Once Chris Fulton hits his stride, few high school athletes are faster.

The only problem the Lawrence High senior had Saturday at the Kansas Relays was getting to that point.

Fulton had a slow start in the 100-meter dash finals and couldn’t catch Overland Park Aquinas runner Drew Moreno, who finished in 10.61 seconds to Fulton’s 10.96. Moreno, the defending state champ in the 100 and 400, nailed his start and looked smooth to the finish.

“(Fulton) just doesn’t get out of the blocks real well,” LHS coach Jerry Skakal said. “Never has. But I’ve seen him improve on that since last year. He knows it’s his weakness, and he’s working on it.”

Still, Fulton’s race was impressive.

He was the last man out of the blocks, but caught everyone by the 70-meter mark.

“Pretty much all last year, and some of this year, I’ve tried to catch people,” he said. “This year, I’m trying to get out in front and stay in front.”

Fulton, who tied the school record in back-to-back days earlier this season, will have a chance to catch Moreno again Friday at the Manhattan Invitational, and when the teams face each other at the Class 6A regional May 23.

Fulton was the one of the city’s three medal winners Saturday, but the final seven running events — three of which were high school events — were canceled because of lightning. That kept LHS senior Dylan McClain out of the 1,600.

The Free State boys’ 3,200 relay team of Alex Rock, Hiral Bhakta, Joe Sicilian and Adrian Ludwig finished fourth, running 8:05.95, just seven-tenths of a second behind third-place Lockhart (Texas) High. The LHS 800 relay team of Deshon Frye-Kerr, Ian Handshy, Johnny Rathbun and Fulton finished sixth in 1:32.04.

The Relays are a gathering point for the best high school athletes in the Midwest, so not placing isn’t unusual.

The FSHS girls 800 relay of Kelley Perme, Amber Beierly, Kelsey Randall and Kristin Baker broke the school record and still finished 12th — behind the LHS squad of Shari Lassiter, Alicia Waymaster, Lindsay Garito and Audrey Pope, which was ninth.

Perme also was ninth in the 100 hurdles, running in 16.56 seconds. Considering the stiff headwind, that time was better than it looked.

“The nice thing about Kelley is she always comes to play for the big meets. She’s always been a very solid performer,” FSHS coach Steve Heffernan said. “It’s really nice having someone you can feel confident with them in a big meet and count on them to do well.”

Fulton’s the guy Skakal knows he can count on, and, even if Fulton never catches Moreno this season, Skakal laid out a sweet alternative.

“Our coach was talking to us about another guy who always got second, but they won a state championship that year,” Fulton said. “Hopefully, we could get a state championship.”