For as long as they’ve competed against each other, you’d think that Cole Rosier and Kyler Hiatt would have developed a full-blown rivalry by now.

The two seniors played vital roles in the area’s best 8-man contests — Mound City versus Worth County — throughout the prep careers and remember running the hurdles against each other in seventh grade. As much as I’d like to believe the pair are sworn enemies who constantly seek revenge against the other, the inverse proves true in this case.

Rosier (Mound City) and Hiatt (Worth County) share a warm friendship and will room together next year when they walk on to Northwest Missouri State’s football team.

“We’re good friends,” Hiatt said after running against Rosier in the 200-meter dash at last week’s district meet. “We don’t see it as a rivalry or anything.”

Which is almost too bad. The two are perfect counterparts.

Hiatt, stocky and muscular, is a defending hurdling champ, while Rosier coaxes a surprising amount of speed out of his 6-foot frame and has excelled as the Panthers’ blazing anchor on the 4x100 relay.

After a surprising, late-season development, it looks like the pair will have a chance to close out their careers in poetic fashion. Both Hiatt and Rosier started running the open 100 for the first time within the past month and have sprinted to success.

If seed times from around the state hold up, the duo will bring their longstanding competition to a close a week and a half from now in the finals in the 100 at the Class 1 meet. Just don’t expect any trash talk between now and then.

“To be there together at state,” Rosier said, “would be awesome.”

While we’re at it, here’s a couple more observations from the Class 1 District 8 meet that went down at scenic Ceglenski Field — one of the best places to watch an event, in my opinion:

— A good number of throwers let out a bellow as they hurl the shot or discus. None of them last as long as Drew Ellison’s.

The Rock Port junior lets out a howl that can be heard no matter where you are in the stadium and lasts at least a couple seconds. It’s hard to argue with his results.

Ellison, who finished 11th in the discus at state last year, has the talent to reach the finals this year and get to Jefferson City in the shot, as well. While he catches a little flak about his vocal performance from time to time, Ellison said he doesn’t concern himself with self-consciousness.

“If they make fun of me, I don’t care,” Ellison said. “It works for me.”

— You expect close finishes in the sprint events. But the girls’ mid-distance races also featured a couple of heart-stopping finales.

Rock Port’s Leslie Alitz of Rock Port showed off her all-state skills by fending off Jacqueline Schulte of Northeast Nodaway in a back-and-forth conclusion to the mile. The two were shoulder-to-shoulder as they turned for home, but Alitz used some aggressive positioning to squeak out the win by a tenth of a second.

Michelle Schulte gained a little revenge for her Blue Jays later in the day, though, with a gutsy, come-from-behind effort against Emilee Messer in the 800. Messer looked like she’d put it away when she tore up the final curve and gained the lead, but Michelle found her kick just in time and won by less than half a second.

North Harrison’s Chandelar Carey (100), Kallie Schoonover of Mound City (200) and Rock Port’s Kori Sheldon (400) also deserved their hard-earned, closely contested district titles in their respective events, as well.