Missouri Military Academy cross country already had some obstacles at the start line of this season.

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MMA lost four of its top five runners from last season and had first-year head Jeff Gifford leading the program. The Colonels finished eighth out of 15 schools on Saturday at the Class 2 District 3 meet at South Callaway in Mokane, failing to qualify any runners for state this weekend but proving that the obstacles didn’t impede them that much.

Gerardo Quiroga was MMA’s top finisher in 34th — four spots from state qualification — after running to a time of 19:42, Ryan Miles was 48th with a 20:37, Jacob Stallone was 55th with a 21:05, David Trevino was 57th with a 21:09, Michael Pfeifer was 66th out of 112 runners with a 21:15, Malachi Imrie was 67th with a 21:16 and Alexander Nikas was 71st with a 21:25.

Gifford said he believed MMA was capable of a top eight finish at the start of the season and then grew more optimistic for a top five finish after seeing his runners’ performances throughout the year. Now that the season has ended, Gifford said he wants his runners to focus on developing fitness in other season sports and focus on individualized offseason plans.

“I told the team prior to the district race that they didn't need any magical rah rah or purple unicorns to mystically propel them to contend for a spot in the top four teams, that they had proven they could contend already and all they had to do was run within themselves and they would be fighting for contention for a state meet berth,” Gifford said. “Unfortunately, a couple of injuries, one too recent, and some lingering sickness took a toll on our team on race day. When I look back at all the obstacles these young men faced getting to this point, I am extremely pleased with their work."