Close call fuels Simpher's competitive fire to run

Cassie Simpher won a state title in the 400 meters as a freshman and has gotten faster her last two years at the state championship meet.

That would lead many to the conclusion that Simpher is entering her senior season at Saxony Lutheran in pursuit of her fourth state title in the 400. But Simpher oddly has not duplicated her first-place finish as a freshman. While Simpher has gotten faster, so has the competition, and the senior has grown to accept that reality.

The fastest 400 runner in the state in Class 1 as a freshman, Simpher was not even the fastest girl in her district last season in Class 2. That distinction belonged to Scott City Stephanie Essner, who went on to repeat as state champion. But Simpher isn't bemoaning her loss of status on the podium.

"I'm fortunate," Simpher said. "The best in the state is in Southeast Missouri, and I run against them. So I can actually see what my competition can do."

She doesn't have to look far for good competition. "Them" includes Jackson's Landon Wachter, a close friend who lives down the street from Simpher and a fourth-place finisher in the 400 in Class 4 as a sophomore. The area 400 competition also includes Kelly senior Londyn Backfisch, who finished second in Class 2 as a freshman.

Saxony Lutheran's Cassie Simpher starts the 400-meter open race Wednesday at Jackson. (Fred Lynch)

"I think we have some of the top 400-meter girls in the state right here in a 20-mile radius," Saxony Lutheran coach Larry Cleair said. "Competition is what makes them better. When you don't run against good competition, you're never going to be a good runner. You'd always like to walk into a meet and just know you're going to win it all, but that doesn't make you a better performer and help you grow as a person.

"I'm sure there are times when Cassie wishes she was the only runner around, but I think she's appreciative of the fact there are people that are going to push her. We've been blessed with some great runners at Saxony, and most of those have just relished competition."

Cleair has seen Simpher get faster as a middle distance runner and grow mentally as a competitor. While Simpher could see Essner as a roadblock and an arch rival, she said the two have a friendly competition.

"She's glad I'm there, and I'm glad she's there," Simpher said.

Young out of the blocks

Simpher said she started running at the age of 5 or 6 with a Jackson club.

"My parents just started me out kind of young just for fun to see if I was any good, and then they figured out I was, so we kept doing it," Simpher said. "I think I liked it just because it was fun."

She went on to run with the St. Louis Jets and Jackson Jaguars, and showed up as a freshman at Saxony Lutheran as an experienced sprinter.

"I was always sprinting," Simpher said. "I never liked to do anything more than a lap."

While Simpher's first love was the 100 and 200, Cleair saw the stride of a runner better suited for the 400.

His intuition proved correct as Simpher tried the 400 and soon excelled. She ultimately capped her freshman year with the Class 1 state title, clocking 59.80 seconds in the finals. She also finished third in both the 100 and 200.

"When she first started running, she was pretty sure she was a long jumper and a 100-, 200-meter runner," Cleair said. "She was pretty receptive of running the 400, but when she captured the championship as a freshman she was pretty convinced she was a 400 runner. Now she really doesn't even want to run the 100."

As a sophomore, Simpher again ran all three events at the Class 1 championships but fell painfully short of repeating as champion in the 400. Her time of 59.77 was faster than the previous year, but she finished .01 seconds behind Kaci Sargent of Meadville.

Simpher said the rigors of qualifying races and finals in all three events probably cost her a few hundredths of a second and the title in the 400 final.

"It was crazy how close it was," Simpher said.

The race of a lifetime

The loss was crushing for Simpher, but it set the stage for one of her greatest moments on the track about an hour later in the 1,600 relay. Simpher ran the final 400 leg, providing one of Cleair's favorite track moments.

"The thing that really defined her as a runner was in 2008 when we were in the finals of the 4x400," Cleair said. "She got the baton and we were in fifth place and we were a time zone away from first place. It was probably at least 40 meters, and probably further, to first place. We were pretty confident she could get us into the top three."

Simpher did better than that, moving into second and then overtaking the leader down the stretch.

"That was such a classic race," Cleair said. "It just gives me goose bumps even to talk about it, and I've been around track for 40 years. For one race to give you goose bumps is pretty amazing."

And while Simpher came away from that meet with a state title, she also emerged with some lasting fuel for the fire within.

"I probably think about [the close loss], probably not every time I run the 400, but if I'm ever close to winning, I remember it then, and I just think I have to win it this time," Simpher said. "Because I should of won it last time, but I didn't."

Saxony moved up to Class 2 in track in 2009, and Simpher cut more than a second off her 400 time in the state finals, but her 58.30 was only good for fourth. Essner ran a blistering 56.73, which was just off the Class 2 meet record.

Simpher also qualified for the Class 2 meet in the 200 and 800.

The final stretch

This year Cleair said the plan is to run Simpher in the 200, 400, 1,600 relay and 3,200 relay. The shorter and longer events are in place to help Simpher peak in her specialty.

"Preparing for the 200 will give her the extra speed work she needs and running the 800 in the 4x800 will get her the distance work she needs, so she should be ready [for the 400]," Cleair said.

Saxony has just eight girls on its track team, but Cleair said he thinks he has some talent to pair with Simpher in the relays. Juniors Lucy Gage and Abby Hartman were members of the state champion 1,600 relay team, while several members of the girls cross country team -- Claire Skelton, Tori Winter and all-stater Kristin Dippold -- will team up in the 3,200.

"You throw Cassie into that mix and they should be real competitive," Cleair said.

Although she is a former state champion, Simpher has set modest goals of qualifying for the state meet in one or two events and a top-three finish in the 400.

"I just want to end on a good note in my senior year," Simpher said.

She said she does not feel the pressure of a state champion who needs to defend her turf.

"It frees me up," Simpher said of the title. "It makes me feel better about myself, and I don't know, I guess intimidates other people, probably."

It also helps her deal with the losses, including one by the narrowest of margins her sophomore year. No matter what happens this season, Simpher will not have the gnawing frustration of knowing she was only one-hundredth of a second from having the lifelong title of state champion.

"I feel like I've actually done something and accomplished it," Simpher said. "If I hadn't done it in the past years, then I'd feel like I'd have to do something this year."