Emporia ? Free State High cross country coach Steve Heffernan saw the depth of his boys team all season.

It was pretty obvious to everyone else Saturday.

The Firebirds, behind three runners in the top 11, took second place at the Class 6A regional meet at Jones Park, securing a team berth in the 6A state meet Saturday at Rim Rock Farm.

Led by Danny Schneider’s runner-up finish, the Firebirds finished with 61 points and were runners-up to host Emporia. After Schneider, who finished in a time of 16:33.00, senior Nick Squier (sixth), junior Aaron Trent (11th), junior Jared McDonald (20th) and sophomore Spencer Martin (22nd) capped a phenomenal day for the Free State boys.

“I think they did a wonderful job,” FSHS coach Steve Heffernan said. “To run this close to Emporia on their home course is excellent. It’s our first time over it. Had we raced it twice, it might’ve been a different turnout.”

The Free State boys joined the Lawrence High girls in qualifying for the state meet. The LHS girls finished third as a team, led by a fourth-place individual finish from sophomore Megan Johnson and a 10th-place finish by senior Meg Gentry.

Johnson caught several runners during her race and finished with a 4,000-meter time of 15:27.10.

“I felt really good through the second mile,” Johnson said. “It just came easy.”

Both Johnson and Gentry finished behind Free State sophomore Alysha Valencia, who was the lone girls qualifier for the Firebirds. Valencia led about half of the race, but eventually finished second to Olathe South’s Alysha Galbraith.

Valencia still finished with a personal-best time of 14:56.80.

“I gave my whole effort,” Valencia said. “My legs weren’t tired, and I tried to go faster, but my lungs couldn’t carry it.”

As a team, the Free State girls finished fifth with 134 points. Lawrence High’s boys also failed to qualify for state as a team, finishing sixth with 148 points. LHS senior Harry Swartz was the lone state qualifier for the boys, finishing 14th with a time of 16:59.80.

LHS junior Drew Vogel, usually the Lions’ No. 2 runner, failed to qualify for state Saturday after losing his shoe at the beginning of the race. He was forced to run with his shoe in his hand and, remarkably, still finished 23rd.

The top 15 individuals and top four teams earned trips to state.

“We had a little bit of difficulty,” LHS coach Chip Anderson said, “and Drew losing his shoe didn’t help.”

Several runners were baffled by the Emporia course, which weaved runners in and out of trees, across roads, through a disc golf course and near a cemetery. Squier, in fact, came away with a nasty welt on his shoulder after brushing into a disc golf target basket.

“I hated it,” Valencia said of the course. “It’s so winding and pointless.”

The city runners are familiar with Rim Rock Farm. Both Lawrence and Free State practice at Rim Rock often, and both have run races there this season.

With that in mind, many should have an edge at the state meet Saturday.

“Rim Rock has an intimidation factor for teams that don’t run it very much,” Heffernan said. “Our kids know how to race it to the best of their advantage. That’s a real important part of it.”