Nov. 7 at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

And all of them left Columbia with something to celebrate. 

Matt Craven ended his junior year with a personal-best time of 17:48 in his 95th-place finish, freshman Landon Neace came in 143rd with an 18:56 in his first state appearance and senior Makenna Faubion finished with her third-best time of 22:01 to place 102nd. 

Warrenton coach Jeremy Collins said he was thrilled with the efforts from the three runners.

“It was a really good performance and I told them (before the race), do your best, be tough and it’s just like every other meet,” Collins said. 

Faubion’s senior year was nothing short of successful. As a first-year cross country runner, she  collected six personal records, a second team all-conference honor and a personal record of 21:33.

Faubion was one of 160 runners who competed in the race.

“As the race went on, she moved up after every kilometer and she ran tough,” Collins said. “It was her first year ever running and she just had a fantastic year.”

Faubion’s forefront goal was qualifying for state. She said her experience exceeded her expectations. 

“The atmosphere is so different from any regular race and everybody worked really hard to get here,” Faubion said. “I’m just so happy to be here. I loved it.” 

Faubion’s time with the team and as a runner is something she plans to carry with her for a long time.

“I worked super hard and I wasn’t supposed to be this good, but I never took any practice easy and I always pushed myself to the limit,” Faubion said. “Freshman year, I would have never imagined myself doing cross country and the thought of racing made me so nervous, but you always should try new things. Those are two things I learned that I can apply to my life later on.” 

Neace’s freshman season ended with promise. He stayed closely behind Craven for the majority of the race until he sustained a hamstring injury. 

“He’s a tough kid and he finished the race regardless of that,” Collins said. 

Neace steadily progressed throughout the year, going from times in the low 20’s to running a personal-best of 17:55 on Oct. 24. 

“Even with the hamstring injury, he still ran faster today than what he was running at the beginning of the season. With three years left, his future is really bright,” Collins said. 

Craven wrapped up his junior year with his second trip to state. He said it is something he is hoping to build off of. 

“It hurt, but I knew I was on course to PR so I thought I might as well keep going because there’s no point in giving up now,” Craven said. 

Collins said he was happy to see Craven finish in the top 100. There were 157 runners who finished the race.

“It’s always good for us to get somebody in the top 100 and it’s a good way to go into his senior year with a positive note,” Collins said. “Next year, it’ll be good to have (Craven) and (Neace) help each other out. Hopefully we’ll get a couple of other runners with them and have a good season.” 

Craven ended his season more motivated than ever and his offseason training has already begun. 

“I hope to drop my times into the low 16s, maybe high 15s and hopefully get a state medal. I’m going to be training throughout the entire winter, spring and summer to try and drop my times a lot so I can end my high school career with a bang,” Craven said.