ALTON – Unusually warm weather Wednesday afternoon didn't diminish the competition at the Alton Invitational cross-country meet at Gordon Moore Park.
For Jersey's girls and Alton's boys, it was a very good day – both the Panther girls and Redbird boys came away with team titles on the day. The Panther girls won their competition by getting five of the top 11 spots in the field, scoring 35 points to edge out McCluer North, who had 42 points. Collinsville (65), Alton (84) and Cahokia (145) rounded out the five-team field.
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On the boys side, the Redbirds had three runners in the top 10 as they scored 48 points to emerge with the win, with Granite City second with 57 points and the Panthers third with 63 points. Collinsville (118), Civic Memorial (134), McCluer North (142), Centralia (168), Cahokia (186) and Staunton (277) rounded out the field.
Marquette Catholic freshman Riley Vickery and Jersey senior Ben Flowers came away with the individual championships on the day, while the Staunton girls and Collinsville boys won the junior varsity team competitions.
“It was pretty rough (on the course); there was a lot of uneven ground and a lot of mud (due to recent rainstorms in the area),” Flowers said. “I think I ran the hills pretty well and stayed away from the lead pack. The ground was pretty soft and it was taking everything out of me.
“It was pretty warm out there. I'll be running in a Peoria meet coming up Oct. 1 and I'm going to see if I can run with (the Class) 3A kids in that race and see how well I can place there. That should give me an idea for state (the IHSA state cross-country meet at Peoria's Detweiller Park Nov. 5).”
The Redbirds' Evan Rathgeb finished fifth in the varsity boys race behind Granite City's Andrew (who took second) and Will (who finished fourth) O'Keefe. “It was tough; this is a tough course,” Rathgeb said, “and the weather did not help us out a lot. It wasn't great conditions, but I think we performed well. I think it's the hottest (temperatures) this meet's ever been (race-time temperatures hovered near 90, unusual for mid-September).
“We come up here during the summer at times and run our distance out here; we know the course well, so that does help us knowing where to go. Our main goal for this race was that we wanted to win as a team. It's what we've talked about all week long, and it was good to see everyone running together.”
“It was a really hot day today; the humidity was really high. It might have been the warmest we've ever run out here,” said Panther coach Harold Landen. “We ran in Edwardsville on Saturday and ran another hilly course out here today. Edwardsville was wet and it was hot out here today.
“You know what kind of conditions it's going to be at state so you have to be able to run in all kinds of conditions. Ben's definitely one of the best runners south of Peoria; that's why we have to travel. We go to Peoria twice just to get him some competition. This meet here is a good meet; we run hills every week. It's like a great practice for him to get some hills in and you have to run all these conditions – he did great.”
As far as the Panther girls went, “we had our No. 1 runner who was out sick today,” Landen said. “Our five and six runners really stepped up. We did great and we want to remain injury-free for the rest of the year and hopefully make some big noise at the state meet.”
“The boys came through with all the hard work; it finally showed off,” said Redbird coach Vernon Curvey. “Evan put in a really good summer and it paid off; the other guys see that, and there are some young guys that see that and that's gonna help build us even more.
“The girls are still a work in progress, and our girls work really hard. We started further back to start with, but they're all working really hard. It's the biggest group of girls I've had in years, so that's a plus.”
The course is rated among the hardest courses in the area, Curvey feels. “This is one of the toughest courses in the area,” Curvey said. “The head added to it today; I told the kids, 'don't look at the times; compete with the people you know you can beat and then compete with the guys you think you might be able to beat. Give it a shot and go for it,' and we did a lot of that today. Overall, I'm pleased; we'll have a good day tomorrow and celebrate and then get back out there and go back to work.”
Explorer coach Mike Brooks was very pleased with Vickery's win in the girls varsity race. “Riley ran a very nice time and won by about 25-30 meters,” Brooks said. “She's finished well in her first few races; this is her first win. She was second in Carrollton (last) Thursday; she ran 27th out of 350 in the opening meet at SIUE.
“That's just the tip of the iceberg of where she's going to go; she gets better all the time, just a great worker, great personality and great kid.”
“I was very impressed (with his team's performance),” said Granite City coach Rich Skirball. “I thought we did very well; on the girls' side, Alyssa Comer came in fourth place. This is her third or fourth consecutive Top 10 finish; just to watch the way she raced today was fearless. She was running fearless up top and the fear I had was 'I hope she knows the course'.
“I told her that in the middle of the race, just in case it came to it and she needed to lead. That was a good girls pack up top, and to watch her battle through some hip soreness and to watch Chessy Nikonowicz medaling in her second race in a row – it's very awesome for her as a freshman; she has a very promising future.”
The future for the Warrior girls looks bright, Skirball feels. “We don't graduate a single girl this year, which is a great experience for us,” Skirball said. “On the guys' side, the way Andrew and Will are running is great. Andrew is definitely on fire, just being up there on the lead pack behind Ben.
“This is just Will's second race all season; he's coming back after twisting his ankle right before the Granite City Invitational (which took place Labor Day weekend), coming out here and being able to finish fourth today with some great competition up front – Ben's just outstanding right now – and that pack ran together so well and I think Will looked really good in only his second race.”
The individual JV race winners were Granite City's Marla Garcia and Alton's Sam Kuithe.
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Feeney, 56, is a native of Granite City and graduated from Granite City South in 1978. He was a part-time writer for the old Granite City Journal from 1979-84 before attending Eastern Illinois University in Charleston,
from which he earned his BA in journalism in 1988. He has worked for newspapers in Sikeston, Mo., Rocky Mount, N.C., Seneca, S.C. and in Charleston-Mattoon. He also worked for the old St. Clair County Suburban
Journals.
