Sabala caps senior campaign with state title, Hermitage boys finish second

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By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Hermitage senior Easton Sabala finished up a determined senior season Saturday with a Class 1 state title.

A move just after the one-mile mark put some distance on the field, and Sabala was able to hold off Weaubleau senior Chase Ratliff over the final mile to win in 16:43.33. Ratliff was second in 16:52.20.

Following three top-seven finishes on the Jefferson City course, Sabala hit 2017 with renewed effort, cruising through a season of dominant finishes.

Hermitage head coach Mark Sabala, who moonlights as Easton’s father, watched the final 100-meter kick to the finish as both proud father and coach.

“We’ve been thinking about this all year long,” Sabala said. “That’s been Easton’s plan. He ran everything correctly during the race, and I could just sit there in awe, watch and enjoy.”

After pushing through the final turn on course leading up to the finishing hill, Sabala took stock of his position and, for the first time, realized his dream was about to become reality.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE CLASS 1 BOYS RACE

“I felt very excited, and it gave me an extra boost to kick to the finish,” Sabala said of the realization. “I knew as soon as I turned on the straightaway that all the other runners were quite a bit far back; just enough for me to push it the final 50 meters for the win.”

Other area runners in the top 25 included Chadwick junior Evan Smith in sixth (17:23.52), Summit Prep junior Eli Brown in seventh (17:29.30), Wheaton senior Sean Lowry in 12th (17:36.81), Jasper freshman Hunter Hinds in 16th (17:43.87), Fair Play junior David Storment in 17th (17:44.29), Humansville sophomore Braeden Decker in 19th (17:49.75), Laquey senior Peter Fowers in 21st (17:50.42), Summit Prep freshman Trevor Talley in 23rd (17:54.18) and Blue Eye junior Chris Lemp in 24th (17:55.0).

In the team competition, Hermitage finished runner-up to first-place New Haven, 94-104. After the race, Coach Sabala attributed the second-place finish to an inability to close New Haven’s No. 5 gap.

“When you look at the results, our two through seven were very close,” Coach Sabala said. “We were hoping for first place, but New Haven ran a very good race, and their No. 5 man stepped up huge.”

The Liberal boys joined Hermitage on the podium with a third place finish.

Bulldog head coach Don Kentner praised his team’s performance in pursuit of a trophy, helped by senior Tyler Stebbins. Stebbins, who also plays football for Liberty, was enjoying his first week free of dual-sport obligations..

“We got our football player back at full steam, and he said it was nice to get past 14 steps and not feel dead,” Kentner said. “That was a real plus. He ran as hard as he could possibly do and threw up there a couple times at the end before he even finished the race. We’ve got nine runners, and seven of them are coming back, so we’re already talking about next year.”

In the girls’ race, South Nodaway junior Ashley Riley cruised to a first-place finish in 19:55.53.

Liberal’s Cailee Lake was the top area finisher in seventh place (21:18.62).

Other top-25 finishers included Fordland freshman Mia Wiley in ninth (21:22.03), Summit Preps Cassilyn Enyart in 13th (21:55.34), Blue Eye sophomore Olivia Labrier in 14th (21:55.65), Hermitage sophomore Aleah Asare in 22nd (22:13.73) and Hermitage junior Madison Sutt in 24th (22:17.50).

In the team competition, Liberal made it onto the podium with a fourth-place finish. The Lady Bulldogs scored 165 points in pursuit of first-place finisher West Platte’s 104.

Kentner attributed the team’s performance and focus to an early-season team meeting.

“They really threw down and had great performances across the board,” Kentner said. “About two months ago, I did a virtual meet and we were ranked 12th, but there were only about 40 points between 12 and 4. I went to the girls and said, ‘You want me to push you, because you can do this, and if you don’t want to go do it, you just need to tell me, because I’m going to be on you.’ I never heard a peep.”

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