The champs are back.
Herculaneum’s boys cross country team will defend its Class 3 state title at Gans Creek in Columbia on Saturday after winning the District 1 meet at the Arcadia Valley Sports Complex on Oct. 29.
Placing two runners in the top five and four in the first 15, the Blackcats nosed out Dexter by three points (52 to 55) for the championship. Third-place Potosi (81 points) and Cape Girardeau Notre Dame (fourth with 89) also qualified for state along with the top 30 individuals. Herculaneum and West Plains, a Class 4 school, are tied for the most boys state titles with 13, although the Zizzers haven’t won since 2008.
“We barely squeaked by a really good Dexter team,” Blackcat head coach Kyle Davis said. “They’re running their best all year. Whether we defend (the title) or don’t, it’s on everybody’s minds. They want to see these boys go and win No. 14. It adds a different dynamic.
“I’ve been a small part of this. Most of them love the pressure. It makes it worse if you try to explain it away. We’ve done it the right way by embracing it.”
With much of the returning lineup back from a year ago, the Blackcats have the talent to win again. The individual champion at the district meet was Lutheran South senior Adam Snoke, who cruised over the 3.1 mile (five kilometer) course in 15:45.25. Herculaneum junior Sam Vaughn was second in 16:07.33 and his teammate, sophomore Nathaniel Wright, was third in 16:22.28.
Blackcat senior Keith Vance, the only all-state runner returning from last year’s team, was 20th Saturday in 17:39.59.
“Keith was right on Sam and Nate with three-quarters of a mile to go and had some misfortune, but I fully expect him to be ready (at state) and that will be a deadly top three,” Davis said. “Sam’s done nothing but race consistently. Nate has grown in confidence each week and he’s a monster competitor.”
Herculaneum junior Damien Luther, 35th at state last year, finished 13th Saturday in 17:13.22. Junior Ashton Parrish, not part of the 2021 state team, took 30 seconds off his personal record, clocking 17:16.66 in 14th. Rounding out the Blackcat seven in Columbia will be sophomore Braiden Schenewerk (30th, 18:79) and freshman Liam Piet (34th, 18:07.56).
While Davis expects strong competition for the team title, he sees no challenger for Southern Boone County senior Connor Burns, who won at the prestigious Chili Pepper Festival at the University of Arkansas this fall with a Missouri all-class record 5K time of 14:32.30.
“(Burns) is the best distance runner in Missouri history,” said Davis, who has seen many an exceptional athlete over several decades. “If you ask 100 coaches, all 100 would say it’s Connor Burns.”
The Herculaneum girls team had six of the top 28 runners and scored a point better (51) than the Blackcat boys, but finished second in District 1 to Potosi (45).
Ste. Genevieve sophomore Hollyn Sangaro won the district crown in 19:27.57. A state qualifier last year, senior Raven Vance was the Blackcats’ top finisher in third in 19:42.41.
“She hasn’t shown that time but one other time this year,” Davis said. “She looks like she’s ready to do something special next week.”
Herky’s finishers behind Vance were freshman Claira Davis (seventh, 20:52.94), junior Kaitlin Taylor (14th, 21:39.91), junior Olivia Lindaman (18th, 22:04.97), junior Anna Hartnett (25th, 22:52.71), junior Kendall Huber (28th, 23:02.89) and freshman Veronica Brice (37th, 23:54.69).
“I was so proud of our girls. They ran out of their minds,” Davis said. “They ran as a single unit. We had PRs across the board and competed well against a good Potosi team.”
Eagle girls surprise coach
The Grandview boys and girls also ran at Arcadia Valley, competing in Class 2 District 1.
The Eagle girls surprised everybody, including themselves, scoring 81 points to edge Jefferson (89) for the team title. It was a good day for the Jefferson County Activities Association, with St. Pius X taking third place with 98 points, one less than fourth-place Woodland.
The top four qualified for Saturday’s Class 2 state meet. The Classes 4-5 state meets are on Friday.
“That was quite a day. I was prepping for the top four,” Grandview head coach Scott Meyer said. “We needed PRs across the board to be first, and I didn’t think that would happen – and all seven girls PR’d. We kept it calm and simple, not putting too much pressure on time and placing. This is a faster group than I’ve had and we’ve worked on pack running the last several weeks and they bought into it.”
Valle Catholic sophomore Madelyn Griffard was the individual champ in 19:47.12. Grandview sophomore Katelyn Terrell was the first Eagle across the finish line in ninth, clocking 21:22.86. Terrell was 38th at state a year ago and has been Grandview’s No. 1 runner for two years.
“She’s worked extremely hard pumping out the miles and it continued today,” Meyer said.
St. Pius senior Rachel Eimer finished third in 20:27.26. After finishing second at the JCAA championships, Jefferson freshman Emerson Selsor was fourth at districts in 20:52.47, one place ahead of Lancer senior Reagan Edwards (21:06.61). Eimer and Edwards were both state qualifiers last season.
The Jefferson boys came in fifth with 138 points and St. Pius was seventh with 164. The Blue Jays will take four runners to state – sophomore Logan Donjon (12th, 17:54.44), senior Ian Erhardt (13th, 17:54.84), freshman Levi Heacock (22nd, 18:13.36) and junior Alex Breeze (28th, 18:24.29). St. Pius freshmen Braeden Caldwell (17th, 18:02.93) and Jayden Metzler (18th, 18:03.22) qualified for state as well. Ethan McVey, also a freshman, missed the state cut by two seconds.