Saxony Lutheran's Brown leaves childhood cancer behind on cross country trail, hosts win Oak Ridge Invitational

Saxony Lutheran's Nolan Brown poses for a photo after finishing 22nd at the Oak Ridge Invitational on Tuesday at Oak Ridge High School.

BEN MATTHEWS

OAK RIDGE, Mo. -- For Michael Brown, it was all a whirlwind.

One day, his 4-year-old son, Nolan, was taking a bath when his wife Elizabeth noticed a hard spot on his stomach. A couple of days later, they learned Nolan had kidney cancer and they were driving to St. Louis, Missouri, for surgery.

The operation was successful, and the kidney was removed. Now, 14 years later, Nolan is finishing up his high school cross country career at Saxony Lutheran.

On Tuesday, in the midst of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the senior finished 22nd at the Oak Ridge Invitational at Oak Ridge High School. The senior said the cancer doesn't really affect him at a race, and he doesn't remember much about the ordeal. His biggest reminder is a 12-inch scar that runs across his stomach, a scar that led his teammates and coach to finding out about his past health scare.

His father, however, has a vivid memory of that period. Even now, it stirs up feelings in him.

"It was very hard to understand," Michael said. "It's traumatizing for a parent to go through it. Whenever we first get home, and we get the phone call that we have to go to St. Louis because he has cancer, it's very difficult. It's hard to wrap your mind around it.

"Honestly there's a lot of crying involved. Very difficult."

Nolan has been on the Crusaders cross country team since he was a sophomore, but it wasn't until early August that Saxony coach Larry Cleair found out Nolan once had cancer.

It was a hot day, and the Crusaders had a long run. So Nolan took off his shirt. That's when Cleair and the rest of the runners saw the scar that stretches from the left side of his belly to the middle.

Saxony cross country runner Nolan Brown races in the Oak Ridge Invitational Sept. 18, 2017 in Oak Ridge.

Ben Matthews

"I just kind of said, 'Did you get injured?' He goes, 'Yeah, when I was four I had cancer,'" Cleair said. "I said, 'Wow, oh man.' He's always so upbeat and such a great lively, exciting kid, he kind of blew me away with the fact that we had almost lost him to cancer when he was 4 years old."

Just days after Elizabeth discovered the tumor, Nolan saw a doctor and underwent some X-rays. Later that day, the doctor called the Browns and told them to go to St. Louis immediately.

The next day, Nolan went under the knife at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Chemotherapy followed, and Nolan remembers spending a lot of time in the city. He also recalls starting chemo right before his fifth birthday.

Nolan now goes to St. Louis for an annual check-up that involves blood work. That and an inability to play tackle football -- a hit in the back could affect his only remaining kidney -- are the only effects that seem to remain from the cancer.

The Browns discovered the tumor in time to prevent the cancer from spreading beyond the kidney.

"It is a big deal because it can spread so fast," Michael said. "Like I said, thank the Lord for himself and for my wife for finding it because it hadn't spread anywhere beyond the kidney. That was a blessing."

Nolan had Wilms' tumor, which is a rare kidney cancer that mostly affects children between the ages of 3 and 4, according to the Mayo Clinic. Nolan doesn't go around telling people about his past, but if they ask, usually because they see the scar, he'll tell them.

Nolan feels normal and plays baseball and basketball along with cross country. He didn't get into running until his older brother, Gavin, roped him in. Now a sophomore in college, Gavin was a senior when Nolan joined the team as a sophomore.

"We really liked it because it's not as competitive, where you're not competing against another team," Michael said. "You're competing against yourself so that's why we really enjoyed it. Everybody cheers for all the other teams and not just yourself or the school you're here with. I think it made a big impact on both their lives."

Michael enjoys how runners from other teams, once they finish up, trot back to the finish line to cheer on kids from other schools.

"It just amazes me," he said.

Gavin and Nolan were both hard workers who also could loosen up and have fun, Cleair said. The biggest difference: Gavin had the better times during their sole season together.

"I always tried to beat him," Nolan said. "Like I said, even though he was bigger than me, he was faster than me somehow. But I think I can take him now."

Nolan is the only senior on the boys and girls Saxony cross country teams this year, and he's morphed into a leader. He leads the team in stretches and sets a good example while also keeping things fun, according to Cleair.

"He's never been the most talented kid we have out on the cross country field, but even when he was young he was just a natural leader with his attitude," the coach said. "Not that he would take control of things, but people would gravitate to him because he's such a positive, upbeat kid, and that's what I love about him. Now that he's a senior and our only senior, he really brings a good vibe to our team."

While Nolan doesn't talk about the kidney cancer much, there are reminders. When he hit the 10-year cancer-free milestone a few years ago, it was an emotional day for his parents. They still donate money to St. Louis Children's Hospital, which Michael credits with making the process easier due to the great doctors and nurses.

Despite his past, Nolan is fun-loving, just like his brother. Both are liked not only by their teammates, Cleair said, but by competitors.

Looking at Nolan, most probably don't realize what he went through. He doesn't even remember much of it, and his coach didn't know until recently.

Years later, a scar is one of the few reminders. His teammates didn't notice anything different until that hot day in August when he took off his shirt.

"They were really just like, 'Yeah, that's cool," Nolan said. "'That's cool that you still run and stuff, and it doesn't really affect you.'"

It was a whirlwind for Michael, but for Nolan it's a memory.

Oak Ridge Invitational

On a hot day at its hilly home course, the Oak Ridge boys cross country team used five top-20 finishes to claim the team title Tuesday.

Joseph Baer rounds a turn Sept. 18, 2017 during the Oak Ridge Invitational in Oak Ridge. Baer took first place in the varsity boys heat.

Ben Matthews

Mason Keith was the top Bluejays finisher at a time of 19 minutes, 29 seconds, while Drew Kranawetter was fifth. Sylvester Morse and Tanner Schamburg were 13th and 14th, respectively, and Philip Marshall was 17th.

"We've got a good group of boys this year," said Oak Ridge coach Kristi Seyer, who added it had been four or five years since Oak Ridge won the team competition. "They're tight. They run real close together and we have real close times so that's going to help us put together some good races."

St. Vincent's Joseph Baer finished first in 18:37, and teammate Andrew Lipe was close behind in third. Kyle Steinbecker added a ninth-place finish as the Indians finished second, nine points behind Oak Ridge.

"Joseph's been gunning for that top spot in a meet for a long while," Indians coach Terry Wood said. "Conditions not being ideal, it was a heck of a race from him. It's to the credit of his work ethic and his teammates pushing behind him and him pulling them along that the boys are going to finish as well as they did today."

Perryville was third, led by Trent Friedman's sixth-place finish. Devin Friedmeyer from Crystal City finished second.

Coming into the race, Seyer hoped the Bluejays would be able to secure the win, but she was wary of the competition.

"We had been doing very well," Seyer said. "I knew it would be tough against St. Vincent and some of these other schools, but I was hoping they would pull it off and they did."

On the girls' side, St. Vincent was the top local team in third, behind first-place Valle Catholic and Crystal City. Genevieve Lipe led the way in fourth with a time of 24:51. With some of the Indians' top runners out due to illnesses and injuries, Wood was pleased with his team's performance.

"We kind of rested them out today," Wood said. "So for my back runners to run as well as they did, it's a really nice thing to see. Going forward, it's kind of what we're going to be building off looking into the district and state meet moving on."

Chaffee's Alyssa Lunsford was the top individual local finisher in third place, running the race in 24:49. Valle Catholic's Madison Otte won the race, Sarah Lacy from St. Paul Lutheran was second, and Woodland's Hailee Green was fifth to round out the top five.

Stacie Bangert was Saxony Lutheran's top finisher in eighth, Taylor Seyer led the host Bluejays in ninth and Zalma's Lindsey Umfleet was 10th.

GIRLS

Team scores -- 1. Valle Catholic, 54; 2. Crystal City 64; 3. St. Vincent 67; 4. Chaffee 93; 5. Saxony Lutheran 104; 6. Oak Ridge 122

Individuals -- 1. Madison Otte (VC) 23:33; 2. Sarah Lacy (St. Paul Lutheran) 24:15; 3. Alyssa Lunsford (C), 24:49,; 4. Genevieve Lipe (SV) 24:51; 5. Hailee Green (W) 24:53; 6. Nicole Valle (VC) 24:55; 7. Rachel Valle (VC) 24:56; 8. Stacie Bangert (SL) 24:57; 9. Taylor Seyer (OR) 25:09; 10. Lindsey Umfleet (Zalma) 25:10; 11. Kassi Bright (Z) 25:15; 12. Kate Bangert (Greenville) 25:17; 13. Jordan Layton (OR) 25:25; 14. Abbey Holdinghausen (CC) 25:27; 15. Courtney Bangert (SL) 25:45.

Local top five finishers

St. Vincent -- 4. Genevieve Lipe 24:51; 19. Abigail Schremp 25:55; 21. Abbey Hotop 26:42; 23. Megan Lipe 27:08; 24. Courtney Brewer 27:27

Chaffee -- 3. Lunsford 24:49; 22. Katie Glueck 26:49; 28. Brooke Kilbur 28:25; 31. Kari Pepple 29:07; 35. Regan Swain 31:46

Saxony Lutheran -- 8. Stacie Bangert 24:57; 15. Courtney Bangert 25:45; 32. Khloe Koch 29:36; 38. Megan Casasola 35:58; 40. Jillan Majors 39:28

Oak Ridge -- 9. Seyer 25:09; 13. Layton 25:25; 26. Skylar Ponder 28:04; 34. Amanda Meyer 30:50; 37. Sarah Whitener 34:15

Leopold -- 41. Sami Engelen, N/A

Woodland -- 5. Hailee Green 24:53; 20. Briana Arnzen 26:28; 33. Heidi Green 30:39; 36. Tara Belcher 32:46

Zalma -- 10. Umfleet 25:10; 11. Bright 25:15

BOYS

Team scores -- 1. Oak Ridge, 52; 2. St. Vincent 61; 3. Perryville 68; 4. Woodland 82; 5. Saxony Lutheran 106; 6. Crystal City 116

Individuals -- 1. Joseph Baer (SV) 18:37; 2. Devin Friedmeyer (CC) 19:08; 3. Andrew Lipe (SV) 19:21; 4. Mason Keith (OR) 19:29; 5. Drew Kranawetter (OR) 19:35; 6. Trent Friedman (P) 19:38; 7. Brandon Sitzes (W) 19:43; 8. Chance Oehlert (P) 19:56; 9. Kyle Steinbecker (SV) 19:57; 10. Bryan Hickam (P) 19:58; 11. Jurney Kennedy (W) 19:58; 12. Austin Mueller (SL) 20:02; 13. Sylvester Morse (OR) 20:03; 14. Tanner Schamburg (OR) 20:06; 15. Josh Statler (Delta) 20:07.

Local top five finishers

Oak Ridge -- 4. Keith 19:29; 5. Kranawetter 19:35; 13. Morse 20:03; 14. Schamburg 20:06; 17. Philip Marshall 20:08

St. Vincent -- 1. Baer 18:37; 3. Lipe 19:21; 9. Steinbecker 19:57; 21. Dominic Sauer 20:26; 37. Nick Geile 21:45

Perryville -- 6. Friedman 19:38; 8. Oehlert 19:56; 10. Hickam 19:58; 23. Trey Scruggs 20:30; 27. Theodore Cook 20:52

Woodland -- 7. Sitzes 19:43; 11. Kennedy 19:58; 19. Carter Mayfield 20:15; 26. Nikolaus Demopoulos 20:49; 28. Wyatt Rouggly 20:55;

Advance -- 30. Braden Driskill 21:20; 45. Logan Becker 22:49; 54. Brody Forester 25:44; 59. Dylan Welty 38:49.

Delta -- 15. Statler 20:07

Kelly -- 31. Caesar Fraure 21:22; 50. Nathan Kiehl 24:10

Leopold -- 47. Ryan Lewis 23:30; 52. Landon Dailey 25:07; 55. Sam Horrell 25:55; 58. Chris Campbell 33:00

Saxony Lutheran -- 12. Mueller 20:02; 16. Andrew Hyatt 20:07; 22. Nolan Brown 20:28; 29. Sam Elfrink 21:00; 43. Nick Shaw 22:40

Scott City -- 42. Anthony Smith 22:26; 56. Justin Provo 26:28; 57. Chris Phillips 28:00

Zalma -- 25. Ridge Littleton 20:48; 46. Drew Bailey 22:58; 49. Austin Akers 24:06; 51. Mikey Kuper 25:06