Time to start a new streak.
The Festus boys cross country team posted four of the top 12 runners and won the Class 4 District 1 championship with 59 points on the 3.1-mile (five kilometer) course at Northwest Early Childhood and Senior Center in House Springs on Oct. 28.
Winners of 10 state titles, the Tigers’ streak of eight in a row was snapped last year by rival Hillsboro.
But graduation gutted the Hawks, who placed seventh at the district meet with 155 points.
The top four teams and 30 individuals qualified for the state meet at Gans Creek in Columbia on Saturday. Webster Groves (second, 100 points), John Burroughs (third, 112) and De Smet (fourth, 121) qualified for state.
It’s the first time Festus has competed in House Springs.
“We tell the boys we don’t care where they tell us to run, we have to be ready to race in any condition,” said Festus head coach Bryant Wright. “You show us where to run and we’ll race.
“I didn’t think we looked very sharp today. You don’t necessarily have to look sharp at district to run well at state. We’ve got some things we need to correct if we’re going to be a state champion. It’s a small amount.”
Two weeks after winning the Jefferson County Activities Association championship, Festus sophomore Carson Driemeier won the district crown in 15:29.5, a healthy nine-second gap over John Burroughs junior Charles Glatz’s time of 15:38.4. Farmington senior Evan Fuller was third in 15:39.2.
Driemeier said it wasn’t his best race.
“I don’t like this course at all,” Driemeier said. “I didn’t feel that great today. It’s real cold. My nose is runny. But I managed to get through it.
“I made my move at the two-mile mark. I knew I had to get away from Evan (Fuller) because I know he can close a race out. I didn’t expect Charles (Glatz) to be there instead of Evan.”
Wright, however, said last season’s 13th-place state medalist looked like he was in the groove.
“Carson looked really smooth and like he was out there having fun, and that’s what we want,” Wright said.
Festus had four of the top 12 runners and all five scoring harriers fit in the top 28. Junior Jimmy Wacker (eighth, 16:03), senior Bryson Rhine (10th, 16:04.1), juniors Tate Uding (12th, 16:06.2), Lucas Campbell (28th, 16:30), Aidan Cole (29th, 16:32.8) and Lucas Kavanaugh (43rd, 17:08.4) will attempt to win the Tigers’ 11th state title under Wright.
West Plains head coach Joe Bill Dixon holds the state record with 13 state championships. The Zizzers will be one of the primary threats to Festus at state.
Hillsboro can’t defend its state title because its team didn’t get through, but three individual Hawks qualified. Junior Landon Pogue tied for sixth in 15:54.4, and seniors Clayton Schneider was 19th in 16:16.8 and Greg Mann 20th in 16:20.9.
Pogue (15th) and Mann (23rd) were all-state last year.
De Soto freshman Cruz Anders narrowly missed the state cut when he was 31st in 16:37, less than three seconds behind Ladue senior Kaiden Ghoerghian. The Dragons were ninth at the district meet (207 points).
The top four girls teams in District 1 were separated by just 29 points, with St. Joseph’s Academy taking first with 68 points. Nerinx Hall (75) and Webster Groves (87) were second and third respectively, and Festus was fourth with 97. The Tigers were seventh at state last year.
Wes Armbruster replaced Wright as head coach of the Festus girls this season. Wright coached the Tiger girls to state titles in 2014 and 2017. Armbruster was Wright’s assistant for many years. Before the results were final on Saturday, Armbruster was concerned the Tigers might not fit into the top four teams.
“I feel like we were behind the gun from the first (kilometer) on and we wanted to be in position to close it (a state berth) out,” Armbruster said.
Freshman Kendall Counts won the league championship two weeks ago, but Counts was not the top Festus runner at districts. That was her freshman friend, Lucy Boyer, who finished 11th in a PR of 19:26.5. Counts was the next Tiger in 16th in 19:40.8.
“We push each to race faster,” Boyer said of Counts.
Senior Jeannie Thornborrow (19th, 19:50), sophomore Katelyn Thurman (27th, 20:06.1), junior Alyssa Collins (29th, 20:09.8), freshman Kayla Rousseau (31st, 20:14.5) and sophomore Olivia Cole (38th, 20:39.3) packed in 49 seconds apart to push the Tigers to state.
With so many underclassmen, the future appears bright for the Festus girls, but Armbruster said he is concentrating only on the season’s final race.
“We’re not worried about the future,” he said. “We’re living in the moment here. We can say we have some good (underclassmen) coming back next year but the goal today was to earn a trip to state and contribute to the legacy.”
De Soto senior Jailey Pigg has set her own legacy, as she earned her fourth trip to Columbia after finishing ninth at districts in 19:25, the top finish among all JCAA runners. She’s the only Dragon (10th, 263) to qualify. In fact, Pigg and the Festus girls were the only runners from the conference to punch their tickets to Columbia.
Rockwood Summit junior Catarina Rossomanno won the girls race in 18:28.7.
Blackcat boys win district title
Running their best times of the season, Herculaneum senior Sam Vaughn and Nate Wright appear ready to race in their biggest meet.
That’s at Gans Creek in Columbia on Saturday in the Class 3 state cross country championships.
It’s a course the two Blackcats are very familiar with. Vaughn and Wright were part of Herculaneum’s state championship team in 2021, and both won state medals on last season’s team that finished second. The Blackcats and West Plains are tied for the most state titles (13). The Zizzers are again one of Class 4’s favorites, along with 10-time state champion Festus.
Ninth in the state a year ago, Vaughn cranked out a first-place time of 16:16.4 at the District 1 meet at Cape Girardeau (Notre Dame) on Oct. 28. Wright was right behind Vaughn in second in 16:24.3. Then in 15 seconds, sophomore Brandon Marshall (11th, 17:32.7), and seniors Aston Parrish (12th, 17:39.9) and Tye Greenlee (13th, 17:47.3) crossed the finish line to secure the district title for Herculaneum with 39 points. Marshall trimmed 30 seconds off his time at the JCAA meet two weeks ago and Greenlee set a PR.
Herculaneum head coach Kyle Davis said Wright has been closing ground on Vaughn recently.
“Nate ran with half a shoe on at conference,” Davis said. “He’s edging closer and has been in Sam’s shadow. Nate’s been rolling and if everyone could see him. They both sat back the first mile and pressed in the middle. They didn’t looked taxed at the end. They’re no stranger to running fast this time of year.”
Sophomore Liam Piet (19th, 17:55.3) and sophomore Nathan Clampet (24th, 18:10.2) are the other Blackcat state qualifiers.
The top four teams and 30 individuals qualified for state. Dexter was second with 66 points, and Potosi (104) and Principia (126) also made it to state.
“Their body of work and how they looked, I thought it was theirs to lose,” Davis said of his harriers. “I thought we had a good chance at winning the girls too and we ran lights out, but so did Metro.”
Metro won the District 1 girls crown with 58 points, with Herculaneum in second with 68. The host Bulldogs (third, 79 points) and Potosi (fourth, 89) also qualified for state.
No strangers to winning state themselves, the Blackcat girls, who have 11, were eighth the last two seasons and sixth in 2020, the first year they were in Class 3.
Only three girls slipped under 20:00 at District 1, and Notre Dame senior Lauren Eftink won in 18:43.7. Sophomore Claira Davis had the top Blackcat finish in ninth in 21:20.6. Freshman teammate Finley Hamtil was 10th in 21:35.8. Kaitlin Taylor (16th, 22:03.1), Kendall Huber (21st, 22:27.1), Anna Hartnett (22nd, 22:29.3), Emerson Reeves (39th, 24:13.9) and Veronica Brice (42nd, 24:21.9) were the rest of the Herculaneum runners.
“Every single girl ran a PR except for Claira,” said Davis, also head coach of the Blackcat girls. “A PR this time of year at the (Cape Notre Dame) course is a good sign for us and it sets us up well for (state). We looked good in the four-five (runner) range. They’re ready to pop off a big one at Gans. A month ago, I wondered if this was going to come together, and it did.”
While Herculaneum is used to the state’s biggest stage, the St. Pius X boys are making their first appearance after finishing second at the Class 2 District 1 meet, also at Cape Notre Dame on Oct. 28. The Lancers scored 135 points. Woodland ran away with the district with 56 points.
Woodland senior Reed Layton won the district in 16:38. St. Pius sophomore Jayden Metzler was the first Lancer to finish in sixth in 17:28.1.
With only five runners at the Class 2 District 1 at Cape Notre Dame, the Grandview girls finished third with 72 points to qualify for state.