By DONN ADAMSON
Daily Journal Sports Editor

JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri State High School Championships were held for cross country on Saturday at the Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City, and the first runner to cross the finish line was Jacob Swearingen of Potosi. Swearingen, whose final time of 15:38 was only one-tenth of a second off of the Class 3 state record held by Potosi’s Josh Thebeau in 2006.

Swearingen led the race from start to finish and crossed the finish line nearly a half-minute before second-place Maksim Korolev from Harrisonville. Potosi’s Nick Niggemann placed third with a time of 16:12.

Swearingen’s win was the second in a row for the senior runner after winning the Class 3 state championship in 2007 as well. It marked the fourth year in a row that a Potosi runner has won the boys championship and the fifth time in the past six years. 

The Potosi Trojans, which had won the Class 3 meet the past three years in a row and five times in the past seven years, finished third this year behind West Plains and Cape-Notre Dame. The Trojans finished with a team total of 78 points, West Plains had 39 and Cape-Notre Dame had 63.

Potosi coach Steve Davis was not...... READ MORE