Free State High runner Emily Venters is surrounded by classmates after winning the girls 6A state cross country race for the second year in a row, Friday, Oct. 31, 2014, at Rim Rock Farm.

Free State sophomore Emily Venters had not lost a race all season entering Friday’s state championship meet at Rim Rock Farm, and she was not about to let anyone keep her from defending her Class 6A title.

Venters won the state meet with a 4,000-meter time of 14:52.20, distancing herself from runner-up Deidra Walker from Maize by eight seconds.

“I felt pretty confident in myself when I was just like in the back of my head, ‘I know I can do this,'” Venters said. “So I just kept pushing through the wind and the cold, but it was awesome.”

The sophomore standout was excited about repeating as an individual state champion, but was saddened the Firebirds couldn’t successfully defend their team title. FSHS placed second to Olathe East by nine points.

“I feel like we did our best, and our best was second,” Venters said. “If we all put out our best effort, it’s what we got. I know next year that we can repeat winning again.”

The Hawks packed their Nos. 1 through 5 runners in the top 30 to win the team title with 68 points.

Sophomore Kiran Cordes joined Venters as a state medalist by placing sixth in 15:28.20. FSHS coach Steve Heffernan has been impressed with the strides forward Cordes has made throughout the season, and Friday was no different.

“I’m really excited for her because if you told us at the start of the season that she was going to be sixth at the state meet, I don’t think I would have believed you,” Heffernan said.

Donley leads FSHS boys

Heffernan told the Journal-World prior to the state meet that the Free State boys squad had improved over the span of the season in large part from the contagious confidence provided by senior Ryan Liston.

That rang true again on Friday, just not the way Heffernan would have hoped or expected it to.

Liston came down with the flu prior to competing in his final high school cross country meet and was forced to drop out a little more than halfway through the race.

“We didn’t find that out until after he stopped racing. He told us after that and kept it kind of quiet. He thought it was nerves. His parents thought it was nerves,” Heffernan said. “It turns out it might have been a little bit more than that. He’s a senior and wants to go out there and give it his best.”

Junior Ethan Donley stepped up as the No. 1 runner for FSHS, placing sixth overall and turning in a 5,000-meter time of 16:23.40. Donley and his teammates knew in the middle of the race that they had to step up for Liston like he had done for them all season.

“I think that was kind of like in the back of our heads, but we didn’t really focus on that too much until we were into the race,” Donley said. “We were like, ‘OK, now we got to go to work.'”

The Firebirds moved up from fifth place to fourth place after a Blue Valley North runner was disqualified for not wearing a bib number.

“Still holding on to that top-five placing without your lead guy, just like I said, they came in and competed really hard for a bunch of seniors who weren’t here three years ago,” Heffernan said.

Lions’ Pederson 92nd

Junior Nathan Pederson was the lone state qualifier for Lawrence High and placed 92nd with a time of 18:26.60.

The two-time state qualifier admitted that he had difficulty breathing because of the brisk air, but he looked at the race as a positive experience and is looking forward to next season.

“For next year, I’ll step up and be a captain,” Pederson said. “Hopefully the guys are going to look up to me and listen to me.”

Kansas State Championships

Friday at Rim Rock Farm

Class 6A

Boys

Team Scores: 1. Blue Valley 53, 2. Garden City 84, 3. Manhattan 101, 4. Free State 139, 5. Shawnee Mission East 140, 6. Olathe North 159, 7. Blue Valley North 169, 8. Haysville Campus 176, 9. Shawnee Mission North 180, 10. Junction City 190, 11. Washburn Rural 225, 12. Wichita West 290.

Free State Results: 6. Ethan Donley, 16:23.40; 17. Tanner Hockenbury, 16:41.60; 23. Thomas Becker, 16:45.50; 61. Colton Stallard, 17:33.90; 71. Connor Ballenger, 17:41.30; 86. Curtis Zicker, 17:58.20; Ryan Liston, DNF.

Lawrence High Results: 92. Nathan Pederson, 18:26.60.

Girls

Team Scores: 1. Olathe East 68, 2. Free State 77, 3. Shawnee Mission West 105, 4. Manhattan 123, 5. Shawnee Mission Northwest 126, 6. Maize 126, 7. Dodge City 161, 8. Olathe North 192, 9. Wichita East 217, 10. Blue Valley 225, 11. Wichita North 290, 12. Garden City 315.

Free State Results: 1. Emily Venters, 14:52.20; 6. Kiran Cordes, 15:28.20; 29. Claire Sanner, 16:07.90; 34. Liv Lyche, 16:11.80; 36. Marlee Yost-Wolff, 16:12.60; 72. Allyson Hertig, 17:04.50; 92. Rachel Witt, 17:59.90.