Lawrence High freshman Kelly Renfro was fast Saturday morning at the Sunflower League cross country meet at Rim Rock Farm.

So, too, was Free State senior Danny Schneider.

But neither walked away as league champ and had to settle for second instead.

“I just ran out of gas,” said a smiling Renfro, who was runner-up to Shawnee Mission North’s Kristin Wolkey with a time of 15:32.45.

Schneider had won the last three meets in which he had raced, but couldn’t catch up with Shawnee Mission Northwest’s Tucker Weems.

“I was pretty pleased with how I ran today,” said Schneider, who finished his 5,000-kilometer race in 16:24.23, while Weems won in 16:05.57.

“Trying to catch a guy like Tucker Weems is always a tough challenge, but hopefully I’ll get another chance at state.”

Since the state meet also will be at Rim Rock in two weeks, both city schools’ coaches were pleased with their teams’ performances.

The Free State boys finished second as a team thanks to Schneider’s strong finish and three other runners — Spencer Martin (11th), Aaron Trent (13th), and Alex Rock (15th) — placing in the top 15.

Free State runners Danny Schneider (142), Alex Rock (140), Spencer Martin (134) and Aaron Trent (147) run in a pack early in the Sunflower League cross country meet. Schneider placed second in the race Saturday at Rim Rock Farm.

“Today the guys came out and really had a strong meet,” FSHS coach Steve Heffernan said. “That’s something that we didn’t have happen the last time we ran at Rim Rock in the big meet. So I was pleased to see the improvement in most of their individual performances.”

While Lawrence High’s boys placed eighth, the Lions’ girls were fourth. Shawnee Mission Northwest won both team titles.

“Our girls seem to just be getting stronger and stronger as the season goes,” LHS coach Chip Anderson said. “Kelly’s just improving and learning from race to race, which is so exciting. While the upperclassmen have kind of helped her with some race tips, she’s been a leader for all of our younger girls.”

Free State's Alysha Valencia goes to the front early in the girls race at the Sunflower League cross country meet. Valencia placed seventh in the race Saturday at Rim Rock Farm.

Free State’s girls finished fifth, but Firebird Alysha Valencia didn’t have quite as strong a finish as she would have wanted because of sickness, Heffernan said. Still, Valencia took seventh in the 4K race with a time of 16:20.59.

Regionals are up next and will be held at Jones Park in Emporia on Saturday, with the girl’s race at 2 p.m. and the boy’s run following at 2:30.