I know it's tough. I saw right away that it's such a tough and competitive conference. You have schools making their way deep in the playoffs.

The whole team ran well, but with this big of a group of schools, it was not easy to make the top eight. We ran some of our fastest times to get in the top 12 to 15 teams. Some of the best Kansas City and St. Louis schools were there in addition to the best athletes from mid-Missouri. This meet was a major showcase of state-wide track talent for this early in the season.

Each year it has grown. The village, schools and businesses have been so great.

I was pleased that the Supreme Court did not rule our schools were inadequately funded. Adequacy is a highly subjective assessment. The best way to judge an adequate education is to let the parents decide--give them the right to choose their child's school.

These good schools can be a major resource for schools that are failing.

I think we should fare well in our league. We do run against some schools, like Norwell, that have up to 60 kids, but for the most part we match up well against most of the other teams in the league.