Festus High School sophomores Cullen Krieg and Ian Schram are friendly rivals on the cross country course. When the starter’s pistol fires, each wants to beat the other.
And in pushing each other, they helped propel the Tigers to their record-tying seventh consecutive state championship on Nov. 6, this time in Class 4, at Gans Creek Course in Columbia.
At about the 3,500-meter mark, Krieg passed Schram, who finished ninth in 16:18.
“That’s when I really wanted to see what I could do today,” Krieg said after finishing in second place in 15:56.5, which was 17 seconds behind West Plains senior Riley Simpson. “We always want to see how far we can push each other to help each other out during the races.”
The Tigers won with 45 points, not quite to the standard of the Festus team that started the title streak in 2014 with 24 points (finishing 1-2-3-6-12), but good enough to withstand a move up from Class 3 to Class 4 this fall. Webb City and West Plains tied for second with 97 points, and the Web City Cardinals won the sixth-man tiebreaker.
Festus not only tied the legendary seven-time champion Herculaneum boys (1977-1983) for consecutive crowns but also they did it with nary a senior in sight. The top seven runners may return to shoot for a historic ‘eight straight’ in a hopefully coronavirus-free environment in 2021.
“The coaches told us at the beginning, the team we have now hadn’t done anything to support this legacy, so we had to prove we were worthy,” Krieg said. “Next year we’re going to be an even better family.”
Krieg’s time at state matched the one from his first meet of the year at the Fort Zumwalt North Twilight Invitational.
“This entire season I’ve had knee problems, but the coaches helped me out to make sure I was staying in shape,” he said. “I really wanted a PR (personal record) today, but I’m alright with it. We were motivated to tie (Herky’s) record and we had a positive attitude we could do it.”
Juniors Jacob Meyers and Nathan Wolk have jockeyed for the Tigers’ No. 3 man all year, and this time Meyers seized it, finishing 12th in 16:24.3. Wolk was 15th in 16:27.6. Juniors Anthony Pittman (37th, 17:11.1), Peyton Willis (58th, 17:32) and Ethan James (67th, 17:46.3) ran in their first state meet for the Tigers.
“We saw Webb City coming on strong and that worried us a little bit,” said Festus head coach Bryant Wright, who now has 11 state titles under his belt when counting the two he won coaching the Tiger girls in 2014 and 2017. “When it was time to go, the boys went. We knew if we gave 100 percent, we’d be happy and we’re state champs.
“We have a chance to break the record next year which would be fitting for this group. I asked them over the summer what they wanted to do, and they said they wanted to be state champions. I told them we’d have to change some of their workouts and asked them if they were prepared for that and they said, ‘Coach, whatever you think it takes to win.’”
Krieg’s older brother, Jonah, was on three of the Tigers’ state championship teams and won an individual medal twice. Successful programs like Festus and the Valle Catholic football team keep winning state titles in large part because they don’t want to disappoint siblings, fathers and uncles who’ve come before them and set a very high standard.
“He’s just a gamer,” Wright said of Krieg. “When the situation requires his best, he gives it. I knew he’d be there, and it was fun watching him today.
“(Simpson’s) an amazing athlete and he ran a great race today. Our guys tried to go with him, but it wasn’t meant to be. Ian could have given up after he started falling back and he didn’t.”
The last team to beat Festus at state was Potosi in 2013. The Tigers have averaged 44.1 points in their winning streak.
“We’re going to enjoy this a little while and give them a little time off. They probably need a break. I know I do,” Wright said.