Lawrence High seniors Andrew Grover, Jeff Standing and Cody Weber locked arms and jumped up and down after Saturday’s meet.

They celebrated for good reason. The Lions finished third in the Class 6A state cross county championship at Rim Rock with a time of 1:28:24.24

“That’s awesome,” LHS coach Brian Anderson said. “We are so fired up about that.”

Junior Dylan Hedges led his seven-man squad with a 10th-place finish. He could have placed higher if he had started more conservatively.

“I went out a little quick,” Hedges said. “I didn’t have the kick I needed.”

Despite Hedges’ dissatisfaction with his kick across the finish, he bettered his 15th-place finish of last year.

“Five places up,” he said. “If I can do that next year, that wouldn’t be too bad.”

The LHS girls finished sixth with a time of 1:21:59.03.

“They ran pretty well,” Anderson said. “Compared to last year’s times, most of them were faster. So that’s a good sign.”

Junior Kelly Renfro and sophomore Alissa Freeman finished eighth and ninth, respectively. Renfro, who finished in the same place last year, expressed disappointment in her race after starting slowly out of the gate.

Lawrence High's Kelly Renfro (243) pushes up a hill during the last mile of the Class 6A cross country meet. Renfro placed eighth in the girls race Saturday at Rim Rock Farm.

“I didn’t do as well as I wanted to,” Renfro said. “I kind of got boxed in the back.”

Free State high did not qualify its entire team but sent three girls and three boys. Sophomore Kyra Kilwein finished highest among the girls in 18th. Although she finished seventh last year, her placement becomes noteworthy because she has battled a mysterious, fatigue-inducing aliment for much of the year.

More than 30 minutes after the race, she remained hunched over in the shaded Free State tent. She said her illness affected her.

“It did,” Kilwein said. “But I just kept going because I wanted to finish this season strong.”

Free State coach Steve Heffernan said she performed about 80 percent.

“I was hoping she would just medal this year,” he said, “which she did.”

Lawrence High's Dylan Hedges pushes through the Rim Rock course in the Class 6A state Cross Country Championships. Hedges placed 10th at the event Saturday at Rim Rock.

LHS also experienced fatigue. Senior Andrew Grover collapsed after crossing the finish line in 15th place. Race officials had to pick him up and move him. Anderson deemed the problem a “lack of oxygen,” and Grover joined the rest of the team’s celebration.

“He’s doing fine.” Anderson said. “We slowed his breathing down, had him do some deep breathing. He’s recovered pretty fast.”

Free State junior Gabe Moss finished about two seconds earlier than Grover to place highest of all the Free State runners in 14th.

“Gabe was tremendous,” Heffernan said.

Two days of rain and Friday’s Big 12 Cross Country Championships left the trail sloppy and muddy, but the weather cooperated. After rain drenched last week’s regional in Manhattan, Saturday featured optimal high-60s conditions with sun.

“I don’t know if the weatherman likes high school athletics,” Heffernan said, “but this is the best type of weather to race in.”