Watch Clay Shively, Samuel Ferguson Lead Fast 3A Boys Race

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Clay Shively won a race...in Kansas....at the state meet. What's new?

Well this race was with his him going out with his boys for the last time while doing it with a very good group of 3A boys.

With 200m to go in the race, Shively was approaching the finish line with teammate Samuel Ferguson after a good three miles of running up, down, and around the Rim Rock Farms course. Ferguson was only two steps at most behind and pulled up next to Shively. They looked at each other and the eye contact was like a sentence worth of words as they seemed to know what one another was thinking.

They would run the final meters side-by-side until they crossed the finish line as close as you possibly could and with minimal separation. The two Wichita Trinity Academy seniors were only separated by 0.10 of a second.

Shively's career has been well chronicled over the last couple of years. He has enjoyed the benefits a good group of teammates and training partners who have helped him get to this point as Saturday was the final touches on a great year and four years with the class of 2024 on this squad.

"Not every guy gets to train with the top guy in the nation, so I don't take that for granted, I'm so grateful," Ferguson said. Not only has Shively benefitted from this scenario, but the case can be made for the rest of the Trinity Academy team. Ferguson and fellow senior Jacob Hobson were top-10 finishers with Hobson's fifth place run.

This group has come a long way in four years and were able to cap off their careers the best possible way. The senior trio each earned all-state honors in their last high school cross country race on Kansas soil. 

This wasn't only a great race for the Trinity Academy boys, but the entire field ran an impressively.  Seven boys ran sixteen-minutes flat or faster. Rim Rock Farms is one one of the fastest courses around and this was the best race all season long for the majority of runners with several personal bests. 

Holcomb sophomore Brody Deniston had a great freshman season in 2022. However, like many in the race, he enjoyed a career day in his short high school running tenure. Deniston placed third behind the Trinity duo with a 15:51 personal best time.

Fourth place finisher Will Meyer (Wichita Collegiate School) ran 16:16 last month on this course at the Rim Rock Classic. His state meet run was over 0.20 seconds faster with his 15:52 result. 

The Trinity Academy boys ended the season on top of the podium with a team championship and sending the senior out in style, but the entire field gave the spectators a hot race to watch on the cool fall morning.