As he entered the wooded portion of the 3.1-mile (five kilometer) course at Larry G. Crites Memorial Park, Festus junior Carson Driemeier picked up speed, putting more distance between him and the field at the Jefferson County Activities Association cross country championships Oct. 19.
The second time Driemeier came through he maintained his pace and he finished in a meet record 15:42.77, leading the Tigers to a repeat title with 25 points. Senior teammate Tate Uding came in second in 16:02.55.
“Everybody was expecting us to pack-run today and we knew as a team we’d do really well,” said Driemeier, a two-time Class 4 state medalist and lead runner in the team’s 11th state championship in 2023. “Coach (Bryant) Wright told us to go out there and race and that’s what we did.
“The race plan doesn’t change. Get out hard. Establish your place and push it in the woods. That back field is where you’ve got to turn it on and close the race out. Once you hit that gravel hill for the last time, going into the woods, you’ve got to take off. That’s where people start to fall apart.”
Driemeier was third in the state last year in 15:14.1. The two runners ahead of him graduated.
“He looked very smooth,” Wright said. “I didn’t see him struggling anywhere. He’s at a very good level right now. It’s hard to compare him to any other athletes, but it was perfect weather, no wind, the course is as hard as concrete.”
Lucas Campbell (sixth, 16:37.04), Trevor Bayless (seventh, 16:51.20) and Hudson Bates (10th, 17:21.07) were the other scoring Tigers.
“We’re looking really good,” Driemeier said. “I want to push it through to state and continue that streak.”
De Soto’s Carson Koerber finished fourth in 16:20.58 to lead the Dragons to a strong second-place finish with 45 points. He was followed by Anders Cruz (eighth, 17:02.51), Clayton Huck (11th, 17:24.72), Jake Schuenemeyer (12th, 17:25.95) and Clayton Rozycki (13th, 17:29.08).
Herculaneum senior Nate Wright, a three-time Class 3 state qualifier and two-time medal winner, was the first Blackcat across the finish line, taking fifth in 16:25.98. Herculaneum ended up third with 78 points as all five runners finished in the top 25. Brandon Marshall was 14th in 17:33.81 and helped pull along Preston Wallman (19th, 17:56.53), Nathan Clampet (20th, 17:57.16) and Owen Davis (24th, 18:07.04).
The Blackcats have made the state team-trophy stand (top four) three years in a row, winning it all in 2021. Wright, nephew of the Festus coach, was part of that team.
“We are capable of being on the (state) podium or even better,” he said. “I know what to do there. I’m always ready on race day. I have to help my teammates stay on track.”
Wright set a personal record of 15:56 at Arcadia Valley early in the season.
“We had good signs of life today,” Herculaneum head coach Kyle Davis said. “We’re in a loaded conference; obviously we have great competition. We ran really well for (being only) three weeks out from state. We had solid team efforts from the boys and girls. The last two races, we had great individuals, but not (a great) team.
“This is the start of the postseason. We’re usually the only Class 3 school here, so we see the big schools. It’s usually a good boost of confidence when we’re only racing against Class 3 schools.”
Jefferson was fifth with 121 points, paced by Ethan McVey (17:39.32), Bryant Horn (17:50.73) and Braeden Caldwell (17:55.64), who finished in sequence, 16th through 18th.
Festus sophomore Lucy Boyer won the girls JCAA crown in 19:59.03, and five Tigers finished in the top six, missing a perfect score (15) by two points in defense of their team title. Boyer set a PR of 18:59 earlier this season at the Chili Pepper meet in Fayetteville, Ark.
“Our goal was to race as hard as we can, have an individual champion and win as a team,” Boyer said. “I’ve been taking my workouts seriously because the season’s almost over and we only have a couple of workouts left, a couple more times to get better.”
Not far behind Boyer were teammates Olivia Cole (second, 20:09.84), Katelyn Thurman (third, 20:12.33), Kendall Counts (fifth, 20:41.27) and Alyssa Collins (sixth, 20:45.44). Jefferson junior Emerson Selsor, second in the state in Class 2 a year ago, spoiled the Tigers’ perfect-score bid, finishing fourth in 20:33.27.
“We put a good race together and the girls executed their plans,” Festus head coach Wes Armbruster said. “We’ve been talking about what we want to accomplish, but it’s a process, a week-by-week kind of thing. This is the second time all year we pulled back on the girls (in practice) and let them feel their legs to give them a full tank today.”
Boyer was 31st at state last year, but seems more than capable of moving into medal position (top 30).
“She’s rolling,” Armbruster said. “She’s special and put in a lot of work. As much as we love what she does during a race, she’s a great teammate and makes everybody else around her better.”
With Emerson Reeves leading the way in seventh in 20:58.64, Herculaneum finished second with 48 points. Claira Davis, the coach’s daughter, was eighth in 21:03.48. Finley Hamtil (10th, 21:12.75), Amaya Ferguson (12th, 21:20.26) and Aubrianna Shadowens (13th, 21:26.42) were tightly packed behind Davis.
“Our girls took second to a very strong Festus team,” the elder Davis said. “Our fourth and fifth girls might have PR’d, which on this course is quite an accomplishment.”
District meets are scheduled for Nov. 2. Herculaneum is at Arcadia Valley for the Class 3 District 1 meet, while Grandview, Jefferson and St. Pius X also are there in Class 2. De Soto, Festus, Hillsboro and Windsor are in Class 4 District 1 at the Osage Center in Cape Girardeau.
The state championships are Nov. 8-9 at Gans Creek in Columbia. Classes 1 and 5 are Nov. 8 and Classes 2-4 are Nov. 9.