Somewhere between finishing fifth at last year’s state cross country meet and Saturday’s massive Rim Rock Farm High School Classic, Free State High’s Alysha Valencia finally became a runner.

No joke. Valencia turned in her best performance at the famed Rim Rock course, posting a 4,000 meter time of 15:14.00 and finishing fourth out of 159 runners in the gold race.

The difference is, a year ago Valencia, a carefree freshman, ran as hard as she could until she crossed the finish line.

Now a sophomore, Valencia is soaking in the strategies of long-distance running.

“It’s the best and the smartest race Alysha’s ever run,” Free State coach Steve Heffernan said. “If she continues to do those things, her times are really going to be phenomenal.”

Valencia was in fifth place in the Kings Bridge area, but slipped into fourth after the girl in front of her gave up.

“I guess she couldn’t take it or something,” Valencia said. “She just sat down.”

The Free State girls team finished 16th. Lawrence finished 13th, and Baldwin was ninth.

LHS was led by the seemingly attached-at-the-hip duo of Megan Johnson and Meg Gentry, who finished back-to-back at 41st and 42nd.

Free State High's Nick Squier strains during the boys' race at the Rim Rock Farm High School Classic. Squier finished 43rd Saturday at Rim Rock Farm.

“I thought we ran pretty well,” LHS coach Chip Anderson said. “There was lots of good competition out here, and that’s definitely good for them.”

On the boys side, Free State senior Nick Squier led all city runners with a 17:07.31 in the 5,000-meter race, good enough for 43rd place. Squier’s last 100 yards was a dead sprint, allowing him to pass two runners before crossing the finish line with an exuberant yell.

“I screamed and threw up my hands at the finish,” Squier said. “I was pumping hard and not breathing very much, and I had to let it out.”

6Sports video: Firebirds, Lions run wild at Rim Rock

The Firebird boys finished 16th and LHS finished 20th. Class 4A Baldwin again one-upped the 6A schools, finishing 14th as a team.

Senior Harry Swartz led the Lions in 60th-place, eventually overcoming teammate Drew Vogel, who was ahead much of the race but finished 78th.

Lawrence High's Megan Johnson runs in the Rim Rock Farm High School Classic. The LHS, Free State and Baldwin boys and girls squads competed Saturday at Rim Rock.

With teams from several states competing, both city coaches focused on the stopwatch.

“Our whole goal is to get caught up in a fast group and go for a good time,” Heffernan said. “And that happened today for almost everybody. We were really encouraged.”

Erica Ogle led the Baldwin girls, finishing 18th in the gold race in 16:02.51. All the girls, Valencia and Ogle included, were smoked by Blue Valley North’s Jana Gwinn, who took first in 14:42.10, nearly 30 seconds better than second-place Stephanie Lavin of Blue Springs (Mo.).

Two Missouri schools, Liberty’s boys and Lee’s Summit North’s girls, took the team titles in the gold races.

Both Lawrence and Free State will travel Saturday to the Topeka Seaman Invitational. Rim Rock Farm will play host to both the Sunflower League meet and the state championships later this season.