Simon Ogle isn’t too concerned about what outsiders think about the Festus boys cross country team’s chances to win its sixth consecutive Class 3 state championship.
“People can say what they want, but this team is probably one of the best I’ve been on,” said Ogle, a senior, moments after winning the Bowles Invitational at West City Park on Saturday in 16:58.83.
The Tigers certainly looked like state champions at their annual meet as they had the top four runners and won with a miniscule score of 17, two points from a perfect score (with their top five runners finishing 1-5 overall).
Festus, the defending Jefferson County Activities Association champions, posted 19 points to win the Bowles meet last year.
With cross country alumni coming to town for an anniversary banquet to honor the 2009 team that was the first group from Festus to win state and head coach Bryant Wright’s upcoming induction into the Missouri Track and Cross Country Coaches Association hall of fame, the current crop of Tigers wanted to make their mark.
Coming in second through fourth, respectively, for the Tigers were senior Dominik Kayser (17:07.20), freshman Cullen Krieg (17:08.41) and senior Jonah Krieg (17:12.83). No Festus runner finished lower than 15th, with sophomore Nathan Wolk eighth in 17:32.51, senior Garrett Rhine 12th in 17:53.01 and freshman Ian Schram 15th in 18:04.20.
“For the first two miles of the race we wanted to pack run,” Ogle said. “At the two-mile mark, we wanted to split apart and see what we could do. When you get to two miles as a team, you have more incentive to push each other. That really helped us pass the guys ahead of us.
“Dominik went along with me after I took the lead and he pushed me the entire time. In my head I was thinking, ‘This hurts. I can’t do this.’ And Dominik sped up and pushed me even harder.”
For the first time in four years, the Tigers won’t be able to depend on Max McDaniel to lead the way. Before graduating this year, McDaniel was a four-time state medalist and won the individual state title last year in 16:12.10. Ogle was seventh at state last year in 16:47.94. Jonah Krieg, Rhine and Kayser were on last year’s state champions.
While Festus lacks the star power in McDaniel, they have strength in numbers. The wild card to this year’s Class 3 state championships might not be about returning runners, but that they will be racing in unfamiliar territory. Classes 1-4 for boys and girls will be held at the Gans Creek Recreation Area in Columbia for at least the next five years after three decades at the Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City.
Never one to shy away from the toughest competition, especially early in the season, Wright takes the boys and girls teams to the Forest Park Cross Country Festival every year. The massive race draws hundreds of runners from middle school through varsity, which is separated into three divisions.
Class 4 powers St. Louis University High (second in the state last year) and Kansas City Rockhurst (defending Class 4 state champions) were at Forest Park this year. The Tigers finished one spot ahead of Rockhurst at the race on Sept. 14. It would be nice and tidy if Wright took his teams to the Stan Nelson Invitational in Cedar Hill the same weekend.
“Around 2006, I looked at Forest Park and it was bringing the best of the best,” Wright said. “That’s before we were really good. I wanted to strive for the best.”
Ogle said he’s not listening to the whispers of what might become of the Tigers’ streak of titles. Festus doesn’t even hold the all-time consecutive state title mark in Jefferson County. Herculaneum’s boys won seven straight from 1977 to 1983.
“My goal today was to win with my teammates,” Ogle said. “We want to focus on each meet and not think about state. Whatever course it is, we’ll give it 100 percent all of the time.”
While they haven’t experienced the same kind of success the boys team has, the Festus girls are always a threat to challenge for a state crown.
After capturing Class 3 titles in two of the past five years, the Tigers finished 17 points behind Bolivar for second place last season. Festus lost three runners – Maddie Welsh, Bailey Moore and Melissa Wolk – to graduation. But junior Emma Koettler, sophomore Allison Faerber and seniors Erika McIntyre and Sophia Leftwich return from that second-place team.
Koettler (20th, 20:40.09) and Faerber (21st, 20:40.45) both won state medals last season. Faerber (30th, 20:42.10) had the Tigers’ best finish at Forest Park where they finished 15th as a team. She also crossed first for Festus at Bowles in third place in 20:56.64. Junior Demi White was next after Faerber at West City Park in eighth in 21:19.53. Her younger sister, Dari, a freshman, was 12th in 21:42.32. Senior Yasmine Schaaf and junior Olivia McIntyre have run their way into the top six.
“The girls team has an opportunity to do something special this year,” Wright said. “In order for that to happen, we will need to get some girls to step it up to make our fifth, sixth and seventh runners move up. We need to close the time gap between our Nos. 1 and 7 runners.”
Windsor senior competes in two fall sports
On Sept. 19, senior Emma Pouvaranukoah had two hits and an RBI in the Owls’ 2-0 softball shutout against Notre Dame St. Louis.
When Pouvaranukoah isn’t on the diamond, she will be expected to lead the way for the Owls’ girls cross country team. She’s the only Owl who ran in a Class 3 district race last year. Pouvaranukoah isn’t the first, nor will she be the last athlete at Windsor to compete in multiple sports during one season. Keri Voegtle did it successfully until she graduated this year.
“Emma has a big challenge in front of her to maintain both sports,” Windsor head coach John Leech said.
“While not as large as the boys team, we have a good crew of younger girls to follow Emma’s leadership. This group has embraced competing for the top varsity spot.”
Junior Reilly Baughman was Windsor’s first-ever state qualifier in girls wrestling last winter. Baughman reached Columbia at 110 pounds. At the Stan Nelson meet, Baughman came in 60th in 23:04.31. That’s a drop in time of more than three minutes from last year’s district run.
“Reilly has posted some impressive improvements from last season that reflect the hard work and attitude that she brings to practice every day,” Leech said.
Freshman Olivia Plesons has been a surprise in her development and Leech said she’s running above her class. Sophomore Taylor Buck is working to regain her success as a freshman. Seniors Emily Smith and Katie Uhrig provide leadership and “create the team’s overall character.”
“We hope to find a No. 5 runner who will help us as the season progresses,” Leech said.
Sophomore Bradley Ahrens had the Owls’ best finish (36th, 17:31.93, a PR) at Stan Nelson and is joined by senior Kevin Klenk and junior Tyler Fischer as the top boys.
“We have high expectations for this group,” Leech said. “The boys side is older and many of them have several years of experience. This group is pushing the younger runners and competition for varsity spots is more competitive than we’ve had in years.”
Leech said he’s been pleasantly surprised by seniors and first-year runners Connor Meynell and Charles Owens. After two seasons of cross country, seniors Joey Lanfersieck and Cory Jeffers have hit their stride, Leech said.
Pouvaranukoah isn’t the only Owl doing double duty this fall. Jeffers, Lanfersieck, Megan Terry, Clayton Pallme and Noah Johnson run and are in the school’s marching band.
Youthful Hawks on the rise
Twin brothers Josh and Jonah Allison are among a new crop of Hillsboro freshmen who won all but one middle-school meet last year.
Josh had the top finish for the Hawks at the Parkway Central Invitational on Saturday when he came in 14th in 18:01.22. Jonah was 42nd in 19:20.87. In between were senior Michael Wright (32nd, 19:06.69) and sophomore Tyler Winslett (38th, 19:14.05). As a team, the Hawks were sixth with 168 points.
Seniors Donald Holupka and Cid Gannsman and junior Blake Patterson are among the top six runners this year. Freshmen Jesse Gore, Gavin Vaughn, Cole Laudenbach, Jude Short, Evan Morris and Dimitri Shlosberg will all get a chance to break into the starting lineup.
The Hawks’ last state qualifier was Kevin Koester, who medaled in 19th place in 2017.
“My expectations this season are to have a better finish this year at the (conference) meet, focus on keeping student-athletes focused in practice, and getting the team through sectionals,” said head coach Tom Gordon, who enters his 12th year.
The girls finished fourth with 68 points at Parkway Central on Saturday and freshman Anna Crosby led the way by coming in seventh in 22:08.48. Junior Emma Wright was eighth with 22:11.30. Crosby has won two JV races this year at Webster Groves and Ladue.
The Hawk girls are trying to get their first runner to state since Hannah Bopp competed in Class 4 in 2014. Wright and sophomore Michelle Jones were both sectional qualifiers last season.
Juniors Abby Couch, Brianna
Langrehr and Makenzi Allen and sophomore Marissa Barton will fill in the top six spots. Emily Hoese ran last year, but she suffered a knee injury during track season and is out this fall.
“I expect us to work hard every week in practice to prepare for the week’s race,” said head coach Lane Woodside, in his 11th season. “I want us to be fresh and ready to go at the end of the season. We are returning a lot of experience and hopefully we can start turning that into success.”
Elder statesman for Eagles
Senior Kyrsten Elder has known nothing but success running for Grandview’s cross country and track teams. Elder has been a state qualifier in both sports.
In his fifth season as head coach of the Eagles boys and girls cross country teams, Scott Meyer said this is the first time he’s been able to fill out complete lineups for both squads. Now Elder and fellow 2018 Class 2 state cross country qualifier, sophomore Taylor Ficke, have competition and company on the course.
“We have a full girls team and boys team and I’m hoping we can all perform well as a team to earn some top honors, including more state qualifiers,” Meyer said.
Elder and Ficke each ran a leg on the 4x800-meter relay at the Class 2 state championships in Jefferson City in May. The Eagles’ relay team finished ninth, one place from a medal. At state cross country last November, Elder came in 75th and Ficke was 81st.
The boys are striving for some state qualifiers, and their top runners are sophomore Brennan Bariale, juniors Zach McClelland and Jeff Ehlen and senior Connor Dunn.
“The entire boys team is running strong,” Meyer said.
Cats look to extend streak
After finishing third in the Class 3 state championships in 2017, Herculaneum’s boys were back on the team medal stand last year with a fourth-place finish.
With seniors Jonathon Coffman, Kyle Vinyard and Matt Bartosch returning, the Blackcats have a better than average chance to make it three plaques in a row.
After 2018 state champion Max McDaniel graduated from Festus this spring, Coffman is the most accomplished runner in the Jefferson County Activities Association. Coffman is a three-time state qualifier and posted his second best time (16:40.92) and top finish (sixth) at Oak Hills last year. Coffman, who was second behind McDaniel at the JCAA championships a year ago, ran his best state time (16:33.69) his freshman year. He didn’t run at Bowles on Saturday to rest for upcoming meets.
“He is looking really sharp already,” Herculaneum head coach Kyle Davis said.
Bartosch and Vinyard have been running on the varsity for four years and have qualified for state in each of the past two falls.
“They are showing signs of being all-state runners,” Davis said.
Junior Cody Glisson has moved into the No. 2 spot behind Coffman early this season. Glisson was the first Blackcat (seventh) to cross the finish line at Bowles in 17:30.57. Vinyard was 11th in 17:51.69 and Bartosch was 17th in 18:14.67. Freshmen Keith Vance (25th, 18:30.79) and Baden Costlow (26th, 18:31.32) helped Herky finish second (81 points) in the team standings.
“We seem to always have a decent contribution from freshmen runners,” Davis said.
Missing four-time JCAA champion Nautica Stricklin is a vast understatement about how Davis and the rest of the Blackcat girls feel. Stricklin was a four-time state medalist (once in Class 2) and her legacy lives on forever.
The Herculaneum girls have the longest streak of any cross country team of winning state hardware, capturing their 14th consecutive top-four finish in 2018.
Senior Chloe Richardson, juniors Persepheni Berry, Laura Maddox and Arielle Prince and sophomores Samantha Maddox and Katelynn Armbruster have the task of extending that streak.
Maddox and Richardson have settled in as the Blackcats’ top two runners, and at Bowles, Maddox was ninth in 21:26.60 and Richardson wasn’t far behind in 11th in 21:40.83. Berry came in 22nd in 22:40.03.
“We have a pack that is pretty interchangeable,” said Davis, who guided Herky to a state title in his first year as coach in 2012.
Dragons look for more at state
Now for the encore. The De Soto girls placed in the top four at the state cross country meet for the first time after finishing fourth in Class 3 last year.
That talented team was second in the conference and won the Clayton Invitational and Class 3 District 1 meet last season.
A week after coming in fifth at Stan Nelson, senior Lillie Kaempfe was sixth at Bowles in 21:08.34 and the first Dragon to finish. Sophomore Kayla Vogelsang followed a 20th-place finish at Stan Nelson by climbing to 14th at Bowles in 21:48.38. Kaempfe (22nd at state in 2018) and Vogelsang (16th) are both state tested.
“They will both try and build off successful campaigns from a year ago,” De Soto head coach Aaron Young said.
Juniors Erika Mellor and Hannah Kamp and sophomore Riley Petsch were all part of the Dragons run to fourth place last year. Newcomers to the varsity this year are senior Jacquelin O’Harver and freshman Dominique Mitkos, who ran their first race at Stan Nelson.
The De Soto boys came in fourth at districts last year, the Dragons’ highest finish in Young’s six seasons as coach.
Sophomore Will Kaempfe, Lillie’s younger brother, set a PR by 20 seconds at Stan Nelson in 18:06.34. Will was
De Soto’s top runner at Bowles with a ninth-place finish of 17:40.22.
Freshman Jimmy Mann finished ahead of Kaempfe in the boys race at Stan Nelson (29th) in 17:22.56 and was 22nd at Bowles in 18:23.86.
“Will and Jimmy have really worked hard this summer and look great,” Young said.
Senior Chris Brooks and juniors Aleksandr Schroeder and Zac Allen fill in the other top five Dragons. Schroeder (19:19.89) finished ahead of Brooks (19:30.68) at Bowles. Schroeder (18:37.38) and Allen (18:46.93) both set PRs at Stan Nelson.
Blue Jays build on success
Like De Soto, the Jefferson girls also took home their first state plaque last year by coming in third in Class 2 with 129 points.
If the Blue Jays are going to finish in the top four again, they’ll have to do it without twin sisters, Anna and Jordan Heacock, who catapulted the school into the state’s elite as harriers and on the track team.
Leading the pace for Jefferson this year is senior Cheney Ervin, who was 38th in the state in 22:28.95. In a talented field, Ervin was 19th at Forest Park in 22:22.50.
“This is her senior season and I know that she has set the bar high for herself,” Jefferson head coach Mollie Rhodes said. “She leads by example and works hard at every practice to get better.”
Sophomores Chelsea Badger, Katie Deevers, Peyton Cattoor, Kiersten Vandeven and Gabby Beffa will have an immediate impact on whether or not the Blue Jays can compete at state this year. Freshman Kaelyn Nilson is starting to make her mark on the varsity. They represent the future of the program.
“The girls have the same high expectations as we always have,” Rhodes said. “We lost some great members of our team, but we added some great new runners as well.”
The Jefferson boys are a work in progress. Twin brothers, juniors Bradley and Matthew Glass and sophomores Jerimiah Chipps and Jacob Holdinghausen and freshman C.J. Johnson comprise the top runners. Chipps had the Blue Jays top finish (61st) and time (19:51.30) at Forest Park.
“Bradley and Jerimiah will lead the way for the boys,” Rhodes said. “They are the two fastest boys and they push each other every day in practice and races. They definitely set the tone for the rest of the team. C.J. and Jacob have had a huge impact on helping make the boys team more competitive.”
Hornets rebuild both squads
Just four years ago, the Crystal City girls won the Class 1 state championship.
But the Hornets are having a hard time recruiting enough runners to field teams for the boys and the girls. Head coach Ken Jones said they’ve hit a down cycle.
Taylor Sloan and Taylor Reynolds were talented enough to compete in the Class 1 state championships last year, but they have graduated. Devin Friedmeyer was the last member of the boys team to reach state in 2017.
Jones guided the Hornets to the state title in 2015, but he’s rebuilding the program and said the program has numbers coming from the junior high next year for both of the teams he coaches. There’s only one girl running for the Hornets this year.
Sophomore Ethan Boyer was close to making the state cut last year after finishing 27th at the Class 1 District 1 meet. He’s the only member of the boys team. Senior Ian Holdinghausen was 36th at districts in 2018 but is playing for the football team this fall.
Eimer destroys her PR
Junior Rita Eimer has already shattered her PR by 30 seconds this year.
Now the Lancer leader on the course is working toward her third straight appearance in the Class 2 state championships. After a 58th-place finish at state as a freshman, Eimer moved up to 27th in 22:06.27.
At Stan Nelson this year, Eimer set her PR when she finished in 13th in 20:46.16, and last week at Bowles, she was 16th in 21:51.14.
“Rita is consistent day in and day out,” St. Pius head coach John Daly said. “My personal goal is to beat her in mile repeats this year and it hasn’t happened … yet.”
Junior Hannah Schappe ran times in the mid-20s at Stan Nelson and Bowles. Juniors Adam Bishop and Justin Kramer are posting times in the low-20s for the boys team.
Daly wants his teams to work hard, fuel up with proper nutrition and rest and have a mindset of “Let’s do this.” The motto for the boys and girls is “The tradition starts now.”
“And maybe, just maybe, the girls team could possibly qualify for state this year,” Daly said.