Season Recaps

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Brian Gilmore, Mike Lally, Walker Yane, Megan Gilmore, Tom Flanagan, Jeff Foerg, Charlie Hatch, Chris Staley
Team Captains: Noah Evers, Charlie Murray, Mason Scargall, Anthony Zangara
Team Chaplains: Matthew Musial, Quinn Apprill-Sokol
State Finish: 3rd

• Team Photo Roster - HERE
• Total Mileage for the season, per athlete - HERE
• Letter Winners - HERE
• Daily Practice Schedule - HERE
• Meet Schedule - HERE
• Daily Practice Sheets from the 2023 Season - HERE
• Collected Meet Results from the 2023 Season - HERE

2023 Performance Log | 2023 Honor Roll

Prep News stories from the 2023 season, by Charlie Gray '24 and Tristan Kujawa '26

• "XC has eyes set on state as they move into the season" (August 25, 2023)

Race-by-race:

• Alumni Race - results and race recap
• O'Fallon - summary, results, and photos
• Granite City - First place for B/C and Open division races. 2nd place for Varsity - meet recap
• Forest Park XC Festival - First place for Varsity and C Teams. 2nd place for JV - meet recap
• Paul Enke - Running a second varsity, we won the varsity division. Also, first place JV and first place C -meet recap
• Fox - Running a third varsity team, we earned first place on a tie-breaker in a 24 team field. The freshman team also won by scoring 16 points - meet recap
• Palatine - Varsity took 6th and JV 2nd - meet recap
• Parkway West - varsity took 1st, JV 2nd, sophomores 1st, and freshmen 1st - meet recap
• MCC Championships - Varsity, JV, and Freshmen all earned first place! This was #20 in a row for Varsity - meet recap
• Hancock - first place in both Varsity and Junior Varsity - meet recap
• Big River -  first place in both Varsity and Junior Varsity - meet recap
• Findley - we swept the JV and won big in Freshmen - meet recap
• District - the program won its 26th District Championship and first since 2020; team advances to State for the 31st consecutive season - meet recap
• State - third overall, top from St. Louis, earning one of the four coveted team trophies - meet recap

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Brian Gilmore, Mike Lally, Walker Yane, Megan Gilmore, Jeff Foerg, Tom Flanagan
Team Captains: Tim Greiner, Brendan Jones, Nolan Meara, Nicholas Purschke
Team Chaplains: Alex Brinkman, Carter Lowe
State Finish: 9th

• Team Photo Roster - here
• Total Mileage for the Season, per athlete - here
• Letter Winners - here
• Daily Practice Schedule - here
• Meet Schedule - here
• Daily Practice Sheets from the 2022 Season - here
• Collected Meet Results from the 2022 Season - here

2022 Season Performance Log | 2022 Season Honor Roll

Prep News stories from the 2022 season, by Lucas Rammacher '23 and Brendan Jones '23

• "Cross country team showcases depth in workouts and Alumni Race" (August 26, 2022)
• "Cross Country underclassmen shine at O’Fallon, varsity ready for Granite City" (September 2, 2022)
• "Cross Country battles through rainy conditions, takes strong second in first varsity race" (September 9, 2022)
• "FPXC proves successful as the cross country team did well in their home territory" (September 16, 2022)
• "Young talent shines in Paul Enke Invitational" (September 23, 2022)
• "Varsity takes ninth place at the Palatine Invitational; JV wins the race for the first time in SLUH history" (September 30, 2022)
• "Cross Country sees consistency in Parkway Invitational, claims MCC Championship for 19th year in a row" (October 7, 2022)
• "Cross Country gathers impressive dominant win as they sweep the MCC" (October 21, 2022)
• "Conversation of the Week: Jaden Elgin" (October 21, 2022)
• "Two meets wrap up the Cross Country regular season with a promising look into playoffs" (October 27, 2022)
• "Cross Country earns second in districts; earns spot in state in Columbia" (November 4, 2022)
• "Cross Country sees mixed results at state meet, placing 9th; rallies for regionals and ALD 5k" (November 11, 2022)
• "XC exceeds expectations at regionals" (November 18, 2022)
• "Porter Inducted into Hall of Fame: Track and XC head coach recognized for successful career by Mo. Track & Cross Country Coaches Assn." (December 2, 2022)
• "Purschke recipient of the TCP award; Demonstrates what a true XC runner is about" (December 9, 2022)

Click here to VIEW RACE RESULTS & read race recaps from the entire 2022 Season

 

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Brian Gilmore, Rich Esswein, Mike Lally, Walker Yane, Megan Gilmore
Captains:  Francis Alford, Grant Brawley, Sean Kellogg, Alex Mittendorf, Baker Pashea
State Finish: 4th

Team Photo Roster - 2021
Letter Winners - 2021
Daily Practice Schedule - 2021
Meet Schedule - 2021

Daily Practice Logs from the 2021 Season

Collected Meet Results from the 2021 Season

2021 Season Performance Log | 2021 Season Honor Roll

Prep News stories from the 2021 season, by Peter James '22, Jackson Cooper '23, Joe LaBarge '22, and Sean Kellogg '22:

• "Cross Country sets sights on state title after 3 years as runner-up" (August 27)
• "XC underclassmen impress at O’Fallon, Varsity gears up for Granite City" (September 3)
• "Despite rain, XC takes Granite City by storm, sweeps all 3 races" (September 10)
• "Varsity XC builds off solid performance at FPXC, V2 set for Sioux Passage" (September 17)
• "XC has successful day at Sioux Passage, set for Palatine and Fox this weekend" (September 24)
• "Top XC runners enjoy out-of-state success at Palatine, JV dominates Fox Invitational" (October 1)
• "XC showcases unparalleled depth in strong showing at Parkway West" (October 8)
• "XC dominates MCC and shows off impressive depth at Hancock" (October 22)
• "XC splits up: JV places second in Clayton Invitational, Varsity dominates at Buder Park" (October 28)
• "Cross Country lands second at District; team qualifies for State" (November 4)
• "XC races to fourth at state with three all-state runners; trophy streak now sits at four years" (November 12)
• "XC overcomes brutal weather in Indiana showcase" (November 19)

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ALUMNI RACE

Friday, August 13
@ SLUH Track

After being placed into one of three heats, all team members attacked a two-mile race around the SLUH track. On this night, seniors Baker Pashea and Justin Glass led the charge, running 9:46 and 9:47 for second and third place overall. Though the alums secured first and fourth place overall, many more of the team members were not far behind, clinching a decisive win for the team over the alums. This is the fifth straight season the team has emerged victorious. 

Click here to see results for the two-mile race, including lap and mile splits for each competitor. Especially for newer runners, it's fascinating to return to these results after the season ahead, to see just how much progress can and will be made. 

The data from this race allow the coaches to now better create workout groups based not only on volume of miles, but on speed and competitiveness amongst the groups. Soon, your child will have both a letter group (A-E) and a number group (1-6) that allow for more intentional pairings for what we try to accomplish in practices. These letter and number groups are fluid and can change as a runner progresses through the season.

Meet Videos here

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O'FALLON

Wednesday, September 1
O'Fallon High School Milburn Campus (650 Milburn School Rd, O'Fallon, IL 62269)

Race Results: Freshmen | Sophomores
Team split sheet: Here
Photographs: Freshman Race | Sophomore Race
Videos: Here

The freshmen won their division because of team depth. Though we only had two finishers in the top 10 overall, the rest of our scoring runners packed in not far behind them. Team scores are earned by totaling the places of the first five finishers, and this race demonstrated that it takes more than a couple high placers to win a team championship. Congrats to Gus Talleur for being our highest-placing freshman, in third place in a 3-mile time of 18:03. Our other medalist was Logan Phillips.

The sophomores won their race handily, placing six runners in the top 10 overall. Mason Scargall, Anthony Zangara, and Charlie Murray went 1-2-3 overall, and Gabe Sullivan, Noah Evers, and Charlie Gray were also in the top 10. Mason and Anthony each ran under 17:00 minutes for three miles. Jackson Dauska also started off the year strong, running his fastest-ever time for a 5k equivalent.  
 

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GRANITE CITY INVITATIONAL

Saturday, September 4
Wilson Park (2900 Benton St, Granite City, IL 62040)

Race Results (from Endurance Race Timing): Varsity | B/C | Open
Team Split Sheet: Here
Race Photos: Varsity | B/C | Open
Race Videos: Here

In the varsity race, senior Justin Glass earned the honor of being our #1 finisher on a winning team. Justin covered three miles in 15:53 (a PR) and finished in 10th place overall. The rest of our pack was close behind. Our scoring gap (the time between 1-5 finishers) of 30 seconds, a great number for the first meet of the year. Additionally, all seven of our varsity racers finished in the top 30 and earned medals, and four of them ran PR times. Wow!

In the B/C race, our top three finishers were the same as they were at O'Fallon, except today Charlie leapfrogged the other two and finished as our top finisher in 6th place. Gabe Sullivan & Gus Talleur each ran PRs and medalled, securing our B/C team championship. 

The Open race was the final race of the day, and it was a sea of SLUH blue throughout. We earned a "perfect score" of 15 (the sum total of places 1-5) and saw many PRs. Juniors Will Riggan and Wyatt Seal pulled away, battling for the win. Both ran exceptional races, and Wyatt edged out Will at the line. Though no team trophy or medals were awarded, we had too many other good races to list here. Check the list of PRs on the Team Split Sheet, including some freshmen who ran BIG improvements from even just a few days ago. 

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FOREST PARK XC FESTIVAL

Race Results: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen (3k)
Team Split Sheet: Here
Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen
Race Videos: Here

Back in Forest Park after a year's hiatus, the 16th annual Forest Park XC Festival was another major success. This year, over 2,500 athletes from 164 teams and four states descended on the new course, spread across Langenberg, Cricket and Lindell Fields. 

The varsity team began our racing on the day, finishing fourth of 20 teams in the green, most competitive, division. Rock Bridge (Columbia, MO) won the meet, with Festus and Kickapoo (Springfield, MO) in second and third. These are three of this year's strongest teams in the state, and it was an excellent opportunity to compete and see where we stack up at this early point in the season. Individually, Baker Pashea led the way for us, finishing tenth place overall and covering 5k in a new PR time of 16:18. Also medalling were Justin Glass (23rd), Sean Kellogg (29th), and Joe LaBarge (30th, and a PR!). Grant Brawley rounded out our scoring.  

Next up was the JV, and they demonstrated some of the best depth this program has seen in years. Even with two additional runners up in the varsity race, SLUH controlled the race and finished first of 17 of the best JV teams around. Carter Lowe ran a bold race to lead his teammates to the front of the race, and by the mile mark, the team result was not in doubt. Individually, sophomore Charlie Murray won the race, brilliantly outduelling a Festus athlete over the final mile. In the process, Charlie ran a new PR, and he became our first athlete since Dustan Davidson in 2013 to win a race at FPXC. Behind Charlie were six medalists: Mason Scargall (3rd), Francis Alford (4th), Anthony Zangara (8th), Cody Cox (18th), Carter Lowe (26th), and Brendan Jones (28th). Finally, even on a hot day and on a course that ran slower than expected across the board, Flynn O'Connell ran the team's fourth and final 5k PR. Congratulations to Flynn and the entire team for a dominant and proud victory. 

As is always the case at FPXC, after a long wait the freshman took to the line and competed in a rare 3,000 meter race. The team finished 4th of 9 scoring teams. Many schools ran their freshmen in the JV race, accounting for the smaller amounts of complete teams in this particular race. Gus Talleur mixed it up with some of the best in the race, and he finished as our top freshman in an impressive 3rd place. Other medalists were Otto Reitenbach (19th), George Donahue (25th), Gavin Smith (26th), Ethan Bognar (27th), and Mason Lauber (28th). Though we don't convert 3k times to their 5k equivalents for the purposes of PRs, it was clearly evident that many freshmen are continuing to get faster.  By adding 46-54 seconds to a 3k result (ranging from our fastest to slowest finishers), you can produce an equivalent time to compare to your two-mile time at the Alumni race a month ago. 

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PAUL ENKE HAZELWOOD CENTRAL INVITATIONAL

Saturday, September 18
Sioux Passage Park (17930 Old Jamestown Rd, Florissant, MO 63034)

Race Results: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen
Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen
Team Split Sheet: Here
Meet Videos: Here

Even with holding out 12 runners, our varsity placed third among 25 teams. Third place is the highest team placement we've at had the Paul Enke meet in the last 20 years (since we shifted this to a "V2" meet). Our three medalists were Francis Alford (19th), Carter Lowe (21st), and Lucas Rammacher (24th). Also helping secure our third place team finish were Gus Talleur (37th - a freshman!), Cody Cox (42nd), Nicholas Purschke (47th), and Gabe Sullivan (71st) - and a number of them were racing in their very first varsity race. All should be very proud of this accomplishment, one that shows that that this group is among the top teams in the St. Louis area. 

The Junior Varsity was next, and they finished second of 28 teams - another fantastic result. A quintet of upperclassmen led the way, with Brendan Jones (8th), Flynn O'Connell (9th), Tad Gray (11th), Tyler Barks (14th), and Alex Mittendorf (19th) all medalling and finishing in the top 20. Also medaling were Charlie Gray (26th) and Gavin Lawhorn (29th). Two JV athletes even registered season-best times in this challenging race. Congratulations to Sam Quinlivan and Paul Caso for their accomplishment on that front!

The Freshmen raced last, and they delivered the goods with an exciting and convincing team win over 13 other teams, including annual freshman power and rival Kirkwood. By placing all seven of our scoring runners before Kirkwood's third finisher, we scored 25 points to their 53. Logan Phillips led the way in this one, finishing in second place among 83 racers, only trailing a runner from Parkway West. In addition to Logan, also medalling were Gavin Smith (5th), George Donahue (6th), Ethan Bognar (8th), Mason Lauber (9th), Patrick Jones (11th), Alex Bendaña (13th), and Jens Istvan (20th). Medals and team placements weren't the only story in this one, as four of our freshmen incredibly ran their personal best on this challenging course. Big congrats to George Donahue, Alex Bendaña, Madavan Anbukumar, and the king of the PR himself, Will Martin. Will's time was a remarkable 2m 30s+ improvement over his previous best time of the season. Wow!
 

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ED WHITE INVITATIONAL

Friday, September 24
Arnold City Park (2400 Bradley Beach Rd., Arnold, MO 63010)

Race Results: Varsity | Junior Varsity "A" | Junior Varsity "B"
Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity "A" | Junior Varsity "B"
Team Split Sheet: Here
Meet Videos: Here

At the Fox Ed White Invitational, we competed extremely well in all three of our races. Aided by a flat course, favorable weather conditions, a week's more training, and confident & aggressive racing, we earned a whopping total of 46 PRs, 9 SBs, and 22 medals. Take a look at the split sheet and us know if we missed or mis-marked anyone! Just fantastic work. 

In the varsity division, three medalists lead SLUH to a second place finish among 25 teams. Juniors Lucas Rammacher, Cody Cox, and Brendan Jones were our top three finishers on the day, each of them varsity medalists, coming in 20th, 21st, and 24th, respectively. Flynn O'Connell and Gus Talleur finished close behind in 27th and 29th. Nicholas Purschke finished 45th, and Tad Gray was 57th. Our five scorers had a 15 second scoring spread, from 18:08-18:23, and until Parkway Central made a late charge in the final mile to overtake us, we were in position to win. Regardless, this particular squad proved themselves as one of the very best in the St. Louis area and should feel very proud. Incredible.

In particular from this race, the coaches would like to note the progress of seniors Flynn O'Connell and Tad Gray. These two runners have worked very hard and have dropped a lot of time since freshman year. As today showed, they have now established themselves as fine varsity runners. 

Fox broke up the JV races into two divisions, and each of them featured no shortage of SLUH medalists and fast times. In the first JV race, Gabe Sullivan, Tyler Barks, Charlie Gray, Alex Mittendorf, and Gavin Lawhorn all finished in the top 10, helping secure a 120+ point winning margin. Also medalling in that race were Noah Evers and freshman Logan Phillips. The biggest PR in this race came from freshman George Donahue. After PR'ing the week before at Sioux Passage, George knocked off another 100 seconds from his best time this week. 

In the second JV race, we saw incredible racing all over the place. Team-wise, it was a tough competition with a squad from Webster Groves, but we prevailed by 5 points to win the division.Twelve SLUH runners earned medals in this race: Beiseman, James, Lauber, Strohmeyer, P. Jones, Moise, Johnson, Cooper, Carpenter, Safar, Heater, and Werremeyer. Tons more PRs and SBs, but here are some of the biggest ones: Alex Brinkman (1:01), Jesse Heater (1:02), Andrew Moritz (1:03), Jens Istvan (1:05), Alex Keuss (1:11), Mason Lauber (1:19), Charlie Dougherty (1:25), Adrian Samaniego (1:27), Alex Bendaña (1:41), Micah Doherty (1:45), Charlie Nolan (2:01), Garrett Franks (2:07), Will Martin (2:26), Jackson Dauska (2:53), Rudy Reitenbach (3:49), and Madhavan Anbukumar (5:34). Holy moly!

Running under 20:00 for a 5k is a kind of competitive benchmark for freshmen. Before this meet, only Gus had eclipsed that mark. After Fox, we now have seven freshmen under that mark, and there are a few others knocking on the door. Take a look at the Team Honor Roll to see that list. 

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PALATINE INVITATIONAL

Saturday, September 25
Deer Grove East Forest Preserve (Cook County Forest Preserve, 1599 Pepper Tree Dr, Palatine, IL 60074)

Race Results: Varsity | Junior Varsity 
Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity
Team Split Sheet: Here
Meet Videos: Here

We were very grateful to get invited back to the Palatine Invitational and have the chance to mix it up with some unfamiliar teams. In a loaded field that included 23 ranked Illinois teams (per http://ilxctf.com), our 9th place varsity finish was our fifth best ever at this meet that we've been coming to since 2010. Our top finishers in the race were Sean Kellogg (who ran a PR) and Grant Brawley (who ran a big SB). Other PRs came from Joe LaBarge and Wyatt Seal. Looking "under the hood," though there were some things to clean up, we really like our progression of how things are coming together for varsity in our quest to run our best races in November. 

In the JV race, our seven ran the toughest, best race we've ever seen from a JV group at Palatine. In a race whose depth of quality likens us to compare it to a very good local varsity race, our second seven's 74 team points trailed only York's 62. This was our highest finish in the JV race we've ever had at Palatine. We had three medalists (Tim Greiner 5th, Mason Scargall 9th, Charlie Murray 15th), a 17:16 average on the 5k conversion for our scoring five, 5 PRs & 1 SB, and all seven finished in the top 39 of a 400+ runner race. The coaches already knew we have one of the deepest teams we've ever had, and this result provided more evidence to support that claim. 

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PARKWAY WEST INVITATIONAL

Saturday, October 2
Living Word United Methodist Church (17315 Manchester Road, Wildwood, MO 63038)

Race Results: Varsity (2nd of 20) | Junior Varsity (1st of 20) | Sophomore (1st of 19) | Freshmen (1st of 20)
Team Split Sheet: Here
Race Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Sophomores | Freshmen
Meet Videos: Here

Varsity: We were second of twenty schools represented, only behind Rock Bridge. For the second week in a row, Sean Kellogg finished as our team's top racer, running 16:37 for 8th place. Also medalling were Grant Brawley (14th), Baker Pashea (15th), Joe LaBarge (16th), and Justin Glass (25th). 

Sophomores: Putting our five scorers in the top seven overall, the sophomores had a remarkable day. Charlie Murray won his second race of the year, running 17:51 for a win. Mason Scargall and Anthony Zangara were close behind, running 18:07 and 18:09 for second and third. Charlie Gray ran the race of his young life for 5th, setting a new PR of 18:23. Gabe Sullivan finished 7th in 18:55, putting all five of our scorers under 19 minutes. Also medalling were Noah Evers (11th), Landon Beiseman (13th), and Michael Safar (25th).

Freshmen: This group continued their winning ways, posting 39 points and a nine-point winning margin over the freshmen from Rock Bridge. Even after last week's fast racing at Arnold Park, this group showed signs of more progression, posting 10 new PRs. The result demonstrated the importance of the depth of your team in the sport of cross country. Through each team's first three finishers, Rock Bridge had the advantage on us. However, by us having six finishers before their fourth, and seven before their fifth, we were able to secure the victory. Gus Talleur was our top finisher in third, with medals also going to George Donahue (7th), Patrick Jones (10th), Logan Phillips (11th), Mason Lauber (13th), Gavin Smith (15th), Ethan Bognar (18th), and Alex Bendaña (25th)

Junior Varsity: Even with injuries and sickness sidelining a number of runners, our depth shined brightly in the junior & senior JV race. We put all seven scoring runners in the top 9 overall, winning with a very low score of 18 points. Tim Greiner won the JV race in a time of 17:48, and Will Riggan was close behind in second place, also going under 18 minutes by running 17:54. Tad Gray had a great race to PR and equal his brother's 5th place finish in an earlier race. It was also great to see Nathan Abner back racing. Nathan was in his first race back after battling through injury, a battle of cross-training and persistence that is not easy for any runner. 

Medals were earned by Tim Greiner (1st), Will Riggan (2nd), Francis Alford (3rd), Tad Gray (5th), Brendan Jones (7th), Tyler Barks (8th), Flynn O'Connell (9th), Alex Mittendorf (16th), and Gavin Lawhorn (23rd). 

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MCC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Thursday, October 7
Jefferson Barracks Park (533 Bagby Road, St. Louis, MO 63125)

Race Results: Varsity (1st of 4) | Junior Varsity (1st of 5) | Freshmen (1st of 4)
Team Split Sheet: Here
Race Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen 
Race Videos: Here

Varsity: Competing in the 30th edition of the MCC Championship XC meet, we scored 19 points to claim bragging rights among our fellow Metro Catholic Conference schools. The race started amidst the only rain in St. Louis, a torrential downpour that pummeled us all. Mid-race, the rain eased, and it even ended with the sun shining brightly and a rainbow filling the sky. The rainbow proved to be a good sign, as six of the seven "first team all-MCC" designations went to our runners, en route to a decisive outcome. The championship was our 27th in total, and 18th consecutive.

Individually, Sean Kellogg became our 13th student-athlete to earn the right to call himself "conference champion." Sean covered the course at Jefferson Barracks in 16:42, holding off an upstart sophomore from Chaminade for the individual title. Sean's teammates were not far behind, all six of them in places 3-9. Though standing water and muddy turns slowed down the times, any race that ends with medals for everyone and the honor of being MCC champions is a good day. 

First team all-MCC:

• Sean Kellogg (1st)
• Baker Pashea (3rd)
• Joe LaBarge (4th)
• Justin Glass (5th)
• Grant Brawley (6th)
• Tim Greiner (7th)

Second team all-MCC:

• Wyatt Seal (9th)

Junior Varsity: Putting our team depth on full display, we saw a barrage of Junior Billiken runners at the front of this race. We took the top 15 places overall, and 22 of the top 30 places and medals. By the third mile, sophomore Mason Scargall emerged from the SLUH lead pack and claimed his second race win of the year, with Will Riggan and Francis Alford hot on his heels.

Freshmen: The freshmen also continued their winning ways at MCC, equaling varsity's score of 19 to secure the win. In putting their seven scoring runners in the top 5, all seven beat any other school's #2 finisher. Gus Talleur took the win, though Logan Phillips and George Donahue made a hard charge in the final mile to make the winning margin tight. In total, the freshmen claimed 15 of the 25 medals, and they ran very well in the midst of tough course conditions to claim a 20th consecutive freshman MCC title.  

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HANCOCK INVITATIONAL

Saturday, October 16
Jefferson Barracks Park (533 Bagby Road, St. Louis, MO 63125)

Race Results: Varsity (1st of 28) | Junior Varsity (1st of 12)
Team Split Sheet: Here
Race Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity
Meet Videos: Here

What a day we had back at Jefferson Barracks! On a brilliant, cool fall morning, the team came ready to compete, and compete at a high level. Running on the same course as we did on October 7 at the MCC Championship, times were significantly faster, nearly across the board. Of our 70 racers, 46 earned PRs and two ran season-best times. Between the two races, we claimed 19 of a possible 22 medals and two team championships.

VARSITY: Despite our rich XC tradition, "Hancock champions" was never found on our program resume until this weekend. We have been coming to this invitational, one of the oldest and historically most prestigious in the St. Louis area, since 1972. In years past, it has attracted some top teams and runners from around the bi-state region. That resume void changed on Saturday. Even with resting our top 5, varsity won the 28-team race, placing all seven runners in the top 29 overall. Will Riggan finished as our team #1, running a new PR of 17:08 for 8th place overall. Tim Greiner was right on his shoulder in 9th. Wyatt Seal, Anthony Zangara, and Charlie Murray were also close behind, finishing out an 11-second scoring spread from Will to Charlie. Also medalling and running very fine races were Francis Alford and Nolan Meara. Congratulations to this bunch for entering their names in the SLUH XC history books!

JUNIOR VARSITY: The JV squad earned another meet championship of their own, placing 12 in the top 15 and the top 9 overall. There was no freshman-only division, so this race featured 63 of our runners, accounting for about a third of the total field. Mason Scargall and Carter Lowe set the pace at the front of the race, running together for most of the race until Mason pulled away for the win. Their times of 17:14 and 17:20 are exceptional, and each would have placed around the top 15 of the varsity race. It's impossible to mention all the exceptional races, but here are but a few that stand out: Tyler Barks earning a varsity letter & navy shirt; Brendan Jones, Flynn O'Connell, Gabe Sullivan, Gus Talleur, and Charlie Gray earning varsity letters; five freshmen under 19:00 and ten under 20:00; Connor Coolbaugh running under 20:00 for the first time ever after a challenging Friday; Joel Miller with a massive season-best; the return of Clark Davis after a long time spent on the bike; Hudson Funke beating a freshman year PR; Graham Kelly & Micah Doherty running about four minutes faster than their last races at JB; and Ian Keuhner & Gabe Chambers continuing their upward trajectory. And those are just a few of the many great results from Saturday! The data are remarkable. 

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BIG RIVER INVITATIONAL

Friday, October 22
Buder Park (215 Valley Park Rd, Fenton, MO 63026)

Race Results: Varsity (1st of 16) | Junior Varsity 1 (2nd of 21) | Junior Varsity 2 (2nd of 6)
Team Split Sheet: Here
Race Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity - 1 | Junior Varsity - 2
Meet Videos: Here

Thanks to all those who braved the Great Buder Park Backup of 2021! Despite a lengthy departure from the meet at the hands of a tremendous traffic jam, it was another good day for the program at Buder Park. (I do want to assure everyone that Nicholas Purschke is doing okay; he even wanted to be at practice on Saturday morning!)

To start the day, we ran our top varsity team, and they demonstrated continued signs of sharpening and progression. The intermediate result on Friday was a team championship, including a number of PRs and a one-point victory over our rival Rock Bridge (who did not run their two top runners). Sean Kellogg joined elite company by becoming our first sub-16:00 5k runner since Noah Scott and Lucas Rackers in 2019. His time of 15:51 placed him third overall. Joining Sean in the top 10 were Baker Pashea (5th, 16:11) and Joe LaBarge (7th, 16:14). Justin Glass was our fourth & final medalist in 11th place (16:26), and Grant Brawley secured our team score with a 16th place finish. As a stepping stone, there was a lot to like from this race that leaves us hopeful that our best races are still ahead.

In each of the two JV races, there were a flood of PRs and great races that are again too many to list here. Be sure to check the team split sheet! Team-wise, we were second behind Webster Groves in each race, although it should be noted that they ran their whole program at Buder Park and only five ran in the varsity race. A few of our many highlights: Mason Scargall going toe-to-toe with a top-notch runner from Hillsboro and finishing in 2nd place in a new PR of 16:50; five more sub 18-runners in Charlie Gray, Brendan Jones, Gus Talleur, Noah Evers, and Cody Cox (putting us at a grand total of 23 runners under 18 minutes!); a gutsy race and huge PR for Joe Stoeckel; more big PRs for juniors Spencer Johnson & Connor Coolbaugh; four more sub-20:00 freshmen in Joe Stoeckel, Alex Bendaña, Clark Davis, and Rowan Lemp; and minute-plus PRs for Cooper Capdeboscq, Garrett Franks, Charlie Dougherty, Josh Lima-Lopez, Micah Doherty, and Madhavan Anbukumar. Yet again, it was a tremendous day of racing and a proud day for the SLUH XC program. It has been quite a special year.

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FINDLEY INVITATIONAL

Wednesday, October 27
Jefferson Barracks Park (533 Bagby Road, St. Louis, MO 63125)

Race Results: Junior Varsity (1st of 6) | Freshmen (1st of 6)
Team Split Sheet: Here
Race Photographs: Junior Varsity | Freshmen
Race Videos: Here

Bidding goodbye to another successful season of racing at the scenic Jefferson Barracks Park, we drove home with full stomachs and satiated spirits. A huge thank you to all the families who supported the "Findley Feast" at the end of the night; it was a great way to conclude the season for our JV and C teams. 

Freshmen: Throughout the season, the freshmen demonstrated tremendous growth and spirit. A season that began with a team win through the corn fields in O'Fallon ended with another win at Jefferson Barracks. A very impressive freshman from Parkway West won the individual race, but we took the next 6 finishers, including a blanket finish by 5 freshmen within 2.4 seconds of one another. This pack showed tremendous racing savvy, overcoming an early-race deficit at the hands of runners from rival schools by remaining patient and rising throughout the race. In addition to our front 6, 8 more freshmen finished in the top 25 medals.  Because the race winner was part of a team that did not have enough finishers for a team score, the freshmen actually registered a perfect score of 15 points - a rare and special feat.

Junior Varsity: In their final race of the season, the JV squad completed a remarkable season. Taking the top 12 finishing spots, JV matched the freshmen's perfect score of 15 with one of their own. Will Riggan won his first race in a very nice time of 17:14. A sextet of seniors ran PRs at Findley, including Flynn O'Connell, Alex Mittendorf, Tad Gray, Peter James, Joseph Nesser, and Tag Arens. Senior Luke Pierson had his finest race of the season, and a few underclassmen found PR races as well: Lucas Strohmeyer (going under 19 minutes for the first time), Leo Fitzmaurice, and Fin Roseberry.

BY THE NUMBERS: JV & C

Because of variances in courses and conditions, XC is a sport where non-head-to-head comparisons are sometimes dicey. Despite that, data does tell a representative story. According to the MoMileSplit team rankings: 

• Filtering out every school's first seven runners, our 8-14 runners (our "JV") constitute the top-ranked JV team in the State. Moving down our depth chart even further, the disparities grow greater. Our JV-2 (15-21) and JV-3 (22-28) teams each earn perfect team scores when matched up against like-ranked runners on depth charts from all other teams around Missouri.
   
• Data for our freshmen team rank them #3 in the entire State, only behind a strong freshmen team from Rockhurst and a razor-thin margin from the frosh from Rock Bridge. If these three teams lined up to race head-to-head tomorrow, there's no reason to think we couldn't compete to come out on top (we beat Rock Bridge head-to-head at Parkway West, but lost to Rockhurst at FPXC). When given the chance to compete as a freshman team, our boys only had one finish outside of the top spot - a fourth place finish back at FPXC. There's no doubt in our minds that, given another chance to race the squads from Rockhurst, Festus, or Eureka again, we could give them all a run for their money. But alas, that chance will have to play out in coming seasons. For now, they have demonstrated themselves part of another firm foundation of SLUH Cross Country for the years to come.

The depth of our team reflects in part the tone and leadership of our upperclassmen. So many of our non-top seven runners would be good varsity runners at most schools around the area. It's a proud moment for the coaches to see guys up and down our roster pushing each other to be better, all with a healthy and respectful spirit of competition and team-first attitudes. We firmly believe that we would not achieve the varsity results we do if it were not for the daily competition and camaraderie that marks our program from top to bottom.

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DISTRICT 1 CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, October 30
Bridle Ridge Acres (5 Bridle Ridge Spur, Hillsboro, MO 63050)

Race Results: Here (2nd of 18)
Team Split Sheet: Here
Race Photographs: Here
Race Videos: Here

Congratulations to the program for another State qualification, an honor not to be taken lightly, and one that the team has earned annually since 1993. Bridle Ridge Acres in Hillsboro was a new course to us, and the week's rain prevented us from getting out to preview it in advance. Walking the course in the morning, it was clear that a narrow, windy, and muddy course awaited us. As the race unfolded, a trio of seniors with All-District First Team honors led the way, with Sean Kellogg in 3rd, Baker Pashea in 6th, and Grant Brawley in 7th. Justin Glass represented us on the All-District Second Team in 13th place. Tim Greiner was our fifth and final medalist, finishing in 26th place. Charlie Murray (32nd) and Joe LaBarge (33rd) helped cement our runner-up score of 54 by finishing in front of nearly every other team's fifth scoring runner.

Also, thanks to so many for making the trip to Hillsboro to cheer on the runners. That was awesome to see! Everyone on the team is part of the post-season success we find, and we should be very proud of our State qualification. Fourteen of the 18 teams in Hillsboro saw their seasons end yesterday. For SLUH XC, it is onward to State! 

First Team All-District:
Sean Kellogg, Baker Pashea, Grant Brawley

Second Team All-District:
Justin Glass

Other medalist:
Tim Greiner

State-Wide Class 5 District Results:
Here

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STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

Friday, November 5
Gans Creek Recreation Area (3350 E Gans Rd, Columbia, MO 65201)

On a beautiful November morning in Columbia, SLUH finished in fourth place in the large school classification of the MSHSAA Cross Country Championships. This is our program's 15th State Trophy earned since 1997.

Watching results come in the Class 4 race before us, we knew conditions were ripe for a fast race. After the first kilometer, 14 runners led the pack through at a fast sub-15 minute 5K pace. The pace slowed a little bit over the more challenging second kilometer, at the conclusion of which four teams had clearly separated themselves from the rest: Rock Bridge (Columbia), Liberty North (Kansas City), Kickapoo (Springfield), and SLUH. Over the second half of the race, the fight was on to see which of the four trophies each of these four teams would secure. The scores tightened considerably, but it was Kickapoo's late surge that earned them the championship over Rock Bridge, who had led the race at every kilometer mark until the finish, and Liberty North edged us out for third. Grant Brawley led the charge for SLUH, finishing in 11th place. Sean Kellogg and Baker Pashea were close behind in 16th and 23rd, all three of them running PRs and earning All-State recognition. Justin Glass, Joe LaBarge, and Tim Greiner closed within a second of each other in 48th through 54th place to secure our team score. Sophomore Charlie Murray finished as the sixth-strongest #7 runner of all 16 teams, including out-kicking Kickapoo's #7. 

Though a cursory glance at our fourth place finish might suggest a drop off from our previous three consecutive second place finishes, the stats tell a more nuanced story.

• Our 5k average of 16:00.1 is the fastest average time ever registered by a SLUH team. This includes three runners who ran under 16:00. We have had a total of 10 other runners ever eclipse this mark in a 5k race. 
   
• Our three All-State runners equals our most ever in a State race (2018, 2013, 2009, 2008, 2005). 
   
• Our 38-second scoring spread is our tightest spread of the season in a 5k race.
   
• Our #5 and #6 runners were the best placing #5 and #6 runners in the race. 

If we knew those four things before the race started, we would have been thrilled. Most years, those pieces of data would even result in a team championship. However, there were three other exceptionally strong teams in this year's State race. We have to simply tip our cap to these teams and be proud of what we have done. Cross country is a unique sport in that it is possible to acknowledge and be proud that you brought your best on a given day, no matter the external result, and that was the case on Friday. Fierce competition brought out a very good day of running from our team. And with very few seniors leaving from those three other teams, the challenge heading into the offseason is clear and present. Nothing can ever be taken for granted in this sport, and we hope our returners are motivated by this challenge and will rise to the occasion.

We are grateful for the investment and hard work of all team members, many of whom were able to be at Gans Creek on Friday to cheer on the racers. Success at State is success to be shared by all team members, and everyone has great reason to feel pride at how the 2021 SLUH XC season reached its conclusion. We have a lot to celebrate and be grateful for. This gratitude includes the contributions and leadership of the seniors, who now hold the distinction of being part of four consecutive trophy teams. We also want to thank Megan Vitale and Sheri Ammon for their excellent photographs from Friday's race, not to mention their photographs from throughout the season. 

CLASS 5 TEAM RESULTS:
1. Kickapoo, 77 (Team Champion)
2. Rock Bridge, 81 (Team Trophy)
3. Liberty North, 111 (Team Trophy)
4. SLUH, 116 (Team Trophy)
5. Kirkwood, 174
6. Lafayette, 197
7. Rockhurst, 204
8. Raymore-Peculiar, 220
9. Joplin, 224
10. Lee's Summit North, 224
11. Blue Springs South, 242
12. Columbia Hickman, 306
13. Nixa, 307
14. Jackson, 334
15. Timberland, 353
16. Fort Zumwalt West, 365

SLUH RESULTS:
11. Grant Brawley, 15:41.1 (All-State, PR 0:33, #2 State time in program history)
16. Sean Kellogg, 15:47.8 (All-State, PR 0:04, #5 State time in program history)
23. Baker Pashea, 15:53.8 (All-State, PR 0:18, #7 State time in program history)
48. Justin Glass, 16:18.5 (PR 0:08, #14 State time in program history)
50. Joe LaBarge, 16:19.2 (#15 State time in program history)
54. Tim Greiner, 16:19.9 (PR 0:20, #18 State time in program history & 3rd fastest by a junior)
131. Charlie Murray, 17:13.1

Class 5 Boys Race Results - Included in this link are the kilometer-by-kilometer splits viewable for each team and individual runner.  (Finish results listed as a PDF)

• Team Split Sheet
• SLUH video footage taken during the race
• State Photo Album
• STL Today High School Sports State Meet Recap Article
• Updated SLUH State Meet Individual Result History

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NXR MIDWEST

Sunday, November 14
LaVerne Gibson Championship Cross Country Course (599 South Tabortown Road Terre Haute, IN 47803)

We sent 22 runners to Terre Haute to compete at the Saint Louis XC Club. 

In the Championship race, we placed 10th, second place among all Missouri teams. Sean Kellogg was the top finisher in 39th. Sean's finish ties our third highest ever at NXR (Tim Rackers placed 10th in 2010, and Caleb Ford placed 38th in 2009. Tim also placed 39th in 2009.)

In the Open race, we competed against many school's varsity teams and placed 28th. Lucas Rammacher was the top finisher. 

Championship Race Results: Team | Individual
Open Race Results: Team | Individual

 

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Brian Gilmore, Rich Esswein, Mike Lally, Riley Flynn, Jack Sullivan
Captains: Daniel Hogan, Aidan Byrne, Sandy LeGrand, Baker Pashea
Student Chaplain: Noah Apprill-Sokol
State Finish: 2nd

Team Photo Roster - 2020
Team Roster - 2020
Letter Winners - 2020
Daily Practice Schedule - 2020
Meet Schedule - 2020

Daily Practice Logs from the 2020 Season

2020 Season Performance Log | 2020 Season Honor Roll

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Prep News stories from the 2020 season, by Noah Apprill-Sokol '21 & Peter James '22:

• "Racers ready to run: SLUH XC prepares for first meets of the year" (September 16, 2020)
• "XC Bills top five teams at the Cowboy Classic to start season" (September 30, 2020)
• "XC program shows off depth at Chaminade and Parkway, wins four out of six races" (October 8, 2020)
• "XC defends tradition, continues 17-year winning streak at MCC Meet" (October 14, 2020)
• "XC wins at Buder Park, looks forward to final week of 2020 season" (October 28, 2020)
• "SLUH XC top 7 runners remain undefeated; team advances to State for 28th consecutive year" (November 4, 2020)
• "Cross Country snags second place finish as historic season comes to an end" (November 11, 2020)

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ALUMNI RACE - SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 

@ SLUH Track

This year's alumni race had a different feel to it. Since we weren't able to bring alums onto campus to run or have the annual BBQ, alums submitted their times virtually to keep this important tradition alive. We then inserted their times into the results run by our current team to produce the final tally: a 19 to 38 win for the team. Junior captain Baker Pashea took the overall title in 10:15, edging out Eric Monda '97 for the win. 

2020 ALUMNI RACE RESULTS
 

TOP 10 ALUMNI FINISHERS:

1. Eric Monda '97, 10:19
2. Nate Tower '00, 10:54
3. John Oliver '04, 11:05
4. Noah Scott '20, 11:07
5. Tim Probst '93, 11:29
6. Reed Milnor '19, 11:34
7. Cliff David '09, 11:42
8. Stephen Kuehner '08, 12:08
9. Ben Rosario '98, 12:15
10. Adam Mittendorf '20, 12:25

TOP 7 TEAM FINISHERS:

1. Baker Pashea, Junior, 10:15
2. Daniel Hogan, Senior, 10:22
3. Francis Alford, Junior, 10:46
4. Justin Glass, Junior, 10:49
5. Hayden Zenor, Senior, 10:53
6. Sandy LeGrand, Senior, 11:09
7. Joe LaBarge, Junior, 11:13

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COWBOY CLASSIC - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 

Living Word United Methodist Church (17315 Manchester Road, Wildwood, MO 63038)

Race Results: Varsity | JV-1 | JV-2 | JV-3
Race Photographs: Varsity | JV-1 | JV-2 | JV-3
Race Videos: Varsity | JV-1 | JV-2 | JV-3
Instagram Live Narrated Race Videos: View here
Team Split Sheet: View here

It was fantastic to have the chance to race against other teams, and 76 of our 82 runners were able to toe the start line. Nineteen team members set 5k Personal Records (PRs) on the Living Word course. They are listed at the bottom, along with the margin by which they lowered their PR. 

On a team level, the varsity team was victorious, defeating several of our top rivals in the area. Grant Brawley was our top finisher on the day, and he, Baker Pashea, and Daniel Hogan all secured top-five finishes to help lead our squad. Of note, the team defeated the pre-season MO ranked #3 (Parkway South), #5 (Marquette), and #10 (Kirkwood). These are some of the same teams we'll be competing against at District, so it was nice to gain some early-season confidence against these strong teams. 

PRs at the Cowboy Classic:

• Keller Maher - 3:08
• Nolan Nester - 2:58
• Maurice Safar - 2:05
• Joel Miller - 0:49
• Steffan Mayer - 0:49
• Landon Beiseman - 0:43
• Connor Coolbaugh - 0:41
• Keegan Cantwell - 0:34
• Sean Boyd - 0:34
• Paul Caso - 0:34
• Quinn Apprill-Sokol - 0:27
• Will Riggan - 0:26
• Anthony Zangara - 0:26
• Charlie Murray - 0:22
• Lionel Moise - 0:16
• Brendan Jones - 0:14
• Nolan Meara - 0:11
• Jackson Dauska - 0:03
• Carter Lowe - 0:02

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CHAMINADE CONFERENCE QUAD - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1

Chaminade (425 S Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63131)

Race Results: Varsity (3rd of 3) | Jr/Sr JV (1st of 4) | Fr/So JV (1st of 4)
Race Photographs: Varsity | Jr/Sr JV | Fr/So JV
Race Videos: Varsity | Jr/Sr JV | Fr/So JV
Instagram Live Narrated Race Videos: View here
Team Split Sheet: View here

On this day, we had our first chance to compete against our Catholic Conference rivals ahead of Wednesday's conference championships. We held out all of our runners scheduled to race at Parkway West, but this didn't stop us from a fantastic day on the campus of Chaminade.

Our varsity team went toe-to-toe with the top teams from De Smet and CBC. Though we finished behind each, our athletes performed very well, with all of them earning PRs or season-best times. Sophomore Steffan Mayer was our highest placer in the race, finishing in 6th overall. Along with Steffan, Tyler Barks, Aidan Byrne, and Cody Cox also set PRs in the varsity race.

The JV races were split into upperclassmen and underclassmen, and not only did we win each as a team, but we also secured the individual champion in each! In the Junior-Senior race, junior Alex Mittendorf went under 19:00 for the first time and won the race. In the Freshman-Sophomore race, Brendan Jones emerged victorious in a big PR time of 19:29. There are too many good performances to list the rest here (26 of the 51 finishers set PRs!), so take a look at the team split sheet and results for all of that. 

General consensus seemed to be that the course at Chaminade is fun and fast, so we look forward to returning to this course on Wednesday for another crack at competing on it.

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PARKWAY WEST INVITATIONAL - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3

Living Word United Methodist Church (17315 Manchester Road, Wildwood, MO 63038)

Race Results: Varsity (1st of 11) | JV (1st of 10) | Freshmen (4th of 10) 
Race Photographs: Varsity | JV | Freshmen
Race Videos (at mile splits): Here
Instagram Live Narrated Race Videos: View here
Team Split Sheet: View here

On a perfect morning for racing, we came ready to compete in each of the three races. Varsity and JV earned team championships, and sixteen of our 21 racers set lifetime bests on a course that doesn't easily give fast times.

The JV team started the day on a great foot, moving through the pack through the race and landing six of the first ten finishers for a convincing victory over nine other teams. Sophomore Nolan Meara was our top finisher in 3rd place. One major highlight was junior Sean Kellogg asserting himself at the front of the race. Sean has overcome many obstacles over the past 18 months, and it was great to see him continue his ascension and finish right behind Nolan. 

Varsity was next, and they competed against the top teams in the St. Louis area. This field included Festus, 6-time defending State champions in the classification one below SLUH. Daniel Hogan led the way in 7th place in a lifetime best time of 16:26. Our runners packed in close enough behind Daniel to secure a narrow three-point victory over Festus and all the rest. In his first Top 7 Varsity race for SLUH, sophomore Carter Lowe closed out our 5 scorers with a PR of 56 seconds. All seven of our runners finished ahead of any other team's fifth and final scoring runner, which more often than not secures a victory. It was a great day for the team.

Our freshmen had their first chance to compete as a unit, and they fared quite well in a JV field against runners from all grade levels. Charlie Murray ran away from the field to win the race in 18:54, and three others eclipsed the 20:00-minute mark - a mark that is of particular note for freshmen to get under. In fact, all seven freshmen set PRs in the race. This was an excellent performance for our freshmen.

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MCC CHAMPIONSHIP - WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7

Chaminade (425 S Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63131)

Race Results: Varsity (1st of 5) | JV (1st of 4) | Freshmen (1st of 4) 
Race Photographs: Varsity | JV-1 | JV-2 | Freshmen
Race Videos (at mile splits): Here
Instagram Live Narrated Race Videos: View here
Team Split Sheet: View here

SLUH enjoyed tremendous success at the MCC Championships on a very hot day at Chaminade, winning conference on each of the three levels. Each season, we look to this day as a key day on the schedule, the the coaches are very proud of the way that everyone battled and raced amidst challenging conditions.

On the varsity level, we secured the team championship for the 17th consecutive season. The front of the race was dominated by SLUH jerseys and two excellent runners from Chaminade who were hoping to win on their home course. Senior captain Daniel Hogan made a big move in the second mile to distance himself from the Chaminade chasers, and the SLUH pack finished in quick succession after the Chaminade runners. Daniel became our program's 12th athlete to win the conference championship, a tremendous honor. Also earing first team all-conference honors were junior Baker Pashea, junior Grant Brawley, junior Justin Glass, and senior Ryan Kramer. Earning second-team all-conference honors were senior Hayden Zenor and sophomore Carter Lowe. 

The JV races left no doubt about the depth of this year's team. To maintain safety protocols, all teams spread their JV squads into one of two races. Overall, SLUH claimed 18 of the top 21 places, including the top 14 overall. This was more than enough for our JV squad won Conference for the 4th consecutive season. Overall, we took 19 of the 30 medals, with most of those being the highest medals. In the first JV race, sophomore Nolan Meara made a move in the third mile to go for the win, and this proved to be the winning move.  Nolan was also one of five runners in the JV races to earn a PR - a feat that proved to be difficult on a much warmer and uncomfortable afternoon than when we were last at Chaminade. Also PR'ing in the JV-1 race were sophomores Will Riggan and Nicholas Purschke and junior Nathan Wojtkowski. Amazingly, Meara and Riggan have now PR'ed in each of their four races so far this season. That's an incredible feat. In the JV-2 race, senior Alex Thro and junior Jack Werremeyer battled each other at the front of the race for much of it, with Thro pulling away for the victory in the third mile. Taggert Arens earned himself a new PR in the JV-2 race. With many of the high finishers in the JV race being returning runners, not to mention the success of the freshmen, the future yet again looks very bright for SLUH XC. 

The freshmen ran last, and they kept up our winning ways. Led by the first three finishers overall (Charlie Murray, Anthony Zangara, and Nate Boyer), the youngest SLUH runners vanquished their conference foes for the 19th consecutive season. Charlie battled with a Chaminade runner through the first half of the race, but in the second mile the Chaminade runner had to pull out of the race. Suddenly finding himself running alone, Charlie kept up the fast pace and won the race by nearly a full minute. Leo Fitzmaurice led the charge early, and his early aggression helped account for one of three PRs among the freshmen. Also PR'ing were Charlie and Michael Safar. 

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SLUH CONFERENCE QUAD - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15

Jefferson Barracks Park (533 Bagby Road, St. Louis, MO 63125)

Race Results: Jr-Sr Race (1 of 4) | Fr-So Race (1 of 4) 
Race Photographs: Jr-Sr Race | Fr-So Race
Race Videos (at mile splits): Here
Instagram Live Narrated Race Videos: View here
Team Split Sheet: View here

On a day with favorable course and weather conditions, we enjoyed a fast and fun day at Jefferson Barracks against conference foes. Race breakthroughs often come from a willingness to put aside fear, and an incredible 41 of our runners set PRs on the day. In terms of team scoring, SLUH won each race by healthy margins. For those who know Jefferson Barracks, the course layout was very different than anything we have seen there before.

In the Jr-Sr race, it was another sea of navy at the front of the race. Tim Greiner pushed the pace in the middle of the race, but it was a trio of other teammates who came barrelling down the final hill together battling for the win. Wyatt Seal, one of several of our Group 2 underclassmen running up a race, held off Joe LaBarge and Sandy LeGrand for the win. Wyatt (0:50) and Andrew Frattini (1:21) had the biggest PRs among athletes in this race.

In the Fr-So race, sophomore Brendan Jones won his second race of the year. Brendan battled with freshman Anthony Zangara for much of the race and pulled away in the final bit. There were many big PRs in the race, but six athletes lowered their fastest time by at least 1:40: Keller Maher (3:34), Charlie Nolan (2:05), Paul Caso (1:53), Charle Gray (1:47), Alex Brinkman (1:41), and Matthew Musial (1:40).

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WEBSTER INVITATIONAL - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22

Blackburn Park (Edgar Rd, Webster Groves, MO 63119)

Race Results: Varsity (2 of 10) | JV-A (no team score) | JV-B (4 of 9) | Freshmen (1 of 7)
Race Photographs: Varsity | JV-A | JV-B | Freshmen
Race Videos: View here
Instagram Live Narrated Race Videos: View here
Team Split Sheet: View here

The weather provided a stark difference in our two race days last week. On Thursday at Blackburn, temperatures soared and made for an uncomfortable day of racing on an already challenging course. This was a day where times weren't a clear indicator of some very good racing. Our varsity team placed second in a ten-team field, beating out top varsity teams from Parkway West, CBC, and Eureka. Francis Alford (8th) and Tim Greiner (10th) earned varsity medals on the day. With only a small number of teammates beside them, each JV racer had the opportunity to be a scoring runner for the team, and several of them rose to the occasion. On the freshman level, having only their second opportunity this season to compete against other freshmen, our runners distanced themselves from some good freshman teams in Webster Groves and Kirkwood (even without the services of Charlie Murray, who ran up on varsity). Our medalists in the C race were Anthony Zangara (3rd), Gabe Sullivan (5th), Nate Boyer (6th), and Charlie Gray (7th). 

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CLAYTON INVITATIONAL - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

Shaw Park (27 S Brentwood Blvd, Clayton, MO 63105)

Race Results: Varsity (4 of 7) | Junior Varsity (2 of 5) 
Team Split Sheet: View here

Whereas Thursday was uncomfortably warm for runners, Friday provided the opposite treatment for runners at the Clayton Invitational at Shaw Park. On a cold and blustery afternoon, our squad again competed very well. In the varsity race, Aidan Byrne led the way for a fourth-place team finish - behind top varsity teams from Clayton and De Smet & Festus's top JV team. Six of our seven varsity racers earned medals, with many of them getting their first experience of a varsity race. On the JV level, our senior-only squad placed second behind the top JV team from De Smet. Henry McIntyre (4th) and Henry Bourneuf (6th) gave us our highest finishers in either race, and all seven of the JV finishers earned a medal. One senior achieved a PR on the day: congratulations to Anthony Garavaglia for dropping a very impressive 39 second PR! Unofficially, we are certain that Coach Flanagan's return from retirement to help us out on this day made a big difference for these racers!

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BIG RIVER INVITATIONAL - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

Buder Park (215 Valley Park Rd, Fenton, MO 63026)

Race Results: Varsity (1 of 7) | Junior Varsity (3 of 6)
Race Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity
Race Videos: View here
Instagram Live Narrated Race Videos: View here
Team Split Sheet: View here

Completing our trifecta of three meets in 24 hours, Friday's Big River Invitational provided a perfect transition into the opportunity for fast season-ending performances looming on the horizon. Running around flat and wide-open fields at Buder Park, many athletes found themselves with new PRs at the end of the day. 

In the varsity division, after a prolonged chunk of training without a race, this was a good opportunity for us to get our racing legs back before the postseason. Grant Brawley finished as our top finisher in 2nd, with Daniel Hogan only a second behind in 3rd. Ryan Kramer (7th) & Baker Pashea (8th) were our other medalists. Hayden Zenor closed out our team score in 11th place, earning us the team championship over a good Parkway South team that we will see again at District. However, even more impressively was a very tight 25-second scoring spread (the time between our first & last scoring runners). Keeping this spread as small as possible is a key to success in the large and competitive meets that await us.

In the JV division, we finished third behind what was actually Fort Zumwalt East's varsity team and narrowly behind a top JV team from Parkway South. Nathan Wojtkowski won his wave, only to later find out that a runner from Zumwalt East beat his time from another wave. Flynn O'Connell was our other JV medalist in 9th place. 

In total, 26 runners set PRs at the Big River Invitational, and you can view all of those on the team split sheet. In terms of returning runners, the biggest PR of the day came from junior Sean Kellogg. Sean has battled through a lot of injury setbacks over the past 18 months of his time in the program, and this was a very nice moment for him. 

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FINDLEY INVITATIONAL - WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28

Chaminade (425 S Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63131)

Race Results: Junior Varsity (1 of 5) | Freshmen (1 of 4)
Race Photographs: JV - Heat 1 | JV- Heat 2 | Freshmen
Race Videos: View here
Instagram Live Narrated Race Videos: View here
Team Split Sheet: View here

Findley was the final invitational of the season for all not competing in the State series. Back at Chaminade's course, we ran an incredible number of tough, impressive races that earned us many PRs and medals. Nearly half our racers PR'ed on the day, and we claimed individual race champions in all three races. 

Freshmen were first, and any doubt about which team would come out on top quickly dissipated. Charlie Murray won his third race of the year, but the big breakthrough came from Anthony Zangara. Not only did Anthony finish well ahead of the top runner from Kirkwood who beat him handily the week before at Webster, but Anthony gave Charlie a run for his money and even took the lead on him in the final mile of the race. Anthony's effort earned him second place and a varsity letter (due to his sub-18:15 time). We chose 18:15 as this standard because it represents a level that places runners on most varsity teams around the state. Some seasons pass where no freshmen hit our varsity time standard, but this year, we had two. Kudos to Charlie and Anthony!

Many other freshmen also had fine breakthrough races, but none was bigger in terms of sheer seconds than Landon Beiseman. Landon ran a PR of 1:04 to finish among our top group of seven freshmen, each of whom ran sub-20:00 times (a benchmark we consider to be very good freshmen times).

The JV races were next, and each of these races showcased our program's tremendous depth. Notwithstanding great races all over the place, the story of the day here had the performances by the senior class. They really came to play. Sandy LeGrand defeated a crew of hungry teammates to win the JV-1 race in a PR time of 17:28. Behind Sandy were 14 consecutive Jr. Billiken runners, and in total we claimed 20 of the 25 medals. In particular, seniors Aidan Byrne and Noah Apprill-Sokol each enjoyed career-best races. In the JV-2 race, Parker Stus and Alex Thro battled throughout before Parker pulled away in the final mile for a race victory and a PR of 19:26.

This meet cemented our claim as the top JV team in the State and the third-best Freshman team - and such claims are not subjective hyperbole. MoMileSplit is a website that collects and ranks results from around the state. When you filter out all school's first seven runners, our 8-14 runners (our "JV") constitute the top-ranked JV team in the State, and the margin isn't close. Moving down our depth chart even further, the disparities grow greater. Our JV-2 and JV-3 teams each earn perfect or near-perfect scores when matched up against like-ranked runners from other teams around Missouri.

On the freshmen level, we finish ranked #3 in Missouri, only behind teams from Liberty North (Kansas City) and Nixa (Springfield) - schools where several of these freshmen run on their varsity teams.

The incredible depth of the 2020 SLUH XC program will go down among our very best ever. Amid some incredibly challenging circumstances, this is nothing short of amazing. And with only seven of our top 26 returners being seniors, the potential is there for even greater days in the years ahead. Potential is only as good as the hard work and commitment that validates it, but we are very hopeful about the future of SLUH XC.

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DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31

Campbell-Chapman Sports Complex (150 Progress Dr, Sullivan, MO 63080)

Race Results: Varsity (1 of 9)
Race Photographs: Varsity (Thanks to Ryan's dad and Grant's mom for help shooting these great pictures!)
Race Videos: View here
Instagram Live Narrated Race Videos: View here
Team Split Sheet: View here

What a day! In a very good district field where fine runners and teams were inevitably going to come up on the wrong side of the qualification line, our pack controlled the race from beginning to finish to stamp out a clear District Championship. Wet & soggy ground, coupled with a winding course that featured many sharp turns that disrupted runners' rhythm, made for slower times for all. Yet with a 19-second spread between our scoring runners, we made a strong statement to the rest of the state that even though graduation hit us hard and placed us under the radar to begin the season, the 2020 team is stout & ready to mix it up with the best at State. Saturday's result also marked a special milestone for SLUH XC: our 25th District Championship since 1983. Congratulations to the entire program for helping make this possible. It was great to see so many team members and their parents - not to mention former SLUH head coach, MO Hall of Famer, and current Assistant Principal, Jim Linhares - make the drive to Sullivan to cheer on the boys in white and navy.  

District Finishers:

• Daniel Hogan, 4th (Medalist; First Team All-District)
• Grant Brawley, 9th(Medalist; Second Team All-District)
• Baker Pashea,10th (Medalist; Second Team All-District)
• Ryan Kramer, 11th (Medalist; Second Team All-District)
• Hayden Zenor,12th (Medalist; Second Team All-District)
• Sean Kellogg, 17th
• Justin Glass, 23rd

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STATE CHAMPIONSHIP - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7

Gans Creek Recreation Area (3350 E Gans Rd, Columbia, MO 65201)

What a season! For the third consecutive year, SLUH finished as runner-up at State in the large schools classification. This year's team champions were Rock Bridge out of Columbia, the top-ranked team in Missouri and a team that we hadn't raced since last year's State meet. In a season marked by many twists and turns, this race offered a suitable and thrilling conclusion to the story that was 2020 SLUH Cross Country. Going back to 1999, this is now our sixth second place finish to go along with our five team championships.

Like anything else this season, the final race didn't come easy. At the 1,000-meter checkpoint, we found ourselves in 7th place. However, our pack was only a few seconds off the front of a massive leading pack of runners, so we knew the race remained there for us if we stayed confident and didn't panic amidst such a large throng of runners. We had prepared for exactly this kind of race. The next two miles were some of the finest pack racing we have ever seen. To the man, our runners stuck together and moved up through the field. At the 2,000-meter mark, we climbed to 5th. At 3,000 meters, to 2nd. Then at 4,000 meters, by a narrow margin, we overtook Rock Bridge for the lead. The race came down to who could be strongest over the final 1,000 meters.

Though Rock Bridge got the best of us over the final kilometer, we couldn't have been prouder of our team effort. Entering the season, after having lost a number of key seniors to graduation, we weren't on anyone's radar to place highly at State, let alone perhaps even qualify. Our remarkable 0:19 spread between our scoring runners was the tightest spread we have ever seen at State, and the fact that we pulled off a second place team finish without any All-State individuals (top 25 finishers) is a bold statement about how good our team depth was. I admittedly don't have the stats to back this up, but it's unlikely that a team has ever placed second without the benefit of at least one All-State runner. It has certainly never happened in our memory.

Such an achievement wouldn't have been possible without the investment and dedication of all 84 runners in the program, not to mention all the parents, coaches, and other adults who make it all possible. Though only seven raced on Saturday, it was a program accomplishment of the highest magnitude. We were sad everyone couldn't join us in Columbia, but it was powerful to know that a group assembled back at SLUH on Saturday morning to be together and united in that moment. Everyone should feel tremendous pride at what we all were able to achieve during these challenging times, which for many went all the way back to solo training when lockdown started in March. The odds were stacked against us, but everyone persevered, taking each day and each opportunity given to us as a gift. In the words of one XC parent, lessons were learned and experience gained in teamwork, determination, drive, focus, high expectations, discipline, spirit, and sportsmanship. And isn't that what sport is all about?

Class 5 Team Results:
1. Rock Bridge, 109 (State Champions)
2. SLUH, 125 (State Runner-Up)
3. Liberty, 136 (State Trophy)
4. Liberty North, 142 (State Trophy)
5. Central (St. Joseph), 145
6. Kickapoo, 171
7. Ladue Horton Watkins, 182
8. Rockhurst, 231
9. Jackson, 239
10. Hickman, 241
11. Marquette, 254
12. Joplin, 258
13. Francis Howell, 276
14. Blue Springs, 289
15. Helias Catholic, 388
16. Blue Springs South, 414

SLUH Results: Note the 15-second scoring spread!
27th. Grant Brawley, junior, 16:22.5
29th. Ryan Kramer, senior, 16:23.9 (PR)
42nd. Baker Pashea, junior, 16:34.5
45th. Hayden Zenor, senior, 16:36.5 (PR) 
46th. Sean Kellogg, junior, 16:37.6 (PR)
57th. Justin Glass, junior, 16:44.3 (PR)
60th. Daniel Hogan, senior, 16:45.7
Alternates: Carter Lowe, sophomore; Nolan Meara, sophomore; Wyatt Seal, sophomore

Class 5 Boys Race Results - Included in this link are the kilometer-by-kilometer splits that you can view for each team and individual runner.  (Finish results listed as a PDF)

• Team Split Sheet
• MSHSAA TV Race Broadcast
• SLUH video footage taken during the race
• Post-Race Instagram Live Interviews
• State Photo Album
• STL Today High School Sports State Meet Recap Article
• SLUH Prep News article on State from Noah Apprill-Sokol and Peter James

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Brian Gilmore, Rich Esswein, Mike Lally, Riley Flynn, Jim Scariot
Captains:  Joe Callahan, Peter Dillon, Matt Friedrichs, Adam Mittendorf, Lucas Rackers, Noah Scott
Student Chaplain: Ben Garcia
State Finish: 2nd

Team Roster - 2019
Letter Winners - 2019
Daily Practice Schedule - 2019
Meet Schedule - 2019

Daily Practice Logs from the 2019 Season

Prep News stories from the 2019 season, by Peter LaBarge '20 & Mitchell Booher '20:

• "Cross country eyes strong season; stresses brotherhood to achieve success" (August 30, 2019)
• "XC wins at O’Fallon, varsity looks to Granite City" (September 6, 2019)
• "Cross Country takes first meet of the year; to host 14th annual FPXC Saturday" (September 13, 2019)
• "Cross country teams impress at FPXC; take home top five spot for each team" (September 19, 2019)
• "Cross Country Jv and V2 step up and showdown at Paul Enke invitational" (September 27, 2019)
• "XC’s top 14 powers through the mud at Palatine" (October 4, 2019)
• "Cross Country dominates Parkway West Invite as they head into Conferences" (October 11, 2019)
• "XC keeps MCC title; takes silver at Borgia" (October 25, 2019)
• "XC dominates Districts despite rain" (November 1, 2019)
• "XC demonstrates depth at sectionals; eyes podium at state" (November 8, 2019)
• "Despite unexpected state finish, XC proud of podium position" (November 15, 2019)

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

Alumni Race - Saturday, August 17 

SLUH Track

On this day, everyone had the opportunity to get their first taste of racing for the season. After dividing the team into three heats, each heat formed their own teams and attacked a two-mile race around the track. 

You can only race who shows up in front of you, and the team demonstrated that they will be a force to be reckoned with this year, defeating the alums handily by the score of 22-37. Lucas Rackers (9:39) and Noah Scott (9:41) led the charge by going 1-2. After those two, 76 other team members registered an opening time for the season, allowing the coaches to now better create workout groups based not only on volume of miles, but on speed and competitiveness amongst the groups. 

After the races, Mr. Zlotopolski and Mr. Rackers helped fire up the grill, and the team and alums recounted their races over a simple lunch of hot dogs and chips. A big thanks to those two parents for helping prepare our food!

Click here to see results for the two-mile race, including lap and mile splits for each competitor. Especially for newer runners, t's always fascinating to return to these results after the season of training ahead, to see just how much progress can and will be made. 

The freshmen and sophomores will open their competitive racing season on Wednesday, September 4 at the O'Fallon Futures Invitational. The rest of the team (including all O'Fallon racers) will open up a few days later on September 7 at the Granite City Invitational. 
 

O'Fallon Futures - Wednesday, September 4

OTHS-Milburn Campus (650 Milburn School Rd, O'Fallon, IL 62269)

For the sixth consecutive year, the program opened up our competitive racing season with a freshman and sophomore meet in O'Fallon, Illinois. And what an impression they left on their prospects for the season ahead!

The freshmen, eager to finally race after three and a half weeks of tough training that seemed to have no end in sight, cut loose around the cornfields of the two-loop course at the O'Fallon-Milburn campus. Our top freshman finisher was Wyatt Seal in 5th place, our only freshman medalist who ran a strong 3-mile time of 17:54. Yet, XC races aren't won on the strength of just one runner. Behind Wyatt was a cavalcade of Junior Billiken freshmen, six of them filling places 11-17, and it was this pack that sealed a convincing victory over O'Fallon (55-71) and five other Illinois teams. As this was everyone's first race, it's difficult to say who stood out in their race, but at least one runner who deserves mention for rising to run with people he maybe hasn't before is Tyler Barks. Looking up and down the freshman roster though, most (if not all) ran three-mile times faster than their best three mile run in practice. It's also worth noting that a 5K time under 20:00, run by season's end, is really good for a freshman. At O'Fallon, once we converted our 3-mile finishes to 5k times, we already have a whopping six freshmen under that barrier, with a seventh right on the doorstep. Incredible...great job, boys!

The sophomores wasted no time in staking a claim on their own race, besting metro-East power Edwardsville and five others by an unofficial margin of 30-45. We sent four sophomores to the top five overall by the mile mark. Not much changed from there, as we finished in places #2 #3 (Justin Glass), #4 (Graham Sanfilippo), and #7 (Joe LaBarge). Each of our first three finishers hit times that were PRs (personal records) from their best time last season, and Graham's race represented an additional and significant performance breakthrough—and one that found Graham a new workout group in the process! Tad Gray, after a summer of hard work, finished as our final scoring runner, sealing the win with a big PR of his own. Not to be outdone, however, was Gavin Lawhorn. Gavin bested his freshman PR by an incredible 1 minute 53 seconds! Gavin has been working really hard in practice while carrying a great attitude, and he saw that pay off in spades in the season's first race. Two other new sophomores, Joe McGroarty and Cullen Swiecicki, admirably completed their first race with the program.

You can view the Team Split Sheet from O'Fallon here; we are still awaiting receipt of the race results from the host school. We will pass those along when they are made available to us.

O'Fallon Pictures: Sophomore Race | Freshman Race

To everyone... keep working hard and stay focused! This has the makings of a special season, but nothing will ever come to us without 100% buy-in and effort.

Sophomore Race PRs (Personal Records) + Amount of PR
Gavin Lawhorn 1:53
Graham Sanfilippo 0:41 (Medalist – 4^th place)
Tad Gray 0:31
Baker Pashea 0:27 (Medalist – 2^nd place)
Justin Glass 0:18 (Medalist – 3^rd place)

Other Sophomore Race medalist:
Joe LaBarge, 7^th place

 

Granite City Invitational - Saturday, September 7

Saturday, September 7
Wilson Park (2900 Benton St, Granite City, IL 62040)

Overall, it was a great day for the program at the Granite City Invitational. The biggest highlight was the varsity squad's ability to defend our team championship in the 25-team invitational.

In that varsity race, our guys ran with confidence and unity, and we were able to defeat a strong team from Edwardsville and all 23 other team challengers in the field. In big races, the gap between your first and last scoring runner is critical, since any other teams' runners who finish inside that gap will inflate your score. Even with two finishers running elite three-mile times right on either side of 15:20, we were able to keep that scoring gap at a low 38 seconds and earn the win. Lucas Rackers and Noah Scott finished third and fourth in the race, and Adam Mittendorf was 11th, Daniel Hogan 14th, and Grant Brawley 16th. All five of those runners medalled. Six of our varsity runners earned new PRs (personal records) on the day, including Peter Dillon (32nd) and Hayden Zenor (49th). Hogan's PR was especially impressive, as he knocked off over a full minute from his previous best.

The second and final race of the day was the gigantic open race. It seemed a bit chaotic, but rest assured this was the only time all season that we'll have such a large group in the same race. From here on out, freshmen will have their own race. A lot of good things happened in the race, including an amazing 32 PRs from our 60 finishers! Many freshmen and sophomores set PRs after their first race earlier in the week, but a few large PRs for returning runners came from a trip of juniors: Henry McIntyre (1:25), Sandy LeGrand (0:58), and Alex Thro (0:47). Congratulations to all!

GRANITE CITY RESULTS: Varsity, B&C/Open, Team Split Sheet
GRANITE CITY PHOTOS: Varsity, B&C/Open

Varsity Race PRs
Daniel Hogan 1:01
Grant Brawley 0:29
Peter Dillon 0:21
Hayden Zenor 0:15
Noah Scott 0:11
Adam Mittendorf 0:07

Open Race PRs
Jack Evans 4:19
Connor Coolbaugh 3:12
Jackson Cooper 2:17
Nathan Abner 1:56
Cullen Swiecicki 1:52
Henry McIntyre 1:25
Brendan Jones 1:14
Ryan Carpenter 1:11
Tommy Zlotopolski 1:09
Sandy LeGrand 0:58
Nathan Spengemann 0:48
Alex Thro 0:47
Hudson Funke 0:44
Cody Cox 0:36
Tad Gray 0:33
Joe Abbate 0:33
Joe McGroarty 0:31
Nathan Wojtkowski 0:27
Aidan Byrne 0:21
Walter Hurley 0:16
Spencer Johnson 0:16
Noah Apprill-Sokol 0:12
Gavin Lawhorn 0:12
Nolan Meara 0:12
Tim Greiner 0:12
Wyatt Seal 0:10
Carter Lowe 0:09
Will Riggan 0:08
Robert Mize 0:05
Mike Gordon 0:04
Joe LaBarge 0:02
Peter James 0:01

Forest Park XC Festival - Saturday, September 14

Forest Park (Aviation Field/Archery Range/Planetarium/Bowl Lake)

We have put to rest another Forest Park Cross Country Festival. Thank you very much to all the athletes, parents, and volunteers who helped make the 14th annual event another big success. So many community hands came together to make the event possible, and we also want to thank the parents for their patience at the end of the day as we tried to haul the final tables and supplies back to school. It was a long day, but it was a feat that not many other programs could pull off. We hope our boys and all the other athletes who competed had a fun and positive day. Now, onward to a more traditional week of practice and competition!

Varsity: The Boys Green Division Varsity race demonstrated the razor-thin margins of XC team scoring. Three teams separated themselves from the rest in the 25 team field, and those three teams were separated by only two points. On Saturday, SLUH fell on the short end of those two points, getting edged out by team champions Liberty (140 points, from Kansas City, MO) and defending FPXC champions Neuqua Valley (142 points, from Chicago). Though we equalled Neuqua Valley's 142 points, they took second place based on the tie-breaker (where a team's sixth finisher places). Our two varsity medalists were Noah Scott (8th place) and Lucas Rackers (22nd place). 

• Varsity Race Results
• Varsity Race Photographs

Junior Varsity: The junior varsity team finished 5th among 18 teams. Our two medalists in the JV race were Baker Pashea (19th place) and Joe Callahan (23rd place). Additionally, the JV race produced our only two 5k PRs of the day: Henry McIntyre and Joe McGroarty. Congrats! 

• JV Race Results
• JV Race Photographs

Freshmen: The freshmen finished 3rd of 10 scoring teams, getting bested only by a incredible group from Kickapoo (Springfield, MO) and Neuqua Valley (Chicago). We had six freshmen medalists: Carter Lowe (12th), Wyatt Seal (13th), Tim Greiner (14th), Nolan Meara (15th), Will Riggan (20th), and Nick Purschke (28th). If you add approximately 46-54 seconds to your 3k result (ranging from our fastest to slowest finishers), you can produce an equivalent time to compare to your 3,200-meter time at the Alumni race a month ago. From top to bottom, it's clear that this freshmen team is continuing to improve. 

• Freshman Race Results
• Freshman Race Photographs

Here are results and splits among the entire SLUH team. Check the Forest Park meet website for results from all the 15 races on the day.​

Paul Enke Invitational - Saturday, September 21

Sioux Passage Park (17930 Old Jamestown Rd, Florissant, MO 63034)

Team Split Sheet | Varsity Results | JV Results | Freshmen Results

Varsity Pictures | JV Pictures | Freshmen Pictures

Another year of competitive fun and community was had on the Sioux Passage battleground! After the recent heat, no one complained about the cloudy skies that lingered for much of the morning, or even the soft rain that fell for the final parts of the freshman race.

Varsity - With six of our seven runners competing in their first-ever varsity race, gaining experience by competing against other schools' top squads was the mission on Saturday. With sophomore Baker Pashea leading the charge and earning a medal in a tough 23rd place, the team finished 6th of 12 scoring teams. Our other six runners finished just outside of the cut for medals. Special props to freshman Wyatt Seal for fearlessly entering the varsity ring and holding his own, and seniors Mitchell Booher and Austin Bievenue for their leadership in shepherding the younger runners.

Junior Varsity - Despite seeing six of their typical members competing up in varsity, the junior varsity finished first among 13 scoring teams on Saturday. Taking a quick look "underneath the hood" demonstrates how this team dramatically improved upon its performance at FPXC. If you remove the FPXC JV finishes of those who competed in varsity yesterday, last Saturday Lafayette would have beaten us on the JV level by more than 70 points (173-247). Yesterday, that same group defeated Lafayette 36-41. Even more than that, Lafayette added a runner to JV yesterday that ran varsity for them at FPXC. That's what we would call a good day! There were many strong performances up and down the JV race, and our scoring five of Sirius Song, Aidan Byrne, Graham Sanfilippo, Henry Bourneuf, and Francis Alford all ran tough races to set our score. Additionally, Peter LaBarge helped boost Lafayette's score by finishing ahead of their final scorer. In addition to those six, we had five more medalists to make 11 total in the race! Congratulations to Henry McIntyre, Matt Friedrichs, Tad Gray, Sean Kellogg, and Parker Stus for their medals.

Freshmen - Up and down the roster, the freshmen ran with purpose and commitment on Saturday, besting all competition to claim their first official team championship of the season. There was little doubt about this one, as the freshmen packed eight runners in places 4-11 for the first mile. On the back part of the course, they took care of business to cement their positioning before ascending Manmaker for the second time to run towards the championship. Tim Greiner led the way on the day, rising to second overall. Carter Lowe, Will Riggan, Tyler Barks, and Nolan Meara also finished in the top 8, and also earning medals were Lucas Rammacher, Nick Purschke, and Cody Cox. Amazingly, five freshmen set PRs at Sioux Passage: Rammacher, Brendan Jones, Connor Coolbaugh, Nathan Abner, and Emmet Miles. We also want to note the grit demonstrated by Jack Evans, one whose will to finish shined as brightly as any.

Ed White Invitational - Friday, September 27

Arnold City Park (2400 Bradley Beach Rd., Arnold, MO 63010)

Results: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen
Photos: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen
Team Split Sheet: Here

Congratulations to the JV and Freshmen teams for earning team championships on Friday evening at Arnold City Park! Lots of great results to celebrate in all three of the races. 

Varsity: Senior Mitchell Booher led our team to a 5th place finish, finishing just outside of the medals in 22nd place. Mitchell's time was also a season-best, and he has been a tremendous leader for us in his senior season. We had several athletes competing in their first varsity race at Fox: sophomore Graham Sanfilippo, junior Henry Bourneuf, junior Aidan Byrne, and freshman Carter Lowe. Of that group, Henry set a season-best time and Aidan set an impressive 43 second PR!

Junior Varsity: In addition to the team championship, the headline in the JV race was the race win for junior Sandy LeGrand. In a sport with so many teams and competitors, even great teams can go a season without having anyone win a race. Sandy's winning time of 18:24, 16 seconds clear of his closest competition, gave us our first race champion of the season - congratulations, Sandy! Behind him were our other four scorers, each earning a medal and helping us to a 22-point win over Marquette for the team championship. Medalling in the JV race were LeGrand, Francis Alford (2nd place), Peter LaBarge (6th), Tad Gray (13th), and Sean Kellogg (14th). There were many PRs and season-best times run in this race, and those are all listed below. Alford, Maurice Safar, and Peter James set especially sizable new PRs. Congratulations to the entire team for their championship!

Freshmen: The freshmen ran away with the team title at Fox, continuing to prove they are a force to be reckoned with across the area. Even without three of its members who ran in different races this weekend, they put five in the top 10 and scored a low 21 points... over 60 points clear of second-place Marquette. Our medalists were Nolan Meara (3rd), Will Riggan (4th), Tyler Barks (5th), Nick Purschke (7th), and Lucas Rammacher (9th). But, as with the JV race, medals do not tell the story of the strength of their day. Check out below how many freshmen established new PRs at Fox, including the largest PRs of the day for Emmet Miles and Nathan Abner. We work hard in practice, and races are opportunities to celebrate that hard work. 

Fox PRs (including time improvement):

1. Emmet Miles, 2:53
2. Nathan Abner, 2:34
3. Lucas Rammacher, 2:01
4. Joe Abbate, 1:53
5. Jackson Cooper, 1:41
6. Francis Alford, 1:20
7. Maurice Safar, 1:20
8. Walter Hurley, 1:08
9. Ryan Carpenter, 0:59
10. Nathan Spengemann, 0:58
11. Tyler Barks, 0:52
12. Connor Coolbaugh, 0:50
13. Jack Evans, 0:49
14. Aidan Byrne, 0:43
15. Peter James, 0:42
16. Brendan Jones, 0:39
17. Will Riggan, 0:35
18. Henry McIntyre, 0:27
19. Tad Gray, 0:25
20. Alex Mittendorf, 0:24
21. Joe McGroarty, 0:24
22. Spencer Johnson, 0:22
23. Robert Mize, 0:19
24. Michael Buescher, 0:18
25. Eric Wu, 0:18
26. Gavin Lawhorn, 0:13
27. Cody Cox, 0:11
28. Nick Purschke, 0:10
29. Sam McGrail, 0:08

Season-Best Times at Fox:

1. Mitchell Booher
2. Peter LaBarge
3. Henry Bourneuf
4. Sean Kellogg
5. Matt Friedrichs
6. Matt Andrew
7. Parker Stus
8. Eli Dernlan
9. Luke Pierson
10. Will Halley
11. Teddy Nolan
12. Carter Spence
13. Bobby Rizzo

Palatine Invitational - Saturday, September 28

Deer Grove East Forest Preserve (Cook County Forest Preserve, 1599 Pepper Tree Dr, Palatine, IL 60074)

Results: Varsity (10th of 30) | Junior Varsity (7th of 27)
Photos: Varsity | Junior Varsity
Team Split Sheet: Here

Varsity: Our varsity finished 10th in a competitive and muddy field at Palatine. Noah Scott medalled in 26th place, our highest finisher of the day. Earning a medal at this meet is a great achievement! Adam Mittendorf ran a tough race for 44th place, and another race that stood out to the coaches was Hayden Zenor's. It was also great to welcome Ryan Kramer back to competition. With six weeks until the State meet, we feel very good about the trajectory we find ourselves on. 

Junior Varsity: The Palatine JV fared three spots better than the varsity, finishing 7th among the 27 teams. Joe Callahan was our highest finisher of the day (22nd place). Three JV runners even managed to set PRs on a slow and muddy course at Deer Grove East: Tim Greiner, Joe LaBarge, and Baker Pashea. 

All in all, the trip to Chicago was successful and will help us prepare for championship races both this season and in seasons to come. 

Parkway West Invitational - Saturday, October 5

Living Word United Methodist Church (17315 Manchester Road, Wildwood, MO 63038)

Race Results: Varsity (1st of 20) | Junior Varsity (2nd of 16) | Sophomores (1st of 14) | Freshmen (1st of 15)
Team Split Sheet: Here
Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Sophomores | Freshmen

What a team day we had at Living Word! At the Dale Shepard Invitational, so named for the legendary Parkway West coach, we came in and made quite the statement. 

Varsity: Resting two of our five scorers, we knew our work would be cut out for us in a traditionally stout field. But, showcasing tremendous depth and ability, we rose to the occasion and scored 57 points to take a 13 point win over state power Rock Bridge and others. Since returning to the Parkway West Invitational in 2012, the 57 points is our lowest score (our 2nd lowest is 94) and our first team championship since 2012. A pack of three top-10 runners led the way, with Noah Scott in 3rd, Adam Mittendorf in 6th, and Grant Brawley in 9th. Also medaling to complete our score were Peter Dillon in 16th and Joe Callahan in 29th. Hayden Zenor finished in 34th place, and his time established for him a new PR. Ryan Kramer battled some tough luck and finished 41st, and he continues to round into form after injuries slowed him at the start of the season.

Sophomores: Following the varsity triumph, the sophomores squeaked out a one-point win over Webster Groves, essentially reducing the 14-team field to a dual meet by winning by a margin of 43-44. Baker Pashea ran a new PR of 17:46 to give us a race champion for the second consecutive week. Behind him were three other top-10 runners: Graham Sanfilippo (4th), Joe LaBarge (7th), and Justin Glass (9th). Even though Webster had six runners in the finishing chute by the time our next and final scoring runner finished, Francis Alford's 23rd place finish gave us our winning margin. A number of sophomores established new PRs that are noted below. A few guys to give a shout-out to: Sean Kellogg for continuing to close the gap on his classmates after recovering from injury, Tag Arens for getting after it big time in the finishing kick (up the hill!) to give him his PR, and Cullen Swiecicki for the biggest sophomore PR on the day.

Freshmen: Since finishing third at the Forest Park XC Festival, the freshmen been on quite the roll, having now won team championships in three consecutive invitationals. At this meet, our strongest competition came from Rock Bridge, our rivals from Columbia, MO. Through four finishers, Rock Bridge held a two point lead over us. But as is more often than not the case in XC, team titles are won based on who has the best 5th finisher. Tyler Barks came across as our #5 in 15th place (in a race with runners from 21 schools and 15 scoring teams). Would it be enough? Showing amazing depth, we placed an additional seven freshmen in front of Rock Bridge's #5, giving us a clear winning margin of 36-72. Medalling in the C race were Tim Greiner (2nd), Wyatt Seal (5th), Carter Lowe (6th), Will Riggan (14th), Barks, Nolan Meara (19th), and Nicholas Purschke (20th). Many PRs to note below. Additional kudos to Lucas Rammacher for battling tough through a cramp, Spencer Johnson for making his way closer to that 20:00 mark, and Hudson Funke and Tommy Zlotopolski for their 1:00+ PRs. Finally, I've got to mention Nathan Abner and his 0:00.25 (that's a quarter second!) PR from his previous best at Fox. Good lean at the finish line, Nathan!

Junior Varsity: After finishing as runner-ups to us in the Varsity and Freshmen and divisions, Rock Bridge had our number in this one, pushing us back to a 2nd place finish among the 16 scoring teams. We had five top-25 medalists: Reid Jackson (5th), Sirius Song (12th), Peter LaBarge (19th), Sandy LeGrand (20th), and Aidan Byrne (23rd). Reid Jackson's race provided one of the biggest highlights of the day, as he has been battling leg injuries and hadn't been able to race until yesterday. Amazingly, his time was our 9th fastest on the day, and anyone who saw him after the race clearly saw that Reid battled through all sorts of things to finish how he did. Also, kudos to Aidan Byrne and Henry McIntyre for yet another PR and Teddy Nolan for showing off one of the strongest finishing kicks we had on the day. Those strides and flying 200s we do at the end of practices are designed to help in those race closing situations!

PRs at Parkway West:
Tommy Zlotopolski, 1:40
Hudson Funke, 1:09
Tim Greiner, 0:42
Brendan Jones, 0:40
Cullen Swiecicki, 0:38
Ryan Carpenter, 0:35
Spencer Johnson, 0:34
Graham Sanfilippo, 0:25
Carter Lowe, 0:25
Alex Mittendorf, 0:23
Henry McIntyre, 0:18
Nathan Wojtkowski, 0:14
Tag Arens, 0:08
Aidan Byrne, 0:05
Hayden Zenor, 0:04
Baker Pashea, 0:04
Joe LaBarge, 0:04
Tyler Barks, 0:03
Gavin Lawhorn, 0:02
Will Riggan, 0:02
Connor Coolbaugh, 0:02
Robert Mize, 0:01
Nathan Abner, 0:00.25

SBs:
Anthony Garavaglia, 0:50
Teddy Nolan, 0:28
Joe Callahan, 0:25
James Galli, 0:22
Ryan Kramer, 0:19
Sirius Song, 0:10
Peter LaBarge, 0:06
Bobby Rizzo, 0:06
Cooper Swiecicki, 0:04

MCC Championships - THURS., OCT. 10 & TUES., OCT. 15

Jefferson Barracks Park, 533 Bagby Road, St. Louis, MO 63125

Race Results: Varsity (1st of 5) | Junior Varsity (1st of 5)  | Freshmen (1st of 5)
Team Split Sheet: Here
Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

Congratulations to the varsity for earning our program's 16th consecutive conference championship! This is a remarkable feat made possible by the hard work of the whole program and scores of runners from years gone by, many runners before some of our current ones were even born.

Additionally, for the third consecutive year at conference, we scored a perfect 15 points. Adam Mittendorf finished first to become SLUH's 11th M.C.C. champion, and his four teammates who secured the perfect score were hot on his heels, as only 16 seconds elapsed between Adam and our #5. In addition to the first five, Joe Callahan again earned First Team All-Conference honors, and Hayden Zenor earned Second Team All-Conference designation.

1. Adam Mittendorf, 16:53.0 (First Team All-MCC)
2. Lucas Rackers, 16:57.4 (First Team All-MCC)
3. Grant Brawley, 17:01.0 (First Team All-MCC)
4. Noah Scott, 17:05.8 (First Team All-MCC)
5. Peter Dillon, 17:09.6 (First Team All-MCC)
7. Joe Callahan, 17:17.7 (First Team All-MCC)
11. Hayden Zenor 17:46.9 (Second Team All-MCC)

After being halted by thunderstorms after the varsity contest, the JV/C meet got rescheduled for Tuesday, October 15. Ultimately, we were able to build upon varsity's success and complete a season-long goal of winning the MCC on all three levels. This is a team achievement that relies upon each and every runner pushing their teammates to be the best they can be. 

In the JV race, Ryan Kramer pulled away from his teammates in the second mile and blistered a winning time of 17:13, a season best by nearly 30 seconds. We took the first 11 places in the race and earned an astounding 23 of the 30 individual medals. Other individual highlights included season-best times by Henry Bourneuf, Teddy Nolan, Will Halley, and Bobby Rizzo; the return (and medalling!) of senior Ben Garcia after a season-long injury, and sophomore Gavin Lawhorn earning what was his first XC medal!

After experiencing a challenge from two CBC runners, the freshmen claimed their own conference championship in scoring a low 22 points. Wyatt Seal became our third conference champion of the meet! Wyatt joins current team members Grant Brawley, Daniel Hogan, and Mitchell Booher as M.C.C. freshman champions. We took 13 of the 25 freshman medals and just had a great team day up and down the line. Earning their first medals of their XC career were Spencer Johnson, Jackson Cooper, Walter Hurley, Nathan Spengemann, Brendan Jones, and Connor Coolbaugh. Four freshmen set PRs on the MCC course (designed below) - which is no easy feat! With two races left on the schedule, the freshmen are poised to challenge for six consecutive team titles. Keep up the hard work! 

PRs at MCC:
Nathan Abner, 0:18
Brendan Jones, 0:10
Connor Coolbaugh, 0:09
Gavin Lawhorn, 0:07
Ryan Carpenter, 0:03

SBs at MCC:
Ryan Kramer, 0:27
Teddy Nolan, 0:19
Bobby Rizzo, 0:11
Henry Bourneuf, 0:08
Will Halley, 0:08

Borgia Invitational - Saturday, October 19

Big Driver Golf Center (275 Grand Ave, Washington, MO 63090-1209)

Race Results: Varsity (2nd of 16) | Junior Varsity (1st of 9)  | Freshmen (1st of 5)
Team Split Sheet: Here

Heading west to Washington, MO, SLUH XC represented themselves very well at the Borgia Invitational at Big Driver. 

Varsity: Measuring by career and season-best times run, the varsity team acquitted themselves the strongest of our three teams on Saturday. Running up in the varsity race, six of the seven athletes hit new such marks! Baker Pashea was our highest finisher and medalist in 15th place. Reid Jackson also medalled in 24th place. The team finished 12 points behind team champion Steelville, a team ranked #4 in Class 2. Our second place team finish placed us higher than some good teams, including MCC rivals Chaminade and CBC, Helias Catholic, and a secondary varsity team from Kirkwood.

Junior Varsity: In the nine-team field, the JV squad finished first, scoring 27 points to second place Kirkwood's 52. Graham Sanfilippo and Mitchell Booher ran aggressively at the front of the field and finished as our top two placers, in 4th and 3rd, respectively. Peter LaBarge, Francis Alford, and Matt Friedrichs all achieved high places behind the front two and cemented the win. Matt Friedrichs and fellow senior Ben Garcia had two very strong races, and Ben's ability to run a new PR on a very tough course was especially notable given his limited ability to train this year. All told, we had 9 JV medalists. Joining the first 5 as medalists were Garcia, Tad Gray, Aidan Byrne, and Noah Apprill-Sokol. Also of note were Parker Stus and Alex Mittendorf dipping under the 20:00 mark for the first time - congratulations!

Freshmen: Make that five in a row! The freshmen again claimed a team victory, this time besting their closet rival by 24 points in a five-team field. Tim Greiner and Carter Lowe ran together near the front of the race, finishing ahead of everyone except a pair of strong runners from CBC and Kirkwood. Will Riggan and Nolan Meara came back strong to finish in the top 10, and Tyler Barks continued a consistently high-performing season with a top-10 finish of his own. Other highlights in the freshman race were Nicholas Purschke hanging tough with our front pack, nearly 30-second PRs for Hudson Funke and Brendan Jones, and yet another PR for Nathan Abner. We had 8 medalists on the day - Greiner, Lowe, Riggan, Meara, Barks, Purschke, Lucas Rammacher, and Jones. Congratulations to the freshmen for keeping a strong season going. One more to go!

Borgia PRs:

• Hudson Funke, 0:28
• Brendan Jones, 0:27
• Eric Wu, 0:26
• Alex Mittendorf, 0:17
• Nathan Abner, 0:15
• Joe LaBarge, 0:13
• Will Riggan, 0:13
• Parker Stus, 0:10
• Baker Pashea, 0:08 (also earning a navy team shirt - sub-17:45)
• Sandy LeGrand, 0:07 (also earning a varsity letter - sub-18:15)
• Joe McGroarty, 0:05
• Ben Garcia, 0:04
• Wyatt Seal, 0:04

Borgia SBs:

• Matt Friedrichs, 0:20
• Sirius Song, 0:13
• Bobby Rizzo, 0:08
• Reid Jackson, 0:01

Clayton Invitational - Friday, October 25

Shaw Park (27 S Brentwood Blvd, Clayton, MO 63105)

Race Results: Varsity (1st of 15) | Junior Varsity (4th of 13)
Team Split Sheet: Here

Clayton is always a special meet for our seniors, and this year was no different. On Friday afternoon at Shaw Park, our seniors (with a little help from three underclassmen) acquitted themselves very well at the Clayton Invitational. All reports described a fun and positive spirit among the group racing that evening.

Varsity: In the varsity race, we had six medalists and were able to win the 15-team invitational. Our first finisher was Daniel Hogan, finishing in third place. Also earning varsity medals were Hayden Zenor (5th), Sirius Song (6th), Mitchell Booher (14th), Graham Sanfilippo (22nd), and Peter LaBarge (23rd). Sirius and Peter's finishes each represented big season-best times, and Daniel's race was his first one back after recovering from injury. Matt Friedrichs suffered a little bad luck in the pre-race huddle, but he, too, was able to run a race that placed him around the top third of the whole field.

Junior Varsity: With a senior-only squad, we took 4th among the 13 teams. Medalling were Ben Garcia (10th), Austin Bievenue (13th), Matt Andrew (15th), and Mike Gordon (21st). James Galli closed out our scoring in 42nd place, and Eric Wu, Cooper Swiecicki, and Leo Moore each ran nice races of their own.

District 1 Championship - Saturday, October 26

Jackson City Park (Jackson, MO 63755)

Race Results: Varsity (1st of 13)
Team Split Sheet: Here
Photographs: Here

For the 24th time in the past 32 years, we have earned the distinction of becoming District champions. Placing all seven of our runners in the top ten overall, we scored 24 points to resoundingly defeat all other comers in Class 4 District 1.

It was a memorable trip down I-55 to Jackson, to be sure, with the rain intensifying as the team buses drew near the course. Locally, heavy rain had fallen for 12 hours consecutively before race-time, and the torrential rains sure didn't let up during our stay at Jackson City Park. Running along a course that was inches-deep in water and mud for much of it, our pack embraced nature's challenges and ran with fierce focus and execution.

If it weren't for a moment of bad, slippery luck that put Lucas on his backside at the final turn of the race, we may have also had the individual champion. However, he quickly pulled himself up and finished second overall. Behind him came a flood of teammates (no pun intended), and the gap between our first runner and our seventh runner in 10th overall was only 34 seconds. That kind of gap is tough to beat.

Though the awards ceremony got cancelled because of the rain - and our training runs were cut short by a quickly rising creek that seemed to indicate we needed to head for the hills before getting completely washed out - it was a successful day overall and the kind of team statement we were hoping to make. And at the end of the day, thank God for dry clothes and warm showers!

First Team All-District:
2nd - Lucas Rackers, Senior
3rd - Noah Scott, Senior
4th - Adam Mittendorf, Senior
7th - Ryan Kramer, Junior

Second Team All-District:
8th - Joe Callahan, Senior
9th - Grant Brawley, Sophomore
10th - Peter Dillon, Senior

Findley JV/C Invitational - Wednesday, October 30

Wednesday, October 30
Jefferson Barracks Park, 533 Bagby Road, St. Louis, MO 63125

Race Results: Junior Varsity (1st of 6) | Freshmen (1st of 5) 
Team Split Sheet:  Here
Photographs: Junior Varsity | Freshmen 

On a raw, damp, and cold evening at Jefferson Barracks, the Junior Varsity and Freshmen teams each closed out their season with team championships. The conditions rendered fast times challenging to come by, but we competed very well in the conditions. Additionally, a huge thank you to the parents who supplied a delicious spread of food at the end of the evening! If any athlete didn't turn in his jersey on Wednesday night, he should get that to Coach Porter ASAP.

In the JV race, our guys fared well against a number of varsity runners from other schools who narrowly missed qualifying out of Districts. In that race, Daniel Hogan earned the individual championship. Other highlights in that race came from Sirius Song continuing a late-season surge, a great race from Sandy LeGrand to be our #5 scoring runner, Joe LaBarge running even splits to rise through the race after getting spiked early on, another PR for senior chaplain Ben Garcia, a furious sprint by Matt Friedrichs to claim the final medal, another big Findley PR for Will Halley, a big finishing kick for Anthony Garavaglia, and Joseph Nesser's first race of the season after a long recovery from injury. We also want to note and appreciate senior Leo Moore for his three seasons of quiet leadership and daily hard work.

For a sixth consecutive meet, and seventh in eight chances, the freshman team won their race. When you combine how many teams they defeated and lost to in all eight of those races, and think of it in a traditional Win-Loss format, this means the Freshmen concluded their season with a 57-2 record. A job well done! 

Individually, our front freshmen again found themselves in a contest with some strong freshmen runners from CBC and Kirkwood, and Wyatt Seal finished just on the heels of the winner from Kirkwood. Tim Griner, Carter Lowe, Nicholas Purschke, and Tyler Barks were our other scoring runners on the day. Jackson Cooper ran especially well to earn a medal, Connor Coolbaugh snagged another PR, and Nathan Abner once again came blazing into the finish with an impressive final kick. But beyond any individual achievements, the freshmen team as a whole really impressed this year, and we hope that the fun and lessons they've taken from being part of the team will continue to drive their work with us over the next three seasons. Each of them should be very proud of what they have accomplished.

For some data on how much improvement came over the course of 13 weeks, take a look at your results from the Alumni Race at the start of the season and compare that 5k equivalent time to your season PR. In some cases, the improvement is staggering!

Findley PRs:

• Will Halley, 0:32
• Joe McGroarty, 0:16
• Gavin Lawhorn, 0:13
• Connor Coolbaugh, 0:03
• Ben Garcia, 0:01
• Tag Arens, 0:01

Findley SBs:

• Joseph Nesser, 2:34
• Teddy Nolan, 0:27
• Reid Jackson, 0:02
• Bobby Rizzo, 0:02

Sectional 1 Championship - Saturday, November 2

Parkway Central High School (369 N Woods Mill Rd, Chesterfield, MO 63017)

Race Results: Varsity (1st of 8)
Team Split Sheet: Here
Photographs: Here

On a beautiful morning in Chesterfield, we claimed the Sectional Championship and earned our right to compete at next weekend's State meet. This is a tremendous honor for our entire program. 

It was the first time this season we had the chance to face local power Kirkwood, and they indeed provided our strongest competition on the day. However, we placed our five scoring runners before their third finisher, giving us a comfortable winning margin. All seven of our runners earned medals, and five of the seven earned special "All Sectional" designations for their finish place. Additionally, Ryan Kramer and Peter Dillon each ran PRs that were sub-17:00 for the first time, and Joe Callahan put out his best time of the year by nearly 30 seconds. The miles and miles (and miles...) of work we have done, beginning over the summer, is beginning to pay off in our racing. Our cheering section and support at Sectional was phenomenal, and we hope this is the same type of spirit we can bring to State next weekend. Also, I promised Booher I'd commend him for his "no more than ten" words he got to speak in the post-race interview.   

SLUH Individuals & Places:
3. Lucas Rackers, Sr., 16:21.34, Medalist, First Team All-Sectional
10. Adam Mittendorf, Sr., 16:45.17, Medalist, Second Team All-Sectional
11. Grant Brawley, So., 16:46.04, Medalist, Second Team All-Sectional
12. Joe Callahan, Sr., 16:46.36 (SB), Medalist, Second Team All-Sectional
14. Ryan Kramer, Jr., 16:48.53 (PR), Medalist, Second Team All-Sectional
18. Peter Dillon, Sr., 16:58.69 (PR), Medalist
26. Noah Scott, Sr., 17:09.88, Medalist

Sectional 1 Teams:
1. SLUH, 46 - Sectional Champion
2. Kirkwood, 63 - Sectional Runner-Up
3. Webster Groves, 94 - State Qualifier
4. Ladue, 99 - State Qualifier
5. Jackson, 112
6. Lindbergh, 130
7. Chaminade, 163
8. Pattonville, 226

State Championship - Saturday, November 9

Gans Creek Recreation Area (3350 E Gans Rd, Columbia, MO 65201)

For a second consecutive season, the SLUH Junior Billikens finished 2nd overall at the State meet. It was a proud finish for our decorated senior class, a class that was part of the program that finished 10th overall in both 2016 and 2017. Each of them played pivotal roles in elevating us to our consecutive runner-up finishes. We defeated many strong programs on the day, including Liberty, the only Missouri team who had previously defeated us this season.

At Saturday's State Championship, our score of 119 trailed only Raymore-Peculiar's 104. Ray-Pec, as they are commonly known, is a school located about 30 miles south of Kansas City. Saturday was the first time we raced them this season. In the weeks leading up to State, they had also earned District and Sectional championships. Heading into State, we expected them to be among our strongest competition. From the outset of the race, we ran with confidence and class, and we were the leading team at each of the first four live-scoring checkpoints. However, over the final kilometer, Ray-Pec made a surge that we could not answer. Only moments after the finish, the live scoreboard confirmed what we saw transpire in the final stages of the race: Ray-Pec would be the champions on the day. They ran a phenomenal race to earn their first team championship in school history and first top-four trophy since 1986. To them, we tip our caps.

Individually, six of our seven runners PR'ed on the beautiful new Gans Creek XC Course. Their efforts produced a 5k scoring average of 16:06, far and away our best-ever State average. Our scorers on the day were Noah Scott, Lucas Rackers, Joe Callahan, Ryan Kramer, and Adam Mittendorf, with Grant Brawley and Peter Dillon not far behind.

Further, Noah and Lucas enshrined their names in the most elite parts of our team record book. The pair ran together near the front of the race and finished in 5th and 6th overall, each among our top ten all-time places at State. Following up on their All-State finishes from last year (a designation awarded to the Top 25 runners), they are now the 11th and 12th athletes in program history to multiple All-State XC medals. Finally, their times of 15:38.6 and 15:41.5 are the second and third fastest times a SLUH Junior Billiken runner has ever run in a 5k race.

Thank you to all the team and family members who made the drive to Columbia to cheer on the team and celebrate this day for the program. A special thanks to all the people, adults and upperclassmen, who made the effort to make sure our freshmen and sophomores could attend.

No single race, good or bad, defines a season. All team members should be proud about what we were able to accomplish over the course of the 2019 season. By any standard, what we do is incredibly difficult, and we were able to achieve great success, demonstrate class and maturity, and have a lot of fun while doing it. In our graduating senior class, we are losing a lot of leadership and talent, but with a tremendous cast of returning runners who learned from the Class of 2020, the future, yet again, looks bright for SLUH Cross Country.

SLUH Individual Results:
5th. Noah Scott, senior, 15:38.6 (PR; All-State medalist)
6th. Lucas Rackers, senior, 15:41.5 (PR; All-State medalist)
44th. Joe Callahan, senior, 16:19.4 (PR)
60th. Ryan Kramer, junior, 16:26.0 (PR)
64th. Adam Mittendorf, senior, 16:27.8
75th. Grant Brawley, sophomore, 16:33.1 (PR)
99th. Peter Dillon, senior, 16:44.4 (PR)

Team Results:
1. Raymore-Peculiar, 104 (State Champions)
2. SLUH, 119 (State Runner-Up)
3. Rock Bridge, 125 (State Trophy)
4. Kirkwood, 148 (State Trophy)
5. Central (St. Joseph), 150
6. Rockhurst, 170
7. Jefferson City, 205
8. Liberty, 206
9. Marquette, 208
10. Staley, 214
11. Webb City, 252
12. Ladue Horton Watkins, 259
13. Webster Groves, 279
14. West Plains, 280
15. Lafayette (Wildwood), 335
16. Francis Howell, 362

State Resources: 

• Class 4 Boys final results | Splits | Photographs | Detailed results for all runners and races
• Post-Race MileSplit Team Interview - tremendous wisdom and perspective from a very special group!
• StL Today State Meet Recap Article

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Brian Gilmore, Rich Esswein, Mike Lally, Michael Swan
Captains:  Jack Buehring, Patrick Hetlage, Reed Milnor, Chuck Perry, Chris Staley
Student Chaplain: Ben Poag
State Finish: 2nd

Team Roster - 2018
Team Photo Roster - 2018
Team Letter Winners - 2018
Season Practice Schedule - 2018
Season Meet Schedule - 2018

Daily Practice Logs from the 2018 Season

Prep News stories from the 2018 season, by Justin Koesterer '19, Peter LaBarge '20, Jimmy Stanley '20, Joe Callahan '20, Chris Staley '19:

• "Cross country team starts strong with six of seven varsity returning" (August 24, 2018)
• "Underclassmen XC runners have impressive first race; team preps for first meet in Granite City" (August 31, 2018)
• "Cross Country narrowly defeats competition at Granite City; eyes on first place for FPXC" (September 7, 2018)
• "Mudfest 2k18: XC edges rival Rockhurst; takes 2nd at FPXC in front of hype fans" (September 14, 2018)
• “Program day” for XC; underclassmen fill big shoes in Paul Enke Invitational" (September 20, 2018)
• "Historic day for varsity XC; shines against out-of-town competition" (September 28, 2018)
• "XC falls just short at Parkway West; looks forward to postseason" (October 5, 2018)
• "XC perfect scores 2 of 3 races in MCC sweep" (October 12, 2018)
• "Do or die: XC postseason begins as JV and freshmen finish strong" (October 26, 2018)
• "Rackers takes second; propels XC through do-or-die sectionals to state" (November 2, 2018)
• "Podium Project fulfilled: drought of trophies over as XC takes second at State" (November 9, 2018)
• "Cross country runs final race at Regionals in Indiana" (November 15, 2018)
• "Cross country looks back on renewal of program in second place season" (November 30, 2018)

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

20th Annual Alumni Race (ALL)

Saturday, August 11, 2018
SLUH Track

At Saturday's 20th annual Alumni Race, the team once again defeated the alumni by the score of 20-40. Alum Matt Lawder '07 won the race with a time of 9:42.

Lucas Rackers was the team's top finisher in 9:44. Rounding out the team's top seven for the day were Patrick Hetlage, Noah Scott, Reed Milnor, Chris Staley, Joe Callahan, and Hayden Zenor. Finishing 10th among all team members on the day, Grant Brawley led the freshmen. For everyone who stepped foot on the track, no matter what time you registered on the day, look for your continued hard work to yield significant improvements in the weeks and months ahead.

You can view the results of the Alumni race here, including lap-by-lap split times for all athletes. Thanks to Mr. Hetlage, photos from the Alumni Race are accessible for viewing and downloading.

O'Fallon Futures Invitational (B/C)

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

OTHS-Milburn Campus (650 Milburn School Rd, O'Fallon, IL 62269)

Though the O'Fallon was not officially scored and no team results were given, we did put the scores together on our own. The freshman team finished second of seven teams, and the sophomore team finished first of seven! The freshman race demonstrated the importance of the tie-breaker in XC. Though we tied Edwardsville with 39 points, they would have won due to the higher finish of their sixth finisher. Regardless, we had a fantastic day in and among the O'Fallon corn fields.

Team Split Sheet & Results from O'Fallon

2018 Race Results: Freshman Race | Sophomore Race
2018 Race Photos: Both races in one album here

Granite City Invitational (V, B/C, Open)

Saturday, September 1, 2018
Wilson Park (2900 Benton St, Granite City, IL 62040)

At Granite City, the program had a tremendous day. The varsity finished 1st of 38 teams, and the B/C team finished 1st of 36 teams. In each of those two races, we claimed 5 of the 30 medalists. This was the first time we have ever won either of the divisions in the three years we have competed in this invitational. What a building block for the season! Full data and photos are below.

Team Split Sheet & Results from Granite City

2018 Race Results: Varsity Race | B/C Race | Open Race
2018 Race Photos: Varsity Race | B/C Race | Open Race

Forest Park XC Festival (V, JV, C)

Saturday, September 8, 2018
Forest Park (Aviation Field/Archery Range/Planetarium/Bowl Lake)

Another wild & muddy Forest Park Cross Country Festival has been completed. Thank you very much to all the athletes, parents, and volunteers who helped make the 13th annual event another big success. Thank you to all the parents, friends, and athletes who came early in the driving rain and stayed late to help us take down in the mud and muck. Truly, we couldn't have done it without you.

Varsity: Scoring 114 points, SLUH finished 2nd of 23 teams in the Green Division. Neuqua Valley, a first-time Forest Park XC Festival guest from Naperville, IL, scored 91 points to claim the team title. We were the #1 team from Missouri on the day, defeating our Jesuit rivals from Rockhurst by 1 point and other MO Class 4 rivals including Liberty, Lafayette, Jefferson City, and Blue Springs (the defending State champions). The second place team finish at the Festival is our highest team finish since we won it in 2009.

Individually, Patrick Hetlage crossed the line in 3rd place - becoming our highest-placing finisher ever at the Forest Park Cross Country Festival. We had three other medalists in the race: Lucas Rackers (20th), Chris Staley (22nd), and Reed Milnor (24th). Joe Callahan sealed our team score with his 45th place finish. Here are Varsity Green Division race results.

Junior Varsity: The junior varsity team finished 6th among 20 teams. Our two medalists in the JV race were senior captain Jack Buehring (22nd) and Peter Dillon (25th). Here are JV Green Division race results.

Freshmen: The freshmen finished 4th of 8 teams. We had four freshmen medalists: Baker Pashea (9th), Joe LaBarge (14th), Sean Kellogg (15th), and Eli Dernlan (26th). Two freshmen completed their first SLUH race - Robert Mize & Frank Vacca. Well done! Here are Freshman 3K race results.

Congratulations to all members of the program for a remarkable, memorable day.

Team Split Sheet & Results from Forest Park. There was an error with the timing company for 1-mile splits for some of the runners in the JV race. If runners with a missing split email their time to Coach Gilmore, he will include them on the sheet.

2018 Race Results: Varsity Race | Junior Varsity Race | Freshman Race
2018 Race Photos: Varsity Race | JV Race | Freshman Race

Paul Enke Invitational (V2/JV/C)

Saturday, September 15, 2018
Sioux Passage Park (17930 Old Jamestown Rd, Florissant, MO 63034)

Up and down the famous hills of Sioux Passage, the program again competed at the Paul Enke XC Invitational. The varsity team, comprised of seven underclassmen getting the opportunity to run up on the varsity level, finished 5th among 25 teams. Congratulations to that team and to our four varsity medalists: Peter Dillon (20th), Reid Jackson (24th), Hayden Rutledge (35th), and Hayden Zenor (37th).

The junior varsity went next, and they finished a strong 2nd among 27 teams. We had seven medalists in the JV race: Jack Buehring (3rd), Garrett Seal (5th), Charlie Perry (7th), Matt Friedrichs (10th), Peter LaBarge (12th), Ben Poag (17th), and Henry Bourneuf (28th). Additionally, four JV athletes set season best times on the tough hills of Sioux Passage: Buehring, Poag, Michael Gordon, and Patrick Garner. Finally, two student-athletes set personal records at Enke: congrats to Carter Spence and Max Nieder for pulling off that feat!

The freshman team closed the day by matching our highest team place of the day, finishing 2nd of 18 teams behind a tough squad from Lafayette. Congratulations to Sean Kellogg for being the freshman race champion! Behind Sean, we had five medalists: Eli Dernlan (4th), Graham Sanfilippo (12th), Justin Glass (13th), Joe LaBarge (14th), and Jack Werremeyer (18th). Earning tough PRs on the Enke course were Werremeyer, Gaibrial Nugent, and Sam Quinlivan. We are eager to have another chance to go up against Lafayette's freshman team in two weeks at the Parkway West Invitational.

Team Split Sheet & Results from Paul Enke
Paul Enke Race Results: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

Ed White Invitational (V2/JV/C)

Friday, September 21, 2018
Arnold City Park (2400 Bradley Beach Rd., Arnold, MO 63010)

After consecutive races of heat, mud, and hills, racers at Arnold Park on Friday evening enjoyed seeing each of those performance-limiting factors slip away. The result? An abundance of season-and-career best times!

In the varsity race, senior captain Charlie Perry led the way with a personal record (PR) race and a 5th place finish! Also earning top-15 medals were Sirius Song (8th) and Garrett Seal (10th). Rounding out the scoring five for the varsity were senior captain Jack Buehring and sophomore newcomer Leonardo Da Silva. Mitchell Booher and Matt Friedrichs also ran strong races to help cement our 2nd place team finish among the ten teams represented. In fact, all seven of the varsity racers ran PRs or SBs (season bests). As a team, we lost only to Borgia, the Class 3 #6-ranked team in the state. Among the schools we were able to defeat were fully-loaded teams from conference rivals De Smet and Vianney!

In the JV race, medalists Peter LaBarge (6th), Ben Poag (7th), Noah Apprill-Sokol (8th), Henry Bourneuf (9th), and Carlo Pitti (11th) led the team to a second place finish among ten squads. Among many PRs set on the day, a few stood out because of a crazy amount of time dropped: second-year runner Michael Buescher dropped his PR by over 2:00, a feat nearly equalled by Leo Moore. First-year runners Cooper Swiecicki, Max Nieder, and Luke Baumer also saw precipitous time drops for their season PR, running times 2:20, 3:36, and 4:45 (respectively) faster than their previous bests!

After two second-place team finishes in the races before them, the freshmen emerged victorious among the four-scoring teams. Helping the freshmen secure the victory (again over conference rivals De Smet and Vianney) were medalists Justin Glass (2nd), Eli Dernlan (6th), Joe LaBarge (7th), Graham Sanfilippo (8th), and Sam Kean (13th). Again among the many other PRs, some once again stood out for their dramatic size: Sanfilippo (about 1:30), Gaibrial Nugent (about 1:40), Flynn O'Connell (about 2:30), Sam Quinlivan (1:45), Nathan Wojtkowski (2:47), Gavin Lawhorn (nearly 2:00), and the biggest two PRs of them all, Robert Mize (down 3:33) and Joseph Nesser (down 3:39).

It's amazing to see what a commitment to training and hard work can produce when the weather breaks a touch!

Team Split Sheet from Ed White - please check this and make sure we have your PR or SB properly noted! Let Coach Gilmore know if something is incorrect or incomplete.

Ed White Inv. Race Results: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

Palatine Invitational (V/JV)

Saturday, September 22, 2018
Deer Grove East Forest Preserve (Cook County Forest Preserve, 1599 Pepper Tree Dr, Palatine, IL 60074)

Seeking out unfamiliar, top-notch competition, the varsity team and a group of underclassmen travelled to the Palatine Meet of Champions in Palatine, IL this weekend. Our fourth place varsity finish was the second-best result we have had in nine years of competing in this very competitive Chicagoland invitational.

On a relatively cool and breezy morning, Lucas Rackers and Patrick Hetlage led the varsity team in Chicago by each earning a prized Palatine medal. Only in 2014, the year we won at Palatine, have we had multiple varsity medalists. But, it was the strength of the pack behind Rackers and Hetlage that sealed our fourth place team finish. Noah Scott, Reed Milnor, Joe Callahan, Chris Staley, and freshman Grant Brawley helped close out our point total. At 41.9 seconds between our first and fifth runners, we had our lowest scoring gap of the season. Continuing to tighten up the distance between our top finisher and our fifth finisher will help determine where we stand at season's end.

In the junior varsity race, a race whose intensity we find comparable to most varsity races around St. Louis, sophomore Ryan Kramer led our team from beginning to end. He went out in top 20 medal placement in the beginning and held his spot through the whole race. Ryan's 17th place finish helped set the tone for our 7th place team finish in the JV division. Behind Ryan were Peter Dillon (41st), Daniel Hogan (45th), Reid Jackson (52nd), Hayden Zenor (69th), Hayden Rutledge (77th), Baker Pashea (128th), and Sean Kellogg (138th).

In total, 13 of the 15 athletes who raced at Palatine earned new PRs - including every JV athlete!

Team Split Sheet from Palatine

Palatine Race Results: Varsity | Junior Varsity
Palatine Photographs: Here

Click here for our updated Palatine team records.

Parkway West Dale Shepherd Invitational (V, JV, B, C)

Saturday, September 29, 2018
Living Word United Methodist Church (17315 Manchester Road, Wildwood, MO 63038)

Among nearly all of the top programs on this side of the state, we had huge day on the serpentine, rolling course at Living Word UMC. The weather was again nice, and many runners earned new season-best or personal-record times on a course that doesn't yield PRs easily. In our four races we placed: 1st, 4th, 1st, and 2nd -- the strongest "across the board" performance of any program there.

The Junior Varsity started us off with a bang, dominating the race by claiming five of the top eleven spots in a race of over 300 runners. Peter Dillon ran a strong race for 2nd place, and not far behind him were Jack Buehring (5th), Charlie Perry (6th), Garrett Seal (9th), and Mitchell Booher (11th). As our fifth man, Booher finished before all but one team's second finisher and most team's first finisher. We had several season-best times for athletes in this race: Buehring, Booher, Ben Garcia, Matt Andrew, Branden May, Anthony Rizzo, Zack Bievenue, and Max Nieder. Three JV athletes even ran impressive races that lowered their career PRs: Ben Poag, Patrick Garner, and Leo Moore. Congratulations to all the JV athletes who made a strong statement in this race!

The varsity team ran next, and they finished fourth among 19 scoring teams. Festus and O'Fallon claimed the first two team spots - each being teams that we have defeated in previous invitationals this season. Kirkwood finished third, clipping us by four points. We won't compete against Festus (Class 3) or O'Fallon (Illinois) in the State series, but we expect Kirkwood to be among the strongest teams we will face at the State meet. We had three medalists in the varsity race at Parkway West: Patrick Hetlage (4th), Lucas Rackers (11th), and Chris Staley (18th). As the varsity takes a bounce week in preparation for its third and final training segment, we hope to refocus and fire up to set our sights on the championship meets at season's end.

The B team had its only chance to compete as a single unit, and they were even more dominant than the junior varsity. Placing our five scorers in the top 13 of the race, the next closest team had over four times as many points as our sophomores. Ryan Kramer ran an excellent race to become the race champion, and behind him were medalists Reid Jackson (4th), Daniel Hogan (6th), Hayden Rutledge (8th), and Leonardo Da Silva (13th). A few sophomores had PRs: Sandy LeGrand, Henry McIntyre, and Teddy Nolan. Additionally, Bobby Rizzo ran his fastest 5k time of the season at Parkway West.

The C team closed out the day with a strong second place team finish. Kirkwood defeated us on the day, though we were able to avenge two previous defeats at the hands of the squad from Lafayette. As we continue to grow stronger, we look forward to future rematches with the freshmen from Kirkwood at Borgia and Findley. We had four freshmen medalists on the day: Baker Pashea (5th), Joe LaBarge (10th), Sean Kellogg (11th), and Justin Glass (13th). Many freshman ran PR races at Parkway West, clearly demonstrating the gains they are making this season: LaBarge, Jack Werremeyer (going under 20:00 - a major freshman milestone!), Luke Pierson, Tad Gray, Peter James, Robert Mize, Flynn O'Connell, Patrick Young, Nathan Wojtkowski, Sam Quinlivan, Tag Arens, Daniel O'Sullivan, Joseph Nesser, Frank Vacca, and Luke Brown. Wow! Additionally, Ted Leritz competed in his first 5k of the season.

Team Split Sheet from Parkway West
2018 Parkway West Race Results: Varsity | Junior Varsity (Jr/Sr) | Sophomores | Freshmen

M.C.C. Championship (V, JV, C)

Thursday, October 4, 2018
Jefferson Barracks Park, 533 Bagby Road, St. Louis, MO 63125

Thursday afternoon on the legendary Jefferson Barracks XC course, SLUH swept all three levels of the MCC Cross Country Championships. Our combined team score of 46 across the three divisions (15 + 15 + 16) represents the lowest such number we have had in the 27 total years of the MCC.

Varsity got the ball rolling first, sporting the varsity singlets from 2007-2013 that were worn by four state championship teams. Wasting to time in asserting themselves, the team quickly placed all seven of their runners in a pack at the front of the race, all of whom were ahead of all other teams' #1 runners. From there to the finish line, only one runner from another school was able to infiltrate our group - a CBC runner who finished in seventh place. Patrick Hetlage out-kicked Lucas Rackers at the line, running 16:28.33 to Lucas's 16:28.39. This earned Patrick his second consecutive individual conference championship, a feat only equaled for our program by Pat Hamel in 1993 and 1994. All seven of our runners earned conference medals, and six them earned First-Team All-MCC honors. Adam Mittendorf's 8th place finish in his first race back from a season-long injury was an incredible achievement of his own, and by toughing that out he earned himself Second-Team All-MCC honors.

With the first 13 finishers in the race all being SLUH Junior Billikens, the JV team pulled off a feat of dominance that has almost certainly never before been done in the MCC. Of the 30 individual medals, SLUH collected a whopping 22 of them. Sophomore Ryan Kramer led the way and became the JV conference champion, winning his second race in less than a week in an impressive time of 17:30.37. Behind Ryan were a flood of Jr. Bills, each helping the team secure the victory. Ten team members earned new PRs in the JV race: Max Mantych, Ben Garcia, Matt Andrew, John Marx, Teddy Nolan, Zack Bievenue, Carter Spence, Anthony Garavaglia, Bobby Rizzo, and Patrick Garner. Additionally, Mitchell Booher, Branden May, and Anthony Rizzo ran their best times of the season.

The freshmen didn't change the trend of the day, fending off an early challenge from De Smet's top freshman by finishing 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 (for a total of 16 points). Grant Brawley, in his first chance to run with his classmates this year, won the race and became freshman conference champion. In total, 14 of our freshmen medalled. Top to bottom, the dominance of the freshman team was clear; in fact, if they ran in place of our JV team, they would have won the JV division. If they ran in place of our varsity, they would have placed second behind De Smet. Amazingly, eleven freshmen ran a PR on the undulating terrain of Jefferson Barracks: Joe LaBarge, Justin Glass (also earning his JV letter by going under 18:45), Graham Sanfilippo, Peter James, Gaibrial Nugent, Flynn O'Connell, Will Halley, Danny O'Sullivan, Tag Arens, Gavin Lawhorn, and Frank Vacca.

It was an amazing day for the program at Jefferson Barracks -- every team member ought be proud for contributing to our success! With four weeks left in the season, we have the chance to do something very special at season's end. One day at a time, let's continue to make good decisions regarding diet, sleep, and extra curriculars, stay on top of injury prevention techniques, and continue our hard work!

MCC DATA:

• The freshman's average scoring time of 18:34 was our sixth fastest ever and fastest since 2011. This includes the vast majority of the MCC meets held at the significantly faster Forest Park course.
• The JV average scoring time was 17:44, our fastest since 2012.
• This was only the third time we have ever scored a perfect 15 points in the MCC varsity race. The other two times were 2017 and 2014.
• First-Team All-MCC: Patrick Hetlage (Sr.), Lucas Rackers (Jr.), Chris Staley (Sr.), Noah Scott (Jr.), Reed Milnor (Sr.), Joe Callahan (Jr.)
• Second-Team All-MCC: Adam Mittendorf (Jr.)
• View more historical results from MCC here.

2018 MCC Race Results: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen
2018 MCC Team Split Sheet: Here
2018 MCC Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen | Awards

Time gap by which PR was lowered at MCC:
Spence, 1:21
Vacca, 0:41
James, 0:40
B. Rizzo, 0:38
Halley, 0:34
Lawhorn, 0:32
Mantych, 0:30
Nugent, 0:29
J. LaBarge, 0:19
O'Sullivan, 0:18
Garcia, 0:10
Garavaglia, 0:09
Sanfilippo, 0:09
Garner, 0:07
Bievenue, 0:06
Andrew, 0:06
Glass, 0:06
O'Connell, 0:04
Marx, 0:03
T. Nolan, 0:02
Arens, 0:01

Borgia Invitational (V2/JV/C)

Saturday, October 13, 2018
Big Driver Golf Center (275 Grand Ave, Washington, MO 63090-1209)

The SLUH Junior Billikens continued an impressive regular season run, winning each of the three divisions of the Borgia Inv. on Saturday morning in Washington, MO. With our first race since the change in temperatures, many team members found fast races, despite a challenging and partially muddy course.

The JV team began the day with an assertive victory, claiming seven of the first nine finishers in a race with nearly 200 finishers. Scoring 20 points, the team took control in the middle mile to outdistance Kirkwood and ten other challengers. Reid Jackson led the charge with a great race to finish in 2nd place, and behind him were medalists Daniel Hogan (3rd), Leonardo Da Silva (4th), Hayden Zenor (5th), Max Mantych (6th), Peter LaBarge (8th), Hayden Rutledge (9th), and Matt Friedrichs (20th). First-year sophomores Carter Spence and Luke Baumer each set significant PRs, and Sam McIntyre ran his fastest race of the season. Many other JV athletes ran times very close to a PR - a significant feat for this particular course.

Varsity ran next. As is the custom at Borgia, we turn to a second varsity squad to compete against similarly-composed squads from Class 4 schools and top varsity squads from some Class 3 and Class 2 schools. Winning at Borgia for the first time since 2014 and the fourth time in 15 years, our V2 scored 57 points, our lowest-ever team total and placed first among 20 teams. Ryan Kramer finished in sixth place, tying Dan Warner '08 for our highest-ever individual finisher at Borgia. Other medalists at Borgia were freshman Grant Brawley (11th), Peter Dillon (12th), Jack Buehring (14th), and Mitchell Booher (19th). Charlie Perry and Sirius song also helped seal the win by finishing in front of all but one team's fifth runner.

Our freshmen again closed off the meet, and they did so in style. Scoring 33 points, they finished first among four scoring teams and avenged a previous loss at Parkway West at the hands of Kirkwood. We had an incredible seven freshman medalists: Sean Kellogg (3rd), Baker Pashea (6th), Joe LaBarge (7th), Justin Glass (10th), Graham Sanfilippo (13th), Jack Werremeyer (14th), and Sam Kean (24th). By finishing in front of Kirkwood's #4 and #5 scoring runners, Sanfilippo and Werremeyer played a key role in driving up the second-place team's score. An amazing 15 freshmen set new PRs at Borgia: Sanfilippo, Werremeyer, Tad Gray, Flynn O'Connell, Gaibrial Nugent, Alex Mittendorf, Nathan Wojtkowski, Robert Mize, Sam Quinlivan, Patrick Young, Will Halley, Joseph Nesser, Tag Arens, Daniel O'Sullivan, and Luke Brown.

Borgia Race Results: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen
Borgia Team Split Sheet: Here
Borgia Photographs: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

New PRs set at Borgia:
Joseph Nesser 1:20
Nathan Wojtkowski 0:45
Flynn O'Connell 0:32
Carter Spence 0:30
Luke Baumer 0:30
Sam Quinlivan 0:24
Will Halley 0:24
Tag Arens 0:17
Jack Werremeyer 0:13
Tad Gray 0:09
Gaibrial Nugent 0:09
Luke Brown 0:08
Alex Mittendorf 0:05
Daniel O'Sullivan 0:04
Robert Mize 0:02
Patrick Young 0:02
Graham Sanfilippo 0:01
 

Clayton Invitational (V2/JV)

Thursday, October 18, 2018
Shaw Park (27 S Brentwood Blvd, Clayton, MO 63105)

For the second consecutive season, we won the Clayton Invitational at Shaw Park. Led by Charlie Perry's third place finish, we defeated Clayton by a score of 40-47. It was on the strength of the second mile where we won the race, overcoming a first mile advantage that the Clayton runners staked out. Also earning varsity medals were Mitchell Booher (6th), Jack Buehring (7th), Reid Jackson (9th), Daniel Hogan (16th), and Max Mantych (18th). Mantych further secured a new PR in the varsity race, and Booher ran his best time of the season.

In the JV division, we finished third among the 12 scoring teams. Sirius Song led the charge with a second place finish, and Hayden Zenor and Hayden Rutledge were close behind in 4th and 8th. All three of them earned medals. Joey Nolan and Lucas Pitti rounded out our scoring five. Lucas Pitti, Sam McIntyre, and Anthony Rizzo ran their best times of the season, and three seniors set PRs in the Clayton JV race: John Marx, Zack Bievenue, and a big PR by Patrick Garner.

New PRs set at Clayton:
Patrick Garner 0:44
Max Mantych 0:22
John Marx 0:11
Zack Bievenue 0:06

Clayton Race Results: Varsity (1st of 19) | Junior Varsity (3rd of 12)
Clayton Team Split Sheet: Here
Clayton Photographs: Here
 

District 2 Championship (V)

Saturday, October 20, 2018
Francis Park (Eichelberger St & Donovan Ave, St. Louis, MO 63109)

In possibly the most competitive district in the State, SLUH claimed second place at Francis Park and qualified through to next week's Sectional meet at Big Driver. Host school Kirkwood won the team championship with 54 points, and with its scoring five averaging 16:15 for the 5k race, SLUH was 17 points back with 71. Lafayette (72) and Marquette (101) also earned well-deserved qualifications to next week's State-qualifying meet.

Lucas Rackers was our first finisher on the day, running 15:51 for third place. Patrick Hetlage also dipped under the 16:00-mark, running 15:59 for 6th. As a noteworthy aside, Rackers and Hetlage are possibly the only two SLUH XC harriers to ever run under 16:00 at the District meet. Even then, Noah Scott put in his own bid for race of the day, running a 17-second PR to finish in 9th place in 16:06. Behind that trio were medalists Joe Callahan (24th) and Adam Mittendorf (29th, in a season-best time). Reed Milnor (34th) and Chris Staley (78th) rounded out our District squad.

• First Team All-District (places 1-7): Lucas Rackers (3rd), Patrick Hetlage (6th)
• Second Team All-District (places 8-14): Noah Scott (9th)
• Sectional 1 Qualifying Teams:
  • District 1 Results (Lindbergh, Seckman, Jackson, Rockwood Summit)
  • District 2 Results (Kirkwood, SLUH, Lafayette, Marquette)

District Race Results: Varsity (2nd of 14)
District Team Split Sheet: Here
District Photographs: Here

Findley Memorial Invitational (JV/C)

Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Jefferson Barracks Park, 533 Bagby Road, St. Louis, MO 63125

The JV and C teams closed their seasons out in style on Wednesday evening at Jefferson Barracks, with each team scoring a scant 23 points in defeating their closest competition. An incredible 36 of our 74 (49%) finishers on the day also recorded their fastest times of their career or season.

The freshman team ran first, and there we were again matched up against Kirkwood in a rubber match between the two squads. There was no doubt about this one. Led by Grant Brawley, we placed our scorers at the front of the race from the gun and kept them around there for the whole race. Grant won in 17:42, and we placed our other scorers high enough for a comfortable 23-36 winning margin against Kirkwood. Sean Kellogg (2nd) and Justin Glass (3rd) ran a time fast enough to join Grant Brawley as varsity letter winners from the freshman class. Also medaling were Baker Pashea (6th), Joe LaBarge (11th), Graham Sanfilippo (14th), Jack Werremeyer (21st), and Eli Dernlan (23rd). In addition, on a challenging course that no one considers to be fast, 14 freshmen ran PRs - including two (Will Halley and Luke Brown) who set PRs over 1:00 faster than their previous time. Amazing!

In the JV race, we knew our strongest competition would come from Parkway West, a team that was running all but their top two runners from their District squad that placed sixth at the Francis Park District on the Saturday before. We knew this would be a stiff test, and our boys admirably rose to the challenge before them. Ryan Kramer won his third race in under a month. Ryan finished in 17:15, and not far behind him were Mitchell Booher in 4th, Jack Buehring in 5th, Peter Dillon in 6th, and Hayden Zenor in 7th. These five gave us a winning score of 23-43 over Parkway West. After that came a flood of ten more top-25 medalists, three season-best times, and 19 PRs. To add the icing on the cake, first-year senior Joey Dougherty was able to complete his first race of the season, coming back from a season-long injury in time to train and compete at Findley. It was a fitting race to close out a dominant season from a very deep JV squad - a JV squad capable of competing with many, many varsity teams around the area.

As darkness fell at Jefferson Barracks and ushered in the offseason for the majority of the team, all celebrated in great companionship with a wonderful spread of food provided by the parents.

33 new PRs set at Findley!
Will Halley, 1:23
Cooper Swiecicki, 1:05
Luke Brown, 1:01
Matt Andrew, 0:50
Robert Mize, 0:50
Teddy Nolan, 0:49
Sam Quinlivan, 0:47
Luke Pierson, 0:41
Zack Bievenue, 0:35
Gabe Nugent, 0:34
Carter Spence, 0:33
Tad Gray, 0:30
Justin Glass, 0:28
Gavin Lawhorn, 0:26
Patrick Young, 0:24
Leonardo Da Silva, 0:23
Max Mantych, 0:22
Michael Buescher, 0:21
Flynn O'Connell, 0:21
Cole Gannon, 0:20
Bobby Rizzo, 0:16
Sean Kellogg, 0:13
Luke Baumer, 0:13
Peter LaBarge, 0:11
Parker Stus, 0:11
Patrick Garner, 0:11
Ben Garcia, 0:11
Henry Bourneuf, 0:09
Graham Sanfilippo, 0:09
Alex Mittendorf, 0:09
James Galli, 0:05
Hayden Zenor, 0:03
Sandy LeGrand, 0:01

Findley Race Results: Junior Varsity | Freshman
Findley Team Split Sheet: Here
Findley Photographs: Junior Varsity | Freshman

Sectional 1 Championship (V)

Saturday, October 27, 2018
Big Driver Golf Center (275 Grand Ave, Washington, MO 63090-1209)

On a foggy morning at Big Driver that gave way to sun just before race time, the Junior Billikens clinched another trip to the State meet with a third place team finish at Sectional. Just as at District, the first four teams were the same - albeit in a shuffled order. Lafayette rose up to narrowly defeat Kirkwood, and Marquette claimed the final qualifying spot.

Individually, Lucas Rackers led the way for us, improving upon his third place finish place from the week before to finish in second. Patrick Hetlage and Noah Scott medalled in 13th and 14th, respectively, and the rest of our pack was just outside of medal range to secure us our 26th consecutive State qualification.

SLUH Individuals & Places:
2. Lucas Rackers, Jr., 16:37, Medalist, First-Team All-Sectional
13. Patrick Hetlage, Sr., 16:58, Medalist, Second-Team All-Sectional
14. Noah Scott, Jr., 16:58, Medalist, Second-Team All-Sectional
33. Reed Milnor, Sr., 17:24
37. Chris Staley, Sr., 17:37
39. Adam Mittendorf, Sr., 17:40
41. Joe Callahan, Jr., 17:40

Sectional 1 Teams:
1. Lafayette, 47 - Sectional Champion
2. Kirkwood, 50 - Sectional Runner-Up
3. SLUH, 72 - State Qualifier
4. Marquette, 99 - State Qualifier
5. Lindbergh, 128
6. Jackson, 129
7. Seckman, 165
8. Rockwood Summit, 218

Sectional Race Results: Varsity (3rd of 8)
Sectional Split Sheet: Here
Sectional Photographs: Here

State Championship (V)

Saturday, November 3, 2018
Oak Hills Golf Center (932 Ellis Blvd, Jefferson City, MO 65101)

Alongside 100 other teams who took to the start line at one of eight District meets two weeks ago, SLUH emerged from the State series standing taller than all but one. After a three year drought without a top-four trophy at State, SLUH returned to the podium for the final State meet to be contested at the legendary Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City. Scoring 110 points on Saturday, our sixth lowest point total ever at State, SLUH placed second overall behind Rockhurst's 72 point score. We have actually won team championships at State with higher point totals (112 and 113), but Rockhurst ran a wildly impressive race to leave no doubt about the strongest team on Saturday.

It was a total team effort on a soft and muddy day where quick times took a backseat to the ferocity and intensity of the competition. A trio of our athletes finished with All-State honors, a number equal to the highest number of such finishes we have ever had. Not far behind those three was a next group of three, solidifying our second place overall finish. If you look at the mile by mile splits and team scores, you'll notice two things: a) we were solidly in second place at every checkpoint, and b) our pack moved up through the race in the second mile to distance ourselves from any additional challengers.

Thanks to all the team and family members who came to Jeff City to cheer on the guys and celebrate this magnificent accomplishment for the program. All 86 team members should be utterly proud about what they were able to accomplish this season. What we do is not easy, by any standards, and we were able to achieve great things and have a lot of fun throughout the season.

Click here for complete race results at State and mile-by-mile splits (SLUH is Class 4). Click here for a photo album of the day. Thanks again to Mr. Hetlage for sharing his fantastic photographs! I will add other photos to this album if and when they are made available to me.

SLUH Individual Results:
7. Lucas Rackers, junior, 16:25.15 (All-State medalist)
24. Noah Scott, junior, 16:41.79 (All-State medalist)
25. Patrick Hetlage, senior, 16:43.36 (All-State medalist)
42. Chris Staley, senior, 17:03.14
47. Adam Mittendorf, junior, 17:08.39
53. Reed Milnor, senior, 17:12.99
102. Joe Callahan, junior, 17:36.54

Team Results:
1. Rockhurst, 72 (State Champions)
2. SLUH, 110 (State Runner-Up)
3. Staley, 140 (State Trophy)
4. Lafayette, 148 (State Trophy)
5. Kirkwood, 166
6. Lee's Summit West, 173
7. Jefferson City, 184
8. Liberty, 204
9. Raymore-Peculiar, 212
10. Marquette, 226
11. West Plains, 261
12. Central (St. Joseph), 295
13. Hickman, 301
14. Branson, 318
15. Rock Bridge, 322
16. Parkway Central, 404

State Results: 5k Finish | 1 Mile Split | 2 Mile Split | 3 Mile Split
State Split Sheet: Here
State Photographs: Here

NXN Midwest Regional Championships

Sunday, November 11, 2018
Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course (Terre Haute, Indiana)

In the Championship Race at the NXN Midwest Regional, the St. Louis XC Club placed 22nd of 36 teams. In the Open Division, they finished 30th of 72 teams. Our performances are listed below.

Full results: here
Pictures: here

Championship Race:
69. Lucas Rackers, 16:13.9
96. Patrick Hetlage, 16:22.9
192. Noah Scott, 16:53.3
209. Adam Mittendorf, 17:00.2
279. Ryan Kramer, 17:31.8
313. Joe Callahan, 17:53.4
344. Grant Brawley, 19:13.7

Open Race:
170. Charlie Perry, 17:30.6
223. Peter Dillon, 17:41.2
274. Garrett Seal, 17:51.7
314. Reid Jackson, 17:59.5
321. Daniel Hogan, 18:02.4
390. Hayden Zenor, 18:16.7
419. Ben Poag, 18:22.8
430. Justin Glass, 18:25.4
479. Baker Pashea, 18:34.8
521. Joe LaBarge, 18:46.2
654. Peter LaBarge, 19:20.8
736. Mitchell Booher, 19:47.7
796. Aidan Byrne, 20:10.1

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Brian Gilmore, Rich Esswein, Michael Swan, Emmett Conlon
Captains:  Paul Burka, Matt Gunn, Matthew Stauder, Reed Milnor, Patrick Hetlage
State Finish: 10th

Season-long Daily Practice Logs from 2017
2017 Team Roster
2017 Meet Schedule
2017 Team Letter Winners

Prep News stories from the 2017 season, by Matthew Quinlan '18, Justin Koesterer '19:

• "Cross country looks at another State run; sets high goals" (August 25, 2017)
• Cross Country Weekend Preview (September 1, 2017)
• "Cross country finishes third against tough competition in Illinois; anticipates Forest Park XC Festival" (September 8, 2017)
• "Cross country hosts Forest Park XC Festival; places fifth overall" (September 15, 2017)
• "XC uses cancellation for time trial; looks forward to Palatine and Hancock" (September 22, 2017)
• "Cross country’s top 14 travel to Chicago for Palatine Invitational; jump nine places from last year’s performance" (September 28, 2017)
• "Cross country finishes 4th at Parkway West against tough competition" (October 6, 2017)
• "Perfect score! Cross country sprints past MCC" (October 13, 2017)
• "Cross country program impresses with hardware collection to end regular season" (October 27, 2017)
• "Cross country continues crushing competition; takes first in Sectionals by 43 points to qualifiy for State meet in Jefferson City" (November 3, 2017)
• "Cross country wraps up season with 10th place finish at State meet" (November 10, 2017)
• "Cross country wraps up season at NXN meet; finishes 3rd" (November 17, 2017)

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

19th Annual Alumni Race

Saturday, August 5, 2017
SLUH Track

ALUMNI RACE RESULTS & LAP/MILE SPLITS: Here
ALUMNI RACE VIDEO: Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Heat 3
ALUMNI RACE PHOTOS: Here

O'Fallon Futures Invitational

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

OTHS-Milburn Campus (650 Milburn School Rd, O'Fallon, IL 62269)

O'FALLON RESULTS: SLUH Results & Splits | Freshman | Sophomore
O'FALLON PHOTOS: Freshman | Sophomore

Granite City Invitational

Saturday, September 2, 2017
Wilson Park (2900 Benton St, Granite City, IL 62040)

GRANITE CITY RESULTS: SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Freshman/Sophomore | Open
GRANITE CITY PHOTOS: Varsity | Freshman/Sophomore | Open

Forest Park XC Festival

Saturday, September 9, 2017
Forest Park (Aviation Field/Archery Range/Planetarium/Bowl Lake)

FOREST PARK RESULTS: SLUH Results & Splits: 5K | SLUH Results & Splits: 3K | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshman
FOREST PARK PHOTOS: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshman

Paul Enke Invitational

Saturday, September 16, 2017
Sioux Passage Park (17930 Old Jamestown Rd, Florissant, MO 63034)

CANCELLED

After the Hazelwood School District cancelled all their weekend events, we didn't have the opportunity to compete at the Paul Enke Invitational. In its place, we held a 5K time trial at SLUH on the same morning.

Click here for full results from our 5k Team Time Trial. See lap-by-lap splits here.

Palatine Invitational

Saturday, September 23, 2017
Deer Grove East Forest Preserve (Cook County Forest Preserve, 1599 Pepper Tree Dr, Palatine, IL 60074)

PALATINE RESULTS: SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity
PALATINE PHOTOS: Varsity | Junior Varsity
PALATINE VIDEO: Here

Hancock Invitational

Saturday, September 23, 2017
Jefferson Barracks Park, 533 Bagby Road, St. Louis, MO 63125

HANCOCK RESULTS: SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshman

Parkway West Invitational

Saturday, September 30, 2017
Living Word United Methodist Church (17315 Manchester Road, Wildwood, MO 63038)

PARKWAY WEST RESULTS: SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Sophomore | Freshmen
PARKWAY WEST PHOTOS: Here

M.C.C. Championship

Saturday, October 7, 2017
Forest Park Aviation Field

MCC RESULTS: SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen
MCC PHOTOS: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen | Awards and Candids
MCC VIDEO: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

Borgia Invitational

Saturday, October 14, 2017
Big Driver Golf Center (275 Grand Ave, Washington, MO 63090-1209)

BORGIA RESULTS: SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen
BORGIA PHOTOS: Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

Clayton Invitational

Friday, October 20, 2017
Shaw Park (27 S Brentwood Blvd, Clayton, MO 63105)

CLAYTON RESULTS: SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

District Championship

Saturday, October 21, 2017
Koch Park (315 Howdershell Rd, Florissant, MO 63031)

First Team All-District (places 1-7): Patrick Hetlage (1st), Paul Burka (2nd), Reed Milnor (3rd), Adam Mittendorf (6th)
Second Team All-District (places 8-14): Noah Scott (8th), Lucas Rackers (9th)

DISTRICT RESULTS: SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity
DISTRICT PHOTOS: Here

Findley Memorial JV/C Invitational

Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Jefferson Barracks Park, 533 Bagby Road, St. Louis, MO 63125

FINDLEY RESULTS: SLUH Results & Splits | Junior Varsity | Freshmen
FINDLEY PHOTOS: Junior Varsity | Freshmen

Sectional Championship

Saturday, October 28, 2017
Parkway Central High School (369 N Woods Mill Rd, Chesterfield, MO 63017)

SECTIONAL RESULTS: SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity
SECTIONAL PHOTOS: Varsity

State Championship

Saturday, November 4, 2017
Oak Hills Golf Center (932 Ellis Blvd, Jefferson City, MO 65101)

Class 4 Boys Race Results: SLUH Results & Splits | 1 Mile Split | 2 Mile Split | 3 Mile Split | Finish
State Photos: Here

NXN Midwest Regional Championships

Sunday, November 12, 2017
Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course (Terre Haute, Indiana)

At the NXN Midwest Regional, the St. Louis XC Club placed 3rd of 76 scoring teams in the Open Division. Our score of 146 was only 40 points behind the first place Open Division team. Our performances are listed below. Full results can be seen here. Pictures can be viewed here.

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Brian Gilmore, Greg Hutson, Rich Esswein, Ryan McAnany, Michael Swan, Emmett Conlon
Captains:  William Kelly, Joe Laughlin, Thomas Leeker, Roman Lipinski, Matt Northcott
State Finish: 10th

Daily Practice Logs from the 2016 Season
Daily Practice Schedule - 2016
Team Roster - 2016
Team Letter Winners - 2016
Meet Schedule - 2016

Prep News stories from the 2016 season, by Andrew Modder '17:

• "Cross country sets to dash into season" (August 26, 2016)
• "Leeker and Kelly ready to lead XC into Granite City" (September 2, 2016)
• "XC has strong start, led by Burka, Laughlin, Hetlage, and Kelly" (September 9, 2016)
• "XC tramps through mud to 12th place finish" (September 16, 2016)
• "Senior XC Captains Lipinski and Northcott lead team in their final season" (September 23, 2016)
• "XC travels to Palatine, enjoys racing and bonding" (September 30, 2016)
• "XC battles illness and fatigue, places sixth at Parkway West" (October 7, 2016)
• "Tenacious XC claims MCC crown for 13th straight year" (October 14, 2016)
• "XC dominates Districts, Laughlin places first" (October 28, 2016)
• "XC survives Sectionals, clinches spot at 24th straight State championship" (November 4, 2016)
• "Blue Army returns: Laughlin leads XC to tenth place finish at State meet" (November 11, 2016)
• "XC Club travels to Nike Cross Regionals" (December 9, 2016)

Meet results from the 2016 season:

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

August 6 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Race Results

August 31 - O'Fallon Futures Invitational - OTHS-Milburn Campus
SLUH Results | Sophomore | Freshman

September 3 - Granite City Invitational - Wilson Park
SLUH Results | Varsity | Freshman/Sophomore | Open

September 10 - Forest Park Cross Country Festival - Forest Park
SLUH Results & Splits: 5K & 3K | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshman

September 17 - Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshman

September 24 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshman

September 24 - Palatine Invitational - Deer Grove East Forest Preserve (Palatine, IL)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 1 - Parkway West Invitational - Living Word United Methodist Church (Wildwood, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Sophomore | Freshmen

October 8 - M.C.C. Championships - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 15 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver Golf Center (Washington, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 21 - Clayton Invitational - Shaw Park (Clayton, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 22 - District 3 Championship - Koch Park (Florissant, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

October 26 - Findley JV/C Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 29 - Sectional 2 Championship - Warrenton High School (Warrenton, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

November 5 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | 1 Mile Split | 2 Mile Split | 3 Mile Split | 5K Finish

November 13 - NXR Regional - Terre Haute, Indiana
Boys Championship Race Team Scores

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Brian Gilmore, John Walsh, David Baker, Greg Hutson
State Finish: 11th

Daily Practice Logs from the 2015 Season
2015 Practice Schedule
2015 Meet Schedule
2015 Team Roster
2015 Letter Winners

Prep News stories from the 2015 season, by Joseph Reznikov:

• "XC returns from Lost Branch Lodge in Kirksville, Mo., eager to begin 2015 season" (August 28, 2015)
• "XC Senior Spotlight: Dustan Davidson" (September 11, 2015)
• "JV cross country collects ten medals in Illinois" (Jimmy Bricker & Aidan Moore, September 11, 2015)
• "XC Festival reaches decade; features 4,000 athletes" (with Ethan McIntyre, September 11, 2015)
• "Varsity XC places 10th out of 31 in Festival" (September 18, 2015)
• "XC has strong showing at Enke Invitational" (September 25, 2015)
• "XC unable to defend Palatine title" (October 2, 2015)

• "XC finishes fourth without Davidson, Butler" (October 9, 2015)
  "XC sweeps MCC’s for 12th straight year" (October 23, 2015)
  "Varsity cross country places second at districts" (October 30, 2015)
  "XC captures second at Sectionals" (November 6, 2015)
  "Despite Davidson’s All-State finish, XC finishes 11th at State race" (November 13, 2015)
  "XC sets mind on future" (November 20, 2015)

Meet results from the 2015 season:

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

August 8 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Complete Results | Team Results

August 29 - Team Time Trial - SLUH Track
Complete Results

September 2 - O'Fallon Futures Invitational - OTHS-Milburn Campus
SLUH Results | Freshmen | Sophomores

September 12 - Forest Park Cross Country Festival - Forest Park
SLUH Results & Splits 5k | SLUH Results & Splits 3k | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 19 - Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 26 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 26 - Palatine Invitational - Deer Grove East Forest Preserve (Palatine, IL)
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 3 - Parkway West Invitational - Living Word United Methodist Church
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Sophomores | Freshmen

October 10 - M.C.C. Championships - Forest Park, Aviation Field Course
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 17 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 23 - Clayton Invitational - Shaw Park
SLUH Results | Varsity

October 24 - District 3 Championship - Blackburn Park
SLUH Results | Varsity

October 28 - Findley Memorial Invitational - Forest Park
SLUH Results | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 31 - Sectional 2 Championship - Warrenton H.S.
SLUH Results | Varsity

November 7 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results | Varsity 5K Finish | 1 Mile Split | 2 Mile Split | 3 Mile Split | Composite

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Brian Gilmore, Chris Scott, Riley Konzen, Matt Lawder, Megan Dempsey, Stephen Mackey
State Finish: 2nd

2014 Team Roster
2014 Meet Schedule
Daily Practice Logs from the 2014 Season

Prep News stories from the 2014 season, by Kevin Murphy '15:

• "Cross Country set to defend title, tradition after summer camp" (August 22, 2014)
• "XC endures bad weather, unusual practices before 1st race" (August 29, 2014)
• "Cross country takes second to Lafayette; Porter optimistic for future races" (September 5, 2014)
• "Cross country team runs toward Forest Park XC Festival" (September 11, 2014)
• "XC takes third at Forest Park, shows big improvements" (by Nolen Doorack, September 19, 2014)
• "XC runs toward Palatine Invite" (September 25, 2014)
• "XC makes history: wins at Palatine" (October 3, 2014)
• "On top of the MCC: XC takes seven of top nine spots" (October 10, 2014)
• "Cross country V2 tops at Borgia; Districts next" (October 24, 2014)
• "Hennessey finishes first to lead cross country to 14th straight District title" (October 31, 2014)
• "XC takes last step to State race / Jackson, Sullivan, Hennessey discuss third state run" (November 7, 2014)
• "XC falls short, takes second place to Lafayette" (November 14, 2014)
• "Season in review: XC runs the SLUH way" (November 21, 2014)

Meet results from the 2014 season:

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

August 9 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Complete Results | Team Results

August 23 - JV/C Time Trial (2 miles) - Central Fields
Complete Results

August 30 - Randy Seagrist Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 3 - O'Fallon Futures Invitational - OTHS-Milburn Campus
SLUH Results & Splits | Freshmen & Sophomore Race Results

September 13 - Forest Park Cross Country Festival - Forest Park
SLUH Results & Splits (5k) | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 18 - Parkway Central Invitational - Parkway Central
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

September 27 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 27 - Palatine Invitational - Palatine, Illinois
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 4 - Parkway West Invitational - Living Word United Methodist Church
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Sophomores | Freshmen

October 9 - M.C.C. Championships - Forest Park
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 18 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 24 - Clayton Invitational - Shaw Park
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 25 - District Championship - Forest Park
SLUH Results | Varsity

October 29 - Findley Memorial Invitational - Forest Park
SLUH Results | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

November 1 - Sectional Championship - Warrenton H.S.
SLUH Results | Varsity

November 8 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results | Varsity 5k Finish | 1 Mile Split | 2 Mile Split | 3 Mile Split | Composite

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Brian Gilmore, Chris Scott, Thomas Heidbrier, Jenn Deal, Brian Deal
Captains:  Jerry Amsler, John Esswein, Alex Peraud, Tom Rubio, Michael Swan
State Finish: 1st

Daily Practice Logs from the 2013 Season
Season Meet Schedule - 2013

Prep News stories from the 2013 season, by Michael Sit '14 :

• "Cross country gets back in stride, looks to repeat state victory" (August 23, 2013)
• "XCBills finish fifth, Hennessey takes first" (August 30, 2013)
• "XC promotes team fellowship through mini golf" (September 6, 2013)
• "Forest Park XC Festival attracts thousands; SLUH finishes fifth" (September 20, 2013)
• "Over the Man-Maker: XC competes at Parkway Central, Paul Enke" (September 26, 2013)
• "Crossing plains of Illinois, cross country grabs sixth at Palatine" (October 4, 2013)
• Freshman XC roundup (by Matt Thomas & Michael Daugherty, October 4, 2013)
• "XC takes Parkway Invitational, looks to claim MCC title today" (October 10, 2013)
• "XC wins at MCC meet, takes second at out-of-town Borgia Invitational" (October 25, 2013)
• "Findley hype comes true with JV first place, despite disqualifications" (by Michael Daugherty, November 8, 2013)
• "XCBills cross finish line with state win in Jefferson City, 3 juniors All State" (November 15, 2013)
• "No rest for the weary: XC state champs race again, this time in Indiana" (November 22, 2013)

Meet results from the 2013 season:

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

August 17 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Complete Results | Team Results

August 29 - Fleet Feet Invitational - Parkway Central
Complete Results | Varsity & Junior Varsity

September 14 - Forest Park Cross Country Festival - Forest Park
SLUH Results: 5K, 3K | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 19 - Parkway Central Invitational - Parkway Central
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

September 21 - Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 28 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 28 - Palatine Invitational - Palatine, Illinois
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 5 - Parkway West Invitational - Living Word United Methodist Church
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Sophomores | Freshmen | Open

October 10 - M.C.C. Championships - Forest Park
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 19 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 25 - Clayton Invitational - Shaw Park
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 26 - District Championship - Forest Park
SLUH Results | Varsity

October 30 - Findley Memorial Invitational - Forest Park
SLUH Results | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

November 2 - Sectional Championship - Blackburn Park
SLUH Results | Varsity

November 9 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results | Varsity 5K Finish | 1 Mile Split | 2 Mile Split | 3 Mile Split | Composite

November 17 - NXR Midwest - Terre Haute, IN
Championship race | Open race

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Brian Gilmore, Chris Scott, Thomas Heidbrier, Diego Navarro, Ryan Payonk, Jenn Deal
Captains:  Joe Archer, David Arredondo, Alex Groesch, Matt Nicholson
State Finish: 1st

Daily practice logs from the 2012 season
2012 Team Roster
2012 Meet Schedule

Prep News stories about the 2012 season, by Brian Suhre '13:

• "XC primed and ready to go for First Capital Invitational" (August 24, 2012)
• "Cross country captains set goals, set to lead" (August 31, 2012)
• "Storm chasing Bills ready for Forest Park XC meet" (September 7, 2012)
• "XC takes third as top seven pace squad" (September 14, 2012)
• "Young runners emerge as Top Seven rest" (September 21, 2012)
• "Cross Country runs with elite teams in Chicago, Jefferson Barracks" (September 27, 2012)
• "Porter’s training benefits freshman XC" (by Jack Sinay, September 27, 2012)
• "Cross country sweeps Parkway West invitational as postseason looms" (October 5, 2012)
• "JV XC stumbles at Forest Park, recovers at Parkway West" (by Danny Schneller & Michael Daugherty, October 5, 2012)
• "Cross country sweeps through MCC" (October 12, 2012)
• "Fruity Pebbles, Sectionals motivate cross country to win Districts" (October 26, 2012)
• "Freshmen XC wins MCC meet, drops only one race" (by Jack Sinay, November 2, 2012)
• "XC dominates sectionals, looks for State championship this weekend" (November 2, 2012)
• "Cross country takes State, first championship for Porter" (November 16, 2012)

Meet results from the 2012 season:

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

Summer Camp Week 2, Time Trial
Results

August 11 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Complete Results | Team Results

August 31 - 5K Varsity/JV Time Trial - SLUH Track
Complete Results

September 1 - Time Trial - Forest Park Central Fields
Complete Results - 2 Mile Freshman | Complete Results - 5K JV

September 8 - Forest Park Cross Country Festival - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Varsity race splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 13 - Parkway Central Invitational - Parkway Central
Team Split Sheet | Varsity race results

September 15 - Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 22 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 22 - Palatine Invitational - Deer Grove East Forest Preserve (Palatine, IL)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 29 - Parkway West Invitational - Living Word United Methodist Church
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Sophomores | Freshmen | Open

October 6 - M.C.C. Championships - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 13 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver (Washington, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 19 - Clayton Invitational - Shaw Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 20 - District 3 Championship - Blackburn Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

October 24 - Findley Memorial Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 27 - Sectional 2 Championship - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

November 3 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity 5K Finish | 1 Mile Split | 2 Mile Split | 3 Mile Split | Composite

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Brian Gilmore, Chris Scott, Thomas Heidbrier, Diego Navarro, Ryan Payonk
Captains:  Joe Esswein, Michael Pollihan, Nathan Rubbelke, Joshua Zink-Duda
State Finish: 5th

Daily Practice Logs for the 2011 season

Prep News stories from the 2011 season, by Greg Fister '12, Jack Witthaus '12, Nate Heagney '12:

• "Captain close-ups: a look at the cross country captains" (September 2, 2011)
• "Cross country packs up for 3rd place at Forest Park" (September 16, 2011)
• "Manmaker no match for SLUH XC" (September 23, 2011)
• "Cross country travels to Palatine" (September 30, 2011)
• "XC’s depth shows at Queeny Park" (October 7, 2011)
• "Michael McLaughlin wins race as SLUH XC conquers MCC battle" (October 14, 2011)
• "Cross Country glides past districts" (October 28, 2011)
• "XC charges forward, a dark horse at State meet" (November 4, 2011)
• "Fifth place finish: no trophy but no regrets" (November 11, 2011)
• "XC continued traditions, has bright future" (November 18, 2011)
• "Young talent runs deep on cross country" (December 2, 2011)

Meet results from the 2011 season:

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

August 13 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Complete Results

September 3 - Team Time Trial - Forest Park Central Fields
Complete Results 5K

September 4 - Team Time Trial - Forest Park Central Fields
Complete Results 2 Miles

September 10 - Forest Park Cross Country Festival - Forest Park Central Fields
Team Finish Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 15 - Parkway Central Invitational - Parkway Central
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

September 17 - Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 20 - Fox Warrior Invitational - Arnold Park
SLUH Results | Team Results

September 24 - Palatine Invitational - Deer Grove East Forest Preserve (Palatine, IL)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 30 - Ron Jorgenson Invitational - Queeny Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 8 - M.C.C. Championships - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 15 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver (Washington, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 21 - Clayton Invitational - Shaw Park
Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 22 - District 3 Championship - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

October 26 - Findley Memorial Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 29 - Sectional 2 Championship - McNair Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

November 5 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity 5K Finish | 1 Mile Split | 2 Mile Split

November 13 - Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional - Terre Haute, Indiana
Championship | Open

Head Coach: Joe Porter
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Brian Gilmore, Chris Scott, Thomas Heidbrier, Diego Navarro, Ryan Payonk
Captains:  Tim Rackers, Joe Meier, Alan Ratermann, Dan Raterman, Riley Konzen
State Finish: 3rd

Daily Practice Logs from the 2010 Season

Prep News articles on the 2010 season, by Greg Fister '12:

• "XC prepares for another State run" (September 3, 2010)
• "Cross Country takes First Capitol" (September 10, 2010)
• "XC finishes third in muddy Forest Park" (September 17, 2010)
• "XC shows depth as top runners get week off" (September 24, 2010)
• "XC 6th at Palatine, Rackers sets record" (September 30, 2010)
• "Linhares to be inducted into Track & XC Hall" (September 30, 2010)
• "Freshmen XC dominates, victorious in all 4 meets" (October 7, 2010 - by Gabe Miller)
• "Second varsity takes 3rd at Queeny" (October 7, 2010)
• "Seven straight conference championships for XC" (October 15, 2010)
• "XC moves through Districts, on to Sectionals" (October 28, 2010)
• "XC rolls to State, Rackers poised to lead" (November 5, 2010)
• "XC takes third in State, has two All-State finishes" (November 12, 2010)

• "XC tradition rolls on in 2010 season" (November 19, 2010 - with Eric Mueth)

Meet results from the 2010 season:

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

August 14 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Complete Results | Team-Only Results

September 3 - First Capital Invitational - McNair Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 4 - JV/C Time Trial - Forest Park Central Fields
JV 5k Results | Freshmen 2 Mile Results

September 11 - Forest Park Cross Country Festival - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits: 5k, 3k | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 16 - Parkway Central Invitational - Parkway Central
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

September 18 - Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen & Sophomores

September 21 - Fox Warrior Invitational - Arnold Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Team Results

September 25 - Palatine Invitational - Deer Grove East Forest Preserve (Palatine, IL)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 1 - Ron Jorgenson Invitational - Queeny Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 9 - M.C.C. Championships - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 16 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver (Washington, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen | Combined

October 22 - Clayton Invitational - Shaw Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 23 - District 3 Championship - McCluer North High School
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

October 26 - Findley Memorial Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 30 - Sectional 2 Championship - McNair Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

November 6 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity 5K Finish | 1 Mile Split | 2 Mile Split | Combined

November 14 - Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional - Terre Haute, Indiana
Championship | Open

Remembering 2010...

I don't have much I can add to SLUH's living record, but I have a favorite memory I don't want to be forgotten. Below is the class of 2011. This picture was taken after one of the last races of the season [Clayton Inv. at Shaw Park]. And while there were some seriously awesome runners in our class, most of them did not compete on the day this photo was taken - instead they were resting up for districts and state. But they still came out to a support and cheer us on. I PR'ed in that race (18:50). I know the only reason I did so well was because Tim Rackers and Alan Ratermann were at literally every turn of that race cheering me on and demanding I "take the next guy!". It's truly one of the happiest memories I have from SLUH XC.

Simon Clark '11
August 2020

 

I love this photo from the 2010 state meet because we had so much fun that season. You look at the coaches and athletes in the photo and you couldn’t find better people to be around. It was a privilege that year to be part of Coach Porter’s first season as head coach and to see what a great program he’s built in the years following. I hope our team in 2010 helped build a good foundation.  

It might sound weird, but what I also love about the photo is that some of my closest friends from SLUH XC aren’t in it. The fact that our friendships on the team blurred the lines of varsity, JV and freshman is special. I think that’s something unique to our sport and to the SLUH XC program. I’ve been thinking a lot in recent days about the spirit of togetherness and unity that are so crucial to SLUH XC. In times like these, where we are divided and polarized across so many lines, those hallmarks of SLUH XC provide a model for us all to follow.

The alumni race each year is one of my favorite days. To be together with friends and old teammates reminds me of just the pure goodness of SLUH XC and the happiness it brought us all and continues to bring us. Even though we couldn’t be together this year, I felt that goodness during the virtual run. That feeling was needed in these pandemic times. Thanks to all the current athletes and coaches continuing to perpetuate that goodness and for defending the tradition. It’s special and it’s something to be proud of. 

Nathan Rubbelke '12
August 2020

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Joe Porter, Brian Gilmore, Paul Enke, Michael Koenigs
Captains: Caleb Ford, Emmett Cookson, Bill Gabler
State Finish: 1st

Daily Practice Logs from the 2009 season
Meet Schedule from the 2009 season

2009 Season Photo Galleries

Newspaper stories from the 2009 season:

• Cross Country Runs Away with State Title (SLUH News)
• "St. Louis U. High runs off with Class 4 title" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch - November 8, 2009)
• "Junior Billikens top Lee's Summit North" (Suburban Journal, November 2009)

Prep News stories from 2009 season, by Will Bufe '10:

• "XC toes the line" (September 4, 2009)
• "XC blazes through field, tramples competition" (September 11, 2009)
• "Cross country outwits, outlasts , outruns" (September 18, 2009)
• "Cross Country finishes 2nd to Parkway West" (September 25, 2009)
• "XC learns lesson, finishes 2nd at Rim Rock" (October 1, 2009)
• "Cross Country paces into second" (October 9, 2009)
• "Before the gun: SLUH’s Cross Country team: reviewing the course, getting focused" (October 16, 2009, by Mike Lumetta)
• "XC takes MCC, dominates everywhere else" (October 30, 2009)
• "Dominance: XC ambles to State yet again" (November 6, 2009)
• "Cross Country victorious at State: Ten-point victory in Jefferson City" (November 13, 2009)
• "Roadrunnerbills sixth at Midwest Regional" (November 20, 2009)

Meet results from 2009:

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

August 15 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Complete Results

September 4 - First Capital Invitational - McNair Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Individuals Combined | Teams Combined

September 12 - Forest Park Cross Country Festival - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen | Combined

September 17 - Parkway Central Invitational - Parkway Central
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

September 19 - Paul Enke Hazelwood Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen & Sophomores

September 25 - Fox Warrior Invitational - Arnold Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen & Sophomores

September 26 - Rim Rock Invitational - Rim Rock Farms (Lawrence, KS)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 2 - Ron Jorgenson Ladue Invitational - Queeny Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 13 - M.C.C. Championships - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 17 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver (Washington, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 23 - Clayton Invitational - Shaw Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 24 - District 3 Championship - McCluer North High School
SLUH Results & Splits | Race results

October 28 - Findley Memorial Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 31 - Sectional 2 Championship - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Race results

November 7 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Race results | 1 Mile Split | 2 Mile Split | Combined

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Joe Porter, Brian Gilmore, Andrew Linhares, Paul Enke
Captains: Cliff David, Austin Cookson, John Clohisy, Matt Kocisak, David Kuciejczyk-Kernan
State Finish: 2nd

2008 Season Daily Practice Logs
2008 Season Meet Schedule

Prep News articles from the 2008 season, by Brandon Thornberry '09:

• "XC seeks second consecutive state title" (August 29, 2008)
• "XC shines at First Capitol Inv., wins by 95" (September 12, 2008)
• "Hostbills bury guests at Forest Park Festival" (September 19, 2008)
• "AnatoliBoukreevbills summit Manmaker" (September 26, 2008)
• "XC: two firsts showcase 'best ever' depth" (October 3, 2008)
• "Undefeated Harrierbills win Jorgenson" (October 10, 2008)
• "XC stays unbeaten with wins at Borgia and MCCs" (October 24, 2008)
• "Cross country dusts field in district win" (October 31, 2008)
• "Cross country wins sectionals, anticipates state showdown with Lee's Summit West tomorrow" (November 7, 2008)
• "Cross country second in state" (November 14, 2008)
• Freshman cross country season recap, by Nathan Rubbelke (November 14, 2008)

Meet results from 2008:

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

July 23 - 5k Time Trial during Camp Week 2 - Forest Park Central Fields
Results

August 16 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Team Results | Complete Race Results

September 5 - First Capital Invitational - McNair Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

September 6 - JV & C Time Trial - Forest Park Central Fields
JV 5k Results | Freshmen 3k Results

September 13 - Forest Park Cross Country Festival - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen | Combined | Team Results

September 18 - Parkway Central Invitational - Parkway Central
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

September 20 - Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen & Sophomores

September 26 - Ed White Warrior Invitational - Parkway Central
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen & Sophomores

September 27 - Rim Rock Invitational - Rim Rock Farms (Lawrence, KS)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 3 - Ron Jorgenson Invitational - Blackburn Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 11 - M.C.C. Championships - Chaminade
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 18 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver (Washington, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 22 - Hazelwood B & C Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Sophomores | Freshmen

October 24 - Clayton Invitational - Shaw Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 25 - District 3 Championship - McCluer North High School
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

October 29 - Findley Memorial Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

November 1 - Sectional 2 Championship - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

November 8 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity 5K Finish | 1 Mile Split | 2 Mile Split | Team Results | Combined

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Joe Porter, Joe Conley, Ben Rosario, Matt Johnson, Brian Gilmore
Captains: Chris Murphy, Mike McCafferty, Dan Warner, Stephen Schumacher
State Finish: 1st

2007 Season Daily Practice Logs

Prep News articles from the 2007 season, by Stephen Kuehner '08:

• "Harrierbills strive for strength, in numbers" (August 31, 2007)
• "XC flock flies to first-place finish" (September 7, 2007)
• "SLUH sweeps FoPoCroCo Festival" (September 14, 2007)
• "XC toils, seeks no rest at Jesuit Invite" (September 21, 2007)
• "XC's second seven swipe fourth at Hancock" (September 28, 2007)
• "Runners reap risk rewards at Rim Rock" (October 5, 2007)
• "XC puts big hurt of MCC field" (October 12, 2007)
• "XC defies limits, wins at district meet" (October 26, 2007)
• "7 runners on all 7 cylinders: XC to State '07" (November 2, 2007)
• "Cross country takes state title: championship is team's first since 1999" (November 9, 2007)
• "XC state champs place third in regional meet in S. Dakota" (November 16, 2007)

Newspaper articles from the 2007 season:

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch mention after Rim Rock (October 6, 2007)
• "Close call: SLUH nips Parkway W." (State recap)
• "Jr. Bills eke past field for 1st place" (Kirkwood-Webster Journal, November 7, 2007)
• "Jr. Bills edge 'Horns, claim Class 4 crown" (Suburban Journal, November 7, 2007)

Meet results from 2007:

Season Performance Log | Season Honor Roll

August 11 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Team Results | Complete Race Results

August 30 - JV & C Time Trial - Forest Park Central Fields
JV 5k Results | Freshmen 3k Results

August 31 - First Capital Invitational - McNair Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

September 8 - Forest Park Cross Country Festival - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen | Combined | Team Results

September 15 - Midwest Jesuit Invitational - DeSmet
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 22 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 28 - Ron Jorgenson Invitational - Ladue Jr. High
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 29 - Rim Rock Invitational - Rim Rock Farms (Lawrence, KS)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 6 - M.C.C. Championships - Chaminade
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen | V + JV Combined

October 13 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver (Washington, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 17 - Hazelwood B & C Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
Cancelled. Intrasquad "Sioux Passage Showdown" Results

October 20 - District 3 Championship - Parkway Central High School
SLUH Results & Splits | Race results

October 24 - Findley Memorial Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 27 - Sectional 2 Championship - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Results

November 3 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity 5k Results | Team Results | Combined

November 11 - NTN Heartland Regional - Yankton Trails Park (Sioux Falls, SD)
Championship and Open Race Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Joe Porter, Joe Conley, Ben Rosario
Captains:  Matt Lawder, Nate Banet, Dan Viox
State Finish: 2nd

Season Performance Log
2006 Season Daily Practice Logs
2006 Season Letter Winners

Newspaper stories from the 2006 season:

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Runners to Watch" (September 2, 2006)
• "SLUH, Big River Running pull off Cross Country Fest" (Kirkwood-Webster Journal, September 13, 2006)
• "Forest Park Invitational: 'the whole nine yards'" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 14, 2006)
• "Cross country elicits best in runners, spectators" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 4, 2006)
• "Jr. Bills get back on state podium" (State recap)

Prep News stories from the 2006 season, by Matt Lawder '07, John Clohisy '09:

• "XC 2006 ready for opening meet at McNair Park" (September 1, 2006)
• "XC takes second place at McNair Park; looks forward to new event hosted by SLUH" (September 8, 2006)
• "XC takes third in first varsity race hosted by SLUH" (September 15, 2006)
• "XC sweeps up at Jesuit Invitational" (September 22, 2006)
• "Backup XC takes third in Hancock Inv." (September 29, 2006)
• "XC takes second at Rim Rock" (October 5, 2006)
• "Cross country sweeps MCC meet" (October 13, 2006)
• "XC wins first postseason race" (October 27, 2006)
• "XC takes districts, prepares for state" (November 3, 2006)
• "Cross country takes second in state" (November 10, 2006)
• "Cross Country has a successful season" (November 17, 2006)

Meet results from the 2006 season:

August 11 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Team Results | Complete Race Results

September 1 - First Capital Invitational - McNair Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity Team Results

September 6 - CBC & DeSmet Freshman Tri-Meet - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results | Race Results (3k)

September 9 - Inaugural Forest Park Cross Country Festival - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 16 - Midwest Jesuit Invitational - DeSmet
SLUH Results & Splits | Individual race results | Team Results

September 23 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results & Splits - Varsity Race

September 29 - Ron Jorgenson Invitational - Ladue Jr. High
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 30 - Rim Rock Invitational - Rim Rock Farms (Lawrence, KS)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 7 - M.C.C. Championships - Chaminade
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 14 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver (Washington, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits

October 18 - Hazelwood B & C Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits

October 21 - District 3 Championship - Parkway Central High School
SLUH Results & Splits

October 25 - Findley Memorial Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 28 - Sectional 2 Championship - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity race results

November 4 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity 5k Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Joe Conley, Tim Chik, Joe Porter (Coach Porter's first year on staff)
Captains: Ben Murphy-Baum, Shane Mulligan, Andy Bonner, Mike Jonagan, Drew Kaiser
State Finish: 4th (Previous team trophy at State - 1999)

Season Performance Log

2005 Captains' Letter to Team
2005 Season Daily Practice Logs

Newspaper articles from 2005:

• "Loaded Junior Bills taking aim at better state finish" (South City Journal, Season preview)
• "Jr. Bill is the Baum" (Hancock recap)

Prep News articles from the 2005 season, by Mike Jonagan '06:

• "Harriers’ ranks swell with talent for 2005" (September 2, 2005)
• "Harriers take third at First Capitol" (September 9, 2005)
• "XCbills show strength at Mizzou Challenge" (September 16, 2005)
• "C2bills split up for Rim Rock and Hazelwood" (September 23, 2005)
• "Baumbills take second at Hancock Invitational" (September 30, 2005)
• "XC takes Ladue and Midwest Jesuit Invites" (October 7, 2005)
• "Harriers take MCC conference at all levels" (October 14, 2005)
• "XCbills win Districts over De Smet and CBC" (October 28, 2005)
• "Shinsplintbills win sectionals, move to state" (November 4, 2005)
• "Harriers take 4th in State; Murphy-Baum places second" (November 11, 2005)

Race results from the 2005 season:

August 6 - 31st Annual St. Louis Track Club Cross Country Kick-Off - Forest Park
Results

August 15 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Team Results | Complete Race Results

September 2 - First Capital Invitational - McNair Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Team Results | Varsity race

September 7 - Freshman Time Trial - Forest Park Central Fields
2 mile results

September 10 - Mizzou XC Challenge - A.L. Gustin Golf Course (Columbia, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 14 - CBC & DeSmet Freshman Tri-Meet - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Team Results | Race Results

September 17 - Hazelwood Central Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen & Sophomores

September 17 - Rim Rock Invitational - Rim Rock Farms (Lawrence, KS)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 21 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational - Hazelwood East
SLUH Results | Team Results

September 24 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results & Splits | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 30 - Ron Jorgenson Invitational - Ladue Jr. High
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity 

October 1 - Midwest Jesuit Invitational - DeSmet
SLUH Results & Splits

October 8 - M.C.C. Championships - Chaminade
SLUH Results & Splits | Team Results

October 15 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver (Washington, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits + Team Results

October 19 - Hazelwood B & C Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits

October 22 - District 3 Championship - Notre Dame High School
SLUH Results & Splits | Team Results

October 26 - Findley Memorial Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits

October 29 - Sectional 2 Championship - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits| Race Results

November 5 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity 5k Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Joe Conley
Captains:  Charlie Samson, Alex Muntges, Joe Carlson, Danny Meier
State Finish: 8th

Season Performance Log
'04 Summer Training Log (Charlie Samson)

NTN Heartland Rankings (September 24, 2004)

Prep News articles from the 2004 season, by Henry Samson '05:

• "XC hopes summer conditioning will pay off" (September 3, 2004)
• "Harrierbills crush competition at First Capitol" (September 10, 2004)
• "Harrierbills dominate McCluer North Invite" (September 17, 2004)
• "XC places 2nd in Rim Rock Classic" (September 24, 2004)
• "Hancock Invitational eludes XC again" (October 1, 2004)
• "XC second seven steps up, place sixth" (October 8, 2004)
• "Harrierbills win 10th MCC in 13 years" (October 22, 2004)
• "Harrierbills saunter through districts, take first" (October 29, 2004)
• "Odometerbills win sectionals with 41 points; cross country looks to knock off Liberty at State" (November 5, 2004)
• "Staminabills take disappointing 8th in State" (November 12, 2004)
• "Harrierbills end season 8th in State" (November 19, 2004)

Newspaper article from the 2004 season:

• "SLUH earns state meet bid; Chargers, Lancers to make trip" (Oakville-Mehlville Journal, November 3, 2004)

Meet Results from the 2004 season:

August 14 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Complete Race Results

September 3 - First Capital Invitational - McNair Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity

September 11 - McCluer North Invitational - McCluer North High School
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen 

September 15 - CBC & DeSmet Freshman Tri-Meet - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Team Results - 2 Miles | Race results

September 18 - Hazelwood Central Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage
SLUH Results & Splits | Team Results

September 18 - Rim Rock Invitational - Rim Rock Farm (Lawrence, KS)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 22 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational - Hazelwood East
SLUH Results | Team Results

September 25 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results & Splits

October 2 - Midwest Jesuit Invitational - Chaminade
SLUH Results & Splits

October 9 - M.C.C. Championships - Chaminade
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen | Team Results

October 16 - Borgia Invitational - Big Driver (Washington, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits + Team Results

October 20 - Hazelwood B & C Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Results

October 23 - District 3 Championship - Parkway Central High School
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity race results

October 27 - Findley Memorial Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits

October 30 - Sectional 2 Championship - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity team results

November 6 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
Varsity Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Pat Hamel, Tim Chik
Captains:  Andrew Linhares, Dan Flanagan, John Oliver, Chris Arb
State Finish: 8th

2003 Captain Application Letters
2003 Captain Letters to Team
2003 Summer Logs (Murphy-Baum, Linhares, Flanagan)
2003 Season Performance List
2003 XC Season Day-by-Day Schedule
2003 Daily Practice Logs

Prep News stories from 2003, by Henry Samson '05:

• "Harrierbills hope to dominate rivals this season" (September 5, 2003)
• "Buffalobills take disappointing 3rd at Jeff. City" (September, 11, 2003)
• "XCbills stumble to fifth at Findley Invite" (September 19, 2003)
• "Concordebills tackle Sioux, primed for Hancock" (September 26, 2003)
• "Targetbills place 9th at Hancock Invitational" (October 3, 2003)
• "XC nabs 3rd at Jesuit, hopeful for postseason" (October 10, 2003)
• "XC hits wall at MCC; JV, C tear it down" (October 24, 2003)
• "Harriers, back in stride, win districts" (October 31, 2003)
• "XC finishes second at sectionals, heads for state" (November 7, 2003)
• "Cross country takes 8th at state meet" (November 14, 2003)

Newspaper stories from 2003:

• "Jr. Bills reload for long run: four senior captains have SLUH looking for strong finish" (Season preview)
• Team capsule (Season preview)
• "Junior Billikens picking up pace" (District recap)
• "Hitting their stride" (South City Journal, Sectional recap)

Meet results from the 2003 season:

August 16 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Complete Race Results

September 6 - Capital City Invitational - Cole County Fairgrounds (Jefferson City, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Varsity race plan

September 13 - McCluer North Invitational - McCluer North High School
SLUH Results & Splits - Varsity & JV | SLUH Results & Splits - Freshmen | Varsity & JV Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 17 - CBC & DeSmet Freshman Tri-Meet - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Team Results - 2 Miles | Race Results

September 20 - Hazelwood Central Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage
SLUH Results & Splits | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen & Sophomores

September 24 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational - Hazelwood East
SLUH Results

September 27 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity Team Results | Varsity Summary

October 3 - Midwest Jesuit Invitational - Chaminade
SLUH Results & Splits | Team Results | Varsity Race Results

October 9 - Metro Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results & Splits | Team Results

October 19 - M.C.C. Championships - Chaminade
SLUH Results & Splits | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 22 - Hazelwood B & C Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Team Results

October 25 - District 3 Championship - Parkway Central High School
Team Split Sheet | Race Results | Results from other districts

October 29 - Findley JV/C Invitational - Forest Park
Team Split Sheet | Junior Varsity | Freshmen | Team Results

November 1 - Sectional 2 Championship - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Team Results

November 8 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Pat Hamel, Tim Chik
Captains:  Kevin Crean, Kyle Gonnerman, Drew Noblot, Peter Schaefer
State Finish: 5th

Newspaper stories from 2002 season:

• "SLUH tabbed as front-runner" (South City Journal, September 11, 2002)
• "SLUH makes statement: Junior Bills grab third straight crown" (September 11, 2002)
• "SLUH finishes second at Hancock Invitational" (Webster-Kirkwood Journal, October 2, 2002)
• "SLUH slides to win in MCC meet"
• "Junior Billikens take a run at another state title" (November 9, 2002)
• "Cross country events display competition in its finest form" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 9, 2002)
• "Schaefer leads Junior Bills to 5th place at state meet" (Oakville-Mehlville Journal, November 13, 2002)
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch All-Metro Team

Prep News stories from 2002, by Pat Meek, Brian Fallon:

• "XCers look for redemption in '02" (September 6, 2002)
• "Harrierbills take first at First Capitol" (September 13, 2002)
• "XC lets tiger roar at Mizzou and McCluer" (September 20, 2002)
• "Varsity second seven places 8th at Sioux" (September 27, 2002)
• "XC places second at Hancock Invitational" (October 3, 2002)
• "Harrierbills sweep all divisions at Jesuit Invitational" (October 11, 2002)
• "XC victorious at MCC championship" (October 25, 2002)
• "XC wins Districts, prepares for Sectionals" (October 31, 2002)
• "XC wins Sectional, moves to State" (November 8, 2002)
• "XC Bills finish season with fifth place at State" (November 15, 2002)
• "Linharesbills look back on successful season" (December 6, 2002)

2002 Season Performance Log

2002 Daily Practice Records

Meet Results from 2002:

August 17 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Complete Race Results

September 5 - Freshman Time Trial (2 Miles) - Forest Park Central Fields
Complete Results

September 6 - First Capital Invitational - McNair Park
SLUH Results & Splits

September 14 - McCluer North (Mark Finley) Invite - McCluer North
Team Split Sheet

September 14 - Mizzou XC Challenge - A.L. Gustin Golf Course (Columbia, MO)
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 18 - CBC & DeSmet Freshman Tri-Meet - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Team Results - 2 Miles | Race Results

September 21 - Hazelwood Central Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage
SLUH Results & Splits

September 25 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational - Hazelwood East
SLUH Results & Splits

September 28 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results & Splits

October 5 - Jesuit Invitational - Parkway Central High School
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 10 - Metro Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
SLUH Results & Splits

October 19 - M.C.C. Championships - Chaminade
SLUH Results & Splits | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen  | Varsity race plan

October 23 - Hazelwood B & C Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits

October 26 - District 3 Championship - Parkway Central High School
SLUH Results & Splits | Race Results | Race plan

October 30 - Findley JV/C Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
SLUH Results & Splits

November 2 - Sectional 2 Championship - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results & Splits | Race Results

November 9 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
Varsity Race Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Pat Hamel, Tim Chik
Captains: Pat Leinauer, John Parr, Tipper O'Brien
State Finish: 8th

2001 Captain Letters to Team
Daily Practice Records from 2001

Prep News stories from 2001, by Brian Gilmore '02:

• "XC gets into State form, '99 style" (August 31, 2001)
• "Deja-vu: Harrierbills win First Capitol again: Varsity 7 posts better times than 1999 champs" (September 7, 2001)
• "Harrierbills prepare to take on the Manmaker" (September 14, 2001)
• "Hancock awaits Harrierbills on Saturday" (September 21, 2001)
• "Endurabills set to enjoy Jesuit Invitational" (September 28, 2001)
• "XC takes a disappointing second at JV Invitational: O'Brien places 14th in return from leg injury" (October 5, 2001)
• "XC primed to run over competition at Conference" (October 12, 2001)
• "Harrierbills rise to the occasion, win District" (October 26, 2001)
• "Linhares on Harrierbills: 'All systems are go'" (November 2, 2001)
• "Harrierbills finish disappointing 8th in State" (November 9, 2001)

Newspaper story from 2001:

• "SLUH falls short of its expectations at State"

Meet results from the 2001 season:

August 11 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Race Results

August 31 - First Capital Invitational - McNair Park
SLUH Results & Team Results | Varsity Race | Team Split Sheet

September 8 - McCluer North Invitational - McCluer North H.S.
SLUH Results & Team Results | Team Split Sheet | Varsity | JV | Freshmen

September 12 - CBC & DeSmet Freshman Tri-Meet - Forest Park Central Fields
Team Split Sheet

September 15 - Hazelwood Central Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage
Varsity Results | Team Split Sheet

September 22 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
Team Split Sheet | Varsity Race

September 29 - Jesuit Invitational - Chaminade
SLUH Results & Team Results | Team Split Sheet

October 4 - Metro Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 13 - M.C.C. Championships - Chaminade
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 17 - Hazelwood C Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 21 - District 3 Championship - Parkway Central High School
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 25 - Findley JV/C Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
(Cancelled due to storms)

October 28 - Sectional 2 Championship - Sioux Passage Park
SLUH Results, Top 30 Results, & Team Results | Team Split Sheet

November 3 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
Varsity Race Results | Team Split Sheet

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Pat Hamel, Rob Behm, Tim Chik
Captains: Dan Leinauer, Ryan Hatch, Dave Godar
State Finish: 6th

2000 Season Daily Practice Records
Guide for Winter Running Club 2000-01

Newspaper stories from the 2000 season:

• "SLUH on the defensive this fall" (South City Journal, August 20, 2000)
• "Jr. Bills, Colts race to sectional victories" (West Journal, November 1, 2000)

Prep News stories from 2000, by Matt Snively, Tipper O'Brien:

• "Harrierbills plan to run opponents down" (September 1, 2000)
• "XC Bills continue to surprise" (September 15, 2000)
• "Cross country Bills take fourth at Sioux Passage" (September 22, 2000)
• "X-Country captures third at Hancock" (September 29, 2000)
• "Cross country runs away with second at first Jesuit Invitational" (October 6, 2000)
• "Mercurybills in weekend invitational" (October 13, 2000)
• "Swiftbills destroy Parkway, await sectionals" (October 27, 2000)
• "Runnin'bills #1 at sectionals, look to state" (November 3, 2000)
• "Cross country runs to sixth place in state" (November 10, 2000)

Meet results from 2000:

August 12 - Alumni Run - Forest Park
Race Results

September 1 - First Capital Invitational - McNair Park
(Cancelled due to heat)

September 6 - Parkway South C Dual Meet - Forest Park Central Fields
Team Split Sheet

September 8 - Mizzou XC Challenge - A.L. Gustin Golf Course (Columbia, MO)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity

September 9 - McCluer North Invitational - McCluer North H.S.
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | JV | Freshmen

September 13 - CBC & DeSmet Freshman Tri-Meet - Forest Park Central Fields
Team Split Sheet

September 16 - Hazelwood Central Paul Enke Invitational - Sioux Passage
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

September 20 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational - Hazelwood East
Race Results

September 23 - Hancock Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
Team Split Sheet

September 30 - Jesuit Invitational - Parkway Central High School
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity

October 5 - Metro Invitational - Jefferson Barracks
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 14 - M.C.C. Championships - Chaminade
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 18 - Hazelwood Central "C" Invitational - Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 21 - District 3 Championship - Parkway Central High School
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 25 - Findley JV/C Invitational - Forest Park Central Fields
Team Split Sheet | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 28 - Sectional 2 Championship - Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

November 9 - State Championship - Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City, MO)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity Race Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Pat Hamel, Rob Behm
Captains: Ted Snodgrass, Nathan Tower, Murphy O'Brien, Mark Monda
State Finish: 1st

1999 Season "Win-Loss" Records
1999 PRACTICE LOGS

Newspaper stories from 1999:

• "Soccer rules MCC, but XC is on rise" (Season preview)
• "Captains looking to guide SLUH ship in MCC waters" (September 5, 1999)
• "Jr. Bills nip Cadets at wire" (Sectional champions)
• "Junior Billikens claim their first title since 1961" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 7, 1999)
• "SLUH nips Liberty for State crown" (South City Journal, November 10, 1999)
• "SLUH wins 4A title" (West Journal, November 10, 1999)
• "Top 10 sports stories of 1999" (South City Journal, January 2, 2000)

"Special Agent G"

• Special Agent G - Operation Jawa Transport (October 30, 1999)

Prep News stories from 1999:

• XC Thumps Alumni, Prepares for Season (August 27, 1999)
• Harrierbills Win at First Capital, Forest Park (September 10, 1999)
• XC Visits Three Meets, Finds Success in All (September 17, 1999)
• XC Finishes 2nd at Sioux Passage (September 24, 1999)
• XC Takes Third at Hancock Meet (October 1, 1999)
• XC Sails Past Parkway West (October 8, 1999)
• XC Wins MCC meet with Authority (October 22, 1999)
• XC Smokes Rivals at Districts (October 29, 1999)
• XC Wins Sectional en route to State (November 5, 1999)
• XC Wins State in Dramatic Fashion (November 12, 1999)
• Post-State Commentary (November 12, 1999)
• All-Metro Honorees (December 3, 1999)
• Tradition, Class, Pride - Mike Lovinguth (September 17, 1999)

Meet Results from 1999:

Alumni Race
Results here

September 3 - First Capital Invitational, McNair Park
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

September 8 - Parkway South Dual Meet, Forest Park
Team Split Sheet

September 10 - Mizzou XC Challenge, A.L. Gustin Golf Course (Columbia)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 11 - McCluer North Invitational, McCluer North
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Sophomores | Freshmen

September 15 - CBC & De Smet Freshmen Tri-Meet, Forest Park
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

September 18 - Paul Enke Invitational, Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet

September 22 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational, Hazelwood East
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Race Results

September 25 - Hancock Invitational, Jefferson Barracks Park
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | B/C

October 2 - Parkway West Invitational, Parkway Central
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Sophomore | Freshmen

October 5 - DuBourg Invitational, Wilmore Park
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 8 - Fred Lyon Metro Invitational, Jefferson Barracks Park
Team Split Sheet | Varsity Team Results | JV & Freshmen Team Results

October 16 - MCC Championships, Chaminade
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 20 - Hazelwood Central Freshman Invitational, Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Race Results

October 23 - District 3 Meet, Parkway Central
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 27 - Findley Memorial Invitational, Forest Park
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 30 - Sectional 2 Meet, Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

November 6 - State Meet, Oak Hills Golf Center (Jefferson City)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Rob Behm, Pat Hamel
Captains: Ken Reichert, Matt Schaefer, Alex Speiser
State Finish: 12

1998 PRACTICE LOGS
 

Prep News stories from 1998:

• "Cross country shines in practice race" (September 4, 1998)
• "Speedbills overrun Patriots in opening XC meet" (September 11, 1998)
• "XC places well in meets and looks ahead" (September 18, 1998)
• "XC makes stand at Sioux Passage" (September 25, 1998)
• "Harriers: mixed results at Hancock" (October 2, 1998)
• "XC makes a killing out West" (October 9, 1998)
• "5Kbills fall in MCC for first time ever" (October 23, 1998)
• "Harriers obliterate competition at district" (October 30, 1998)
• "Sectionals: merely a warmup" (November 6, 1998)
• "Productive XC season culminates in 12th at state" (November 13, 1998)

Newspaper story from 1998:

• "With nothing to lose, SLUH upsets field" (District recap)

Meet results from 1998: 
Regrettably, there are several missing race results from the 1998 season.

September 11 - Mizzou XC Challenge, at A.L. Gustin Golf Course (Columbia)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 19 - Hazelwood Central/Paul Enke Invitational, at Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 6 - DuBourg Invitational, at Wilmore Park
Team Split Sheet

November 7 - State Meet, Oak Hills Golf Course (Jefferson City)
Race Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Rob Behm, Greg Linhares, Pat Hamel
Captains: Ben Rosario, John Christie, Chris Graesser
State Finish: 3

1997 PRACTICE LOGS
 

Prep News stories from 1997, by Ben Rosario, Scott Lauer, John Ramsey, and John Christie:

• "Depth and experience key to cross country success" (August 29, 1997)
• "Harriers pound the pavement, Parkway South" (September 5, 1997)
• "Frosh fly by Patriots" (September 12, 1997)
• "Harriers shake it up in Columbia" (September 19, 1997)
• "Number one harriers look to Hancock Invitational" (September 26, 1997)
• "Cross country crushes opposition at Hancock race" (October 3, 1997)
• "Harriers sweep tourney" (October 10, 1997)
• "Harriers six-peat at MCC meet" (October 24, 1997)
• "Harriers storm through competition" (October 31, 1997)
• "Harriers trek to State" (November 7, 1997)
• "Cross country captures third place; best finish since 1961" (November 14, 1997)

Newspaper stories from 1997:

• "MCC teams set to battle" (season preview)
• "Deep SLUH squad setting torrid pace"
• "SLUH stakes its claim, finishes second" (Hancock recap)
• "SLUH finds summit thru Sioux Passage" (Sectional recap)
• "SLUH meets State goals"
• "Junior Bills' third-place finish erases past disappointments" (Post-Dispatch, 11/9/97)
• "SLUH breaks post-season jinx, gets 3rd" (Southwest City Journal, 11/12/97)

Meet Results from 1997:

September 6 - Parkway South Dual Meet, Forest Park
Team Split Sheet

September 10 - Parkway South Freshman Dual, Manchester Park
Team Split Sheet

September 13 - Mizzou XC Challenge, A.L. Gustin Golf Course (Columbia)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 13 - McCluer North Invitational, McCluer North
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Sophomore | Freshmen | Team Results

September 17 - CBC & De Smet Freshmen Tri-Meet, Forest Park
Team Split Sheet

September 19 - Paul Enke Invitational, Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen/Sophomore

September 24 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational, Hazelwood East
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Race Results

September 27 - Hancock Invitational, Jefferson Barracks Park
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Freshman & Sophomores

October 4 - Parkway West Invitational, Parkway Central
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 7 - DuBourg Invitational, Wilmore Park
Team Split Sheet

October 10 - Fred Lyon Metro Invitational, Jefferson Barracks Park
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 18 - MCC Championships, Chaminade
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 22 - Hazelwood Central Freshman Invitational, Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 25 - District Meet, McCluer North
Team Split Sheet

October 29 - Findley Memorial Invitational, Forest Park
Team Split Sheet | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

November 1 - Sectional Meet, Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet | Newspaper Recap

November 8 - State Meet, Oak Hills Golf Center (Jefferson City)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

Remembering 1997...

I actually found an old SLUH XC jersey buried in a drawer of forgotten winter workout gear. When new uniforms came out before the ‘99 season, we were allowed to take one of the old ones home. I was one of the last from the team to pick, and I ended up with an XL. Back then I was swimming in an XL, but it actually doesn’t fit too bad nowadays.

I always liked to think it was Ken Reichert’s jersey, since he was a beast back then. My first year in XC was my sophomore year [1997], and I recall running with Ken and Jon Christie among others during practice one day early in the season. I was one of the “sophomore phenoms” who had some potential to work with, and Coach Jim would put us in groups with the upper class-men.

I was impressed by their combination of girth and endurance. How could a couple of guys so big move so fast? Then they flipped the tables on me. They started offering me advice on my form as they thought I should elevate my arms more. Apparently, I was running like a gorilla. Maybe I was trying to channel their inner beast?

I corrected my form, and I have Ken and Jon to thank!

Matt Brice '00 
August 2020

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Rob Behm, Greg Linhares
Captains: Tim Blessing, Joe Donnelly, Eric Monda
State Finish: 9

1996 Team Letter Winners

1996 Overall "Win-Loss" Records

1996 MEET Schedule

1996 PRACTICE LOGS | "KEY 2nd HALF SEASON WORKOUTS"
 

Prep News stories from 1996, by Greg Leuchtmann, Joe Donnelly, Ben Rosario, Matt Schaefer:

• "V-Harriers strain; JV jumps ahead" (September 13, 1996)
• "Harriers invade Illinois" (September 20, 1996)
• "Harriers level Manmaker at Sioux Passage" (September 27, 1996)
• "Harriers pick themselves up at Hancock Invitational" (October 4, 1996)
• "Harriers head west to success" (October 11, 1996)
• "Warning: Harriers taking off" (November 1, 1996)
• "#1 ranked XC targets State" (November 8, 1996)
• "Mixed results at State meet" (November 15, 1996)

Meet Results from 1996:

September 4 - Parkway South Dual Meet, Forest Park
Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 14 - Mt. Vernon Invitational, Mt. Vernon City Park
Team Split Sheet | Results of Varsity Races | Open Race | Team Results

September 18 - CBC & De Smet Freshmen Tri-Meet, Forest Park
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

September 21 - Hazelwood Invitational, Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen/Sophomore

September 25 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational, Hazelwood East
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

September 28 - Hancock Invitational, Jefferson Barracks Park
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity

October 4 - Parkway West Invitational, Parkway Central
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 8 - DuBourg Invitational, Wilmore Park
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 11 - Fred Lyon Metro Invitational, Jefferson Barracks Park
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 15 - Chaminade & De Smet B & C Meet, Chaminade
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 19 - MCC Championships, Chaminade
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 23 - Hazelwood Central Freshman Invitational, Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 26 - District Meet, McCluer North
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 30 - Findley Memorial Invitational, Forest Park
Team Split Sheet | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

November 2 - Sectional Meet, Sioux Passage Park
Team Split Sheet | Results

November 9 - State Meet, Oak Hills Golf Center (Jefferson City)
Team Split Sheet | Results

A special thanks to Ted Snodgrass '00 for this account OF THE 1996 SEASON

1996 began like most years since the team first made it to state under Coach Linhares. The runners had high expectations of themselves. This year, the team was loaded with quality seniors and juniors with plenty of varsity experience, so expectations were very high. Some of the runners even thought it could be the best team SLUH had ever seen. A solid start at the Parkway South dual meet helped boost the team's confidence. Despite being without Joe Donnelly, the top runner throughout most of the year, the team managed to finish close to Parkway South, one of the area's most dominant teams. Senior Jerry Fitzgerald came in second to Adam McDowell from Parkway South. McDowell would go on to win the state championship that year. Four runners managed to break the eighteen minute barrier that day, compared to none the year before, so already the team was looking like it could compete with any team around. As usual at that meet, the Junior Varsity squad dominated, and leading the way was sophomore Ken Reichert, who would emerge as one of the top runners on the team in just his first season running cross country.

Despite their early season success, the team was not looked upon by many people as a threat for area dominance. Their struggle was not helped much at the Hancock Invitational when most of the varsity team was knocked down in the first 500 meters of the race. The team managed to pick itself up and finish a very respectable fifth. Strong performances would follow the mishap at Jefferson Barracks Park. The team managed to finish a close second to Parkway West at their invitational. Then the team rested through the Metro Invitational in order to focus on Conference, a tactic that Linhares would use for the next several years. DeSmet did not know what hit them when SLUH's varsity arrived at Chaminade. The varsity displayed one of the most dominant races in school history, outdistancing DeSmet, which was ranked first in the area at the time, with a score of 19-46. The victory marked the first in a series of victories for the team, which would not lose again until the state meet. They took the District title in dominating fashion, placing all seven runners in the top ten. The next stop was Sioux Passage Park for the Sectional Championships. Despite their victory two weeks before over the top team in the area, the team was only ranked third, behind two of the teams it would face at Sectionals, Parkway West and Parkway South. Each of those teams boasted two of the best runners in the state in Adam McDowell (South) and John Cordes (West). SLUH knew it had something to prove and the team did so in the last mile of the race. Coming from behind SLUH managed to win and set themselves up for big things at state. Unfortunately their dominant run ended at Sectionals. Horribly cold conditions at the state meet and an overly aggressive start doomed the team. The team still finished in the top ten and they were loaded with underclassmen, who would have a chance to come back the next year. Joe Donnelly finished 19th with an excellent race, and Ken Reichert showed signs of a promising future with a 37th place finish. Seniors Joe Donnelly, Eric Monda, and Jerry Fitzgerald led the team throughout the season. Juniors John Christie, Ben Rosario, and Chris Graesser along with sophomore Ken Reichert represented the future for the strong squad. Also contributing for the varsity that year were Juniors Luke Schulte, John Ramsey, and Scott Lauer.

The Junior Varsity squad dominated most of the races they entered, including the Parkway West Invitational in which they took 13 of the 20 medals. Throughout the season the JV squad was only beaten at two meets; twice by state power Jefferson City, and once by Desmet when the team was running its best runners in the sophomore race. The team was buoyed by Seniors Ryan Monahan, Matt Nischwitz, Luke Voytas and Tim Blessing; Juniors Luke Schulte, John Ramsey, and Scott Lauer; and Sophomores Matt Schaefer, Alex Speiser, Matt Crow, and Greg Leuchtmann.

The Freshman team had a promising beginning, but injuries held them back most of the season. After winning all of their early races, the team faltered with injuries to their usual fourth through sixth runners. Despite their failed success as a team, they showed incredible promise. Murphy O'Brien and Dan Westlund battled for the top spot on the team throughout the season. Westlund managed to finish his season with a personal best time of 18:27, an excellent time for a freshman. Their solid leadership was followed closely by Ted Snodgrass, Mark Monda, Dan Graesser, and Matt Solberg. Their experience that year would prepare them for years of success.

Despite what was looked upon as a disappointing finish to the season, the team performed tremendously from start to finish, and a bevy of young runners showed that the best was yet to come for SLUH cross country. The varsity squad proved that SLUH could compete with any team in the state, and that confidence was exactly what the young runners on the team needed. Earlier teams had showed the way to the top of the heap for SLUH, but this team had actually reached it and would be the first in a line of very successful SLUH teams.

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Rob Behm, Craig Maliborski
Captains: Tim Chik, John Flynn
State Finish: 16

1995 MEET SCHEDULE

1995 SEASON SUMMARY

1995 PRACTICE LOGS
 

Prep News Stories from 1995, by Keith Myers:

• "Cross country squad starts off on the right foot" (September 8, 1995)
• "Harrierbills learn from mistakes to capture Eureka Invitational" (September 15, 1995)
• "Harriers capture 4th place finish at Hazelwood as Chik shines" (September 22, 1995)
• "Harrierbills keep pace with local powerhouses at Hancock Invitational" (September 29, 1995)
• "Harrierbills excel at Parkway West" (October 6, 1995)
• "Harriers compete with best in area" (October 13, 1995)
• "Harrierbills hit their stride at all levels" (October 27, 1995)
• "Fanson and super seven succeed at Sioux sectional; Jeff City awaits" (November 3, 1995)
• "Disappointing day at State disheartens Harriers" (November 10, 1995)

Meet Results from 1995:

August 26 - Intrasquad Meet (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet

September 6 - Parkway South Dual Meet (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

September 9 - Northwest Invitational (Northwest High School)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 12 - Eureka Invitational (Eureka)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Team Results

September 13 - CBC & De Smet Freshmen Tri-Meet (Forest Park)
Results

September 16 - Hazelwood Invitational (Sioux Passage Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

September 20 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational (Hazelwood East)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

September 23 - Hancock Invitational (Jefferson Barracks Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

September 30 - Parkway West Invitational (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 3 - DuBourg Invitational (Wilmore Park)
Team Split Sheet

October 6 - Fred Lyon Metro Invitational (Jefferson Barracks Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 11 - Chaminade/De Smet B & C (Chaminade)
Team Split Sheet

October 14 - MCC Championships (Chaminade)
Team Split Sheet

October 18 - Hazelwood Central Freshman Invitational (Sioux Passage Park)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 21 - District 4 Meet (McCluer North)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 25 - Findley Memorial Invitational (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet

October 28 - Sectional 2 Meet (Sioux Passage Park)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

November 4 - State Meet (Oak Hills Golf Center - Jefferson City)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Craig Maliborski
Captains: Kevin Myers, Tim Denny, Pat Hamel
State Finish: 8

1994 DAILY PRACTICE LOGS
 

Prep News stories from 1994, by Jeff Merlo:

• "Intrasquad prepares harriers for season" (September 2, 1994)
• "Cross country pack pounds powerful Patriots" (September 9, 1994)
• "Harriers place second behind defending State champs in Northwest House Springs Invitational" (September 16, 1994)
• "Harriers place fourth amidst strong competition in Hazelwood Invitational" (September 23, 1994)
• "Varsity and JV harriers turn in strong performances at Hancock Invitational" (September 30, 1994)
• "Harriers show speed, strength, and depth at Parkway West Invitational" (October 7, 1994)
• "Hamel and harriers prove too much for area competition in Metro meet" (October 14, 1994)
• "Harriers dominiate MCC, win District, move to Sectionals" (October 28, 1994)
• "Cross country wins Sectionals, advances to State meet for second year in a row" (November 4, 1994)
• "Eighth place finish at State ends stellar season for Harriers" (November 11, 1994)
• "Depth of JV harriers leads to amazing 101-1 record" (November 18, 1994 by John Caldwell)

Meet results from 1994:

August 27 - Intrasquad Meet (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet

September 6 - Parkway South Dual (Parkway South Jr. High)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

September 10 - Northwest Invitational (Northwest High School)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 13 - Eureka Invitational (Eureka High)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 14 - CBC & De Smet Freshmen Tri-Meet (Forest Park)
Results

September 17 - Hazelwood Invitational (Sioux Passage Park)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen & Sophomores

September 21 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational (Hazelwood East)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

September 24 - Hancock Invitational (Jefferson Barracks Park)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen & Sophomores

October 1 - Parkway West Invitational (Parkway Central)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results| Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 4 - DuBourg Invitational (Wilmore Park)
Team Split Sheet

October 7 - Fred Lyon Metro Invitational (Jefferson Barracks Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 15 - MCC Championships (Chaminade)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 17 - Tiger Classic (SIU-Edwardsville)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 19 - Hazelwood Central Freshman Invitational (Sioux Passage Park)
Race Results

October 22 - District 4 Meet (McCluer North)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Race Results

October 26 - Findley Memorial Invitational (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 29 - Sectional 2 Meet (Sioux Passage Park)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

November 5 - State Meet (Oak Hills Golf Center - Jefferson City)
Race Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Fr. Jim Goeke SJ, Charley Merriott
Captains: Ray Griner
State Finish: 9

1993 PRACTICE LOGS 
 

1993 Prep News XC recaps, by Ray Griner:

• "Harrier Squad Set to Go the Distance at Parkway South" (September 3, 1993)
• "Harrierbills Mow Down Opponents" (September 10, 1993)
• "Harriers Battle Tough Competition and Wet Weather" (September 17, 1993)
• "SLUH Cross Country Dominates Southpaw Invitational" (September 24, 1993)
• "Harriers Fight Mud at Hancock Invitational" (October 1, 1993)
• "Harriers Racing Toward Peak in Parkway West Invitational at Queeny Park" (October 8, 1993)
• "Harrierbills Sweep Metro Invitational" (October 15, 1993)
• "Cross Country Team Takes the District Championship" (October 29, 1993)
• "Harrierbills Advance Past Sectionals to State Finals for First Time Since 1963" (November 5, 1993)
• "Cross Country Ends Successful Year with Disappointing Ninth Place Finish at State" (November 12, 1993)

Newspaper stories from 1993:

• "Area harriers are ready to go the course" (Season preview)
• "Cadet harriers aim for possible State birth" (Season preview)
• "SLUH enjoys its best day in 30 years" (Hazelwood Central recap)
• "Junior Bills muddle their way to medal" (Hancock recap)
• "West Plains sweeps titles" (Hancock recap)
• "Parkway West edges SLUH for second straight week" (Parkway West recap)
• "Donahue's dedication pays off in top finishes" (Metro recap)
• "SLUH enters as favorite in District 2"
• "SLUH riding high on wave of success" (District recap)
• "SLUH unhappy with third place" (Sectional recap)
• "Teams take aim at West Plains" (State preview)
• "Junior Bills falter, take ninth in 4A" (State recap)

MEET RESULTS from 1993:

August 23 - Intrasquad Meet (Jefferson Barracks)
Results

September 7 - Parkway South Dual (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

September 11 - Southpaw Invitational (Jefferson Barracks Park)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 14 - Eureka Invitational (Eureka H.S.)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Team Results

September 15 - CBC & De Smet Freshmen Tri-Meet, Forest Park
Results

September 18 - Hazelwood Invitational (Sioux Passage Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen & Sophomores

September 22 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational (Hazelwood East)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

September 25 - Hancock Invitational (Jefferson Barracks Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 2 - Parkway West Invitational (Queeny Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 5 - DuBourg Invitational (Wilmore Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 16 - MCC Championships (Blackburn Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen 

October 18 - Tiger Classic (SIU-Edwardsville)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 20 - Hazelwood Central Freshman Invitational (Sioux Passage Park)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 23 - District Meet (Eureka High School)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 27 - Findley Memorial Invitational (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 30 - Sectional Meet (Jefferson Barracks Park)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

November 6 - State Meet (Oak Hills Golf Center - Jefferson City)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Tom Flanagan, Fr. Jim Goeke SJ, Charley Merriott
Captains: Tim Probst, Matt Dougherty, Gene Marshall
State Finish: Did Not Qualify (no individual qualifiers)

1992 PRACTICE LOGS

1992 Prep NEWS XC Stories, by Tim Probst '93, Sports Reporter

• "Changes in Training Hope to Bring Harriers Success"
• "Harriers PIck Top Seven and Prepare for Patriots"
• "Harriers Give Patriots Close Race"
• "New 'Pack Attack' Helps Harriers at Southpaw, Eureka"
• "Harriers Look Towards Districts"
• "Harriers Perform Well in 'Preview' of State Meet"
• "Invitational Puts Harriers to Test"
• "Harriers Run Off With Sweep of MCC Meet"
• "Harriers Qualify for Sectionals"
• "Runners Finish Successful Year at Sectionals"
• "Cross Country -- End of Season Wrap-Up" (Tim Probst & Matt Dougherty)

MEET RESULTS FROM 1992:

August 29 - Intrasquad Meet (Forest Park)
Race Results

September 9 - Parkway South Dual
Race Results

September 11 - Southpaw Invitational
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

September 15 - Eureka Invitational
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

September 16 - CBC & De Smet Tri Meet (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

September 19 - Hazelwood Invitational (Sioux Passage Park)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

September 23 - Hazelwood East Frosh Invitational
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

September 26 - Hancock Invitational (Jefferson Barracks Park)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

October 3 - Parkway West Invitational
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

October 6 - DuBourg Invitational
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

October 10 - MCC Meet (Conway Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 13 - De Smet Invitational
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 19 - Tiger Classic (SIU-Edwardsville)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

October 21 - Hazelwood Central Freshman Invitational (Sioux Passage Park)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

October 24 - District Meet (Queeny Park)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

October 28 - Lindbergh Invitational
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

October 31 - Sectional Meet (Jefferson Barracks Park)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Fr. Jim Goeke SJ, Tom Flanagan, Charley Merriott
Captains: Sean Lock, Chris Schmidt
State Finish: 8

1991 PRACTICE LOGS

1991 Prep News stories, by Ryan Fagan:

• "Linhares' harriers race into new campaign with high expectations" (August 30, 1991)
• "Harriers run through mud to first win" (September 6, 1991)
• PN Nightbeat on Southpaw Invitational (September 13, 1991)
• "Harriers rise to occasion along with mercury at Southpaw, Eureka meets" (September 20, 1991)
• "Second-ranked harriers shine at Hazelwood" (September 27, 1991)
• "Runners look to hit stride at Regionals" (October 4, 1991)
• "Harriers hammer Catholics at De Smet after Parkway letdown" (October 11, 1991)
• "Lock paces cross country to second-place Metro finish" (October 18, 1991)
• "Lock, stock, and barrel: cross country star talks about life on the run" (October 31, 1991)
• "State bound: Varsity teams zero in on State titles" (November 8, 1991)
• "Lock-powered harriers set Jefferson City ablaze despite slick course" (November 15, 1991)

MEET RESULTS FROM 1991:

1991 SLUH Cross Country Season Box Scores (V, JV, B, C)

August 31 - Intrasquad Meet (Sioux Passage)
Varsity & JV 5k | Freshman 2 mile

September 4 - Parkway South & Vianney
Team Split Sheet & Team Scores

September 12 - Southpaw Invitational
Team Split Sheet | Team Scores | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 17 - Eureka Invitational
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 18 - CBC Freshman Dual Meet
Team Split Sheet (2 miles)

September 21 - Hazelwood Invitational (Sioux Passage)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Sophomores

September 25 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational
Team Finish Sheet (2.4 miles) | Race Results

September 27 - DuBourg Invitational (Wilmore Park)
Team Finish Sheet & Team Results

September 28 - Hancock Invitational (Jefferson Barracks)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | B & C

October 5 - Parkway West Invitational
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 8 - De Smet All Catholic
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 11 - Metro Invitational
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

October 21 - SIUE Tiger "B" Invitational
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

October 25 - Hazelwood Central Frosh Invitational
Team Split Sheet & Race Results

October 26 - Jackson Invitational
Junior Varsity Team Split Sheet (The varsity race was rained out)

October 30 - Lindbergh JV Invitational
Team Finish Sheet & Team Results | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

November 2 - Regional Meet
Team Split Sheet & Team Results | Race Results

November 9 - State Meet
Race Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coaches: Fr. Jim Goeke SJ  
State Finish: Did Not Qualify (Sean Lock, individual 4th ALL-STATE)

1990 PRACTICE LOGS
1990 SUMMER WORK

1990 Prep News stories, by Joe Bartin, Dan Dorsey, Mark Fagan:

• "Harriers expect great season in spite of heat" (September 7, 1990)
• "Harriers win Southpaw, Eureka invitationals" (September 14, 1990)
• "Varsity cross country places sixth at competitive Hazelwood invitational" (September 21, 1990)
• "Harriers take third in Hancock invitational" (September 28, 1990)
• "Varsity, J.V. harriers take first place at De Smet invitational" (October 5, 1990)
• "Harriers place well in Metro invitational" (October 12, 1990)
• "Harriers prepare for District competition" (October 19, 1990)
• "Junior Sean Lock qualifies for State cross country meet" (November 2, 1990)
• "Sean Lock runs into fourth place at State meet" (November 9, 1990)
• "Successful season overshadows harriers post-season disappointment" (November 16, 1990)

MEET RESULTS FROM 1990:

August 25 - Intrasquad (Jefferson Barracks)
Team Split Sheet

September 8 - South Paw Invitational (Jefferson Barracks)
Team Split Sheet & Team Finishes | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Post-Dispatch boxscore

September 11 - Eureka Invitational
Team Split Sheet & Team Finishes | Varsity | Junior Varsity 

September 12 - CBC & De Smet "C" Tri-Meet (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet & Results

September 15 - Hazelwood Invitational (Sioux Passage)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results | Junior Varsity | Sophomores | Post-Dispatch boxscore 

September 19 - Hazelwood East Freshman Invitational
Race Results

September 22 - Hancock Invitational (Jefferson Barracks)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen & Sophomores

September 25 - Parkway South Dual
Results

September 27 - Prep North Invitational
Team Split Sheet | Freshman race | Sophomore race

September 29 - Parkway West Invitational
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 2 - De Smet Invitational
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 5 - Metro Invitational 
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 15 - SIUE Tiger Classic
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

October 17 - Hazelwood Central Freshman Invitational (Sioux Passage)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results

October 20 - District Meet (Ladue)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results | Post-Dispatch boxscore

October 24 - Lindbergh Invitational
Team Finish Sheet & Team Results | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 27 - Sectional Meet (Jefferson Barracks)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results | Race Results

November 3 - State Meet (Jefferson City)
Race Results

November 23 - Kinney Cross Country Championships (Regional - Kenosha, WI)
Entries | Results

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coach:   
Captains:  Mickey Luna
State Finish: 10 (SLUH XC's first team appearance at State since 1968!)

Season Reflections, by Kris Knapstein and Jerry Kester

Newspaper stories involving SLUH XC:

• "SLUH's Luna uses his head to stay ahead of the pack" (October 12, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• "Thompson sets Sectional mark" Page 1, Page 2 (October 30, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• "St. Louis U. High is pleased with State meet performance" (November 9, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Mickey Luna: Second Team All-Metro (November 27, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Prep News stories from 1989, by Greg Linhares, Chip Jost:

• "JV harriers shine in opener, varsity loses" (September 8, 1989)
• "Harriers strong at South Paw invitational" (September 15, 1989)
• "Harriers take 6th at Hazelwood" (September 22, 1989)
• "Harriers shine in Hancock invitational" (September 29, 1989)
• "Harriers finish 6th at Parkway West, 2nd at De Smet" (October 6, 1989)
• Cross country recap (October 13, 1989)
• Cross country recap (October 20, 1989)
• "Seven harriers qualify for State" (November 3, 1989)
• "Harriers take tenth in State meet, Luna places tenth individually" (November 10, 1989)

MEET RESULTS FROM 1989:

Season Box Scores (V, JV, C)

August 26 - Intrasquad (Jefferson Barracks)
Team Split Sheet

September 6 - Parkway South Dual Meet
Results

September 8 - Southpaw Invitational (Jefferson Barracks)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 12 - Eureka Invitational
Team Split Sheet & Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity

September 16 - Hazelwood Invitational (Sioux Passage Park)
Varsity medalists & Team Results

September 23 - Hancock Invitational (Jefferson Barracks)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Freshmen & Sophomore

September 28 - Blackhawk Invitational (St. Louis Prep)
Team Split Sheet | Sophomore | Freshmen

September 30 - Parkway West Invitational
Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

October 3 - De Smet Invitational
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 6 - Metro Invitational (Jefferson Barracks)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

October 13 - Tiger Classic (SIUE)
No results available

October 16 - Vianney, CBC, De Smet Quad (Forest Park)
No results available

October 18 - Hazelwood Central Freshman Invitational (Sioux Passage Park)
Race results

October 21 - District Meet (Jefferson Barracks)
Team Split Sheet | Race Results

October 23 - De Smet "C" Dual Meet (Forest Park)
Results

October 25 - Lindbergh Invitational
No results available

October 28 - Sectional Meet (Sioux Passage Park)
No results available

November 4 - State Meet
Results 

A special thanks to Greg Linhares for this account of the 1989 season:

Despite losing a class of runners that had been its backbone for three seasons, SLUH had more reason than ever to feel confident in 1989 about achieving the elusive team bid it had sought for so long. Although the 1988 squad was probably stronger overall, the 1989 team had three returning sectional performers, including 2-time state runner and senior captain Mickey Luna, #2 runner and 2-time sectional runner Jerry Kester, and returning junior Jim Spies, as well as two other varsity runners (senior Greg Linhares and junior Shawn Halley) with significant varsity experience from past years. In addition, the sectional seeding was much more favorable, featuring only two teams (Parkway West, and McCluer North, with perhaps its best-ever team) that were among the state elite and three others (SLUH, Parkway South, and Kirkwood) who would battle with each other throughout the season for the final two state spots. In addition to the five experienced varsity runners, sophomores John Miles, John Brooks and Chris Schmidt all logged significant varsity race time, with all making it into the scoring 5 at various times, and even occasionally reaching as high as #3 or #4 on the team.

This combination of youth, experience, and depth again led to team victory at the Eureka Invitational, just as had happened in 1988. Luna also took home the individual title, marking the first varsity invitational win for a SLUH runner since Chris Woodward in 1986. Luna duplicated the feat at the 9-team SouthPaw Invitational, where SLUH narrowly lost to rival Kirkwood but defeated Parkway South, avenging a loss at an earlier dual meet. After performing admirably and finishing as high as last year's team at the midseason meets, the team made a strong 2nd place showing at the DeSmet Invitational, defeating CBC and losing narrowly to the Spartans, who would finish 5th in state that year. The tournament season was now upon the Jr. Bills, and they were ready for the challenge, taking third at district behind rivals Parkway West (4th overall that year) and Kirkwood, while again beating the rival Patriots. Individually, Luna finished second only to Parkway West junior Ron Cross, who would go on to take 5th overall that year.

Sectionals now loomed with the team feeling confident going in, needing only to beat teams it had already beaten in order to make its first team trip in over 20 years. Not only did the team do the expected, though, it peaked, with the Jr. Bills finishing third and beating both Parkway South and Kirkwood, two teams that it had not beaten at the same meet all season. Luna finished 2nd to Cross again with a brilliant 16:48 on the difficult Sioux Passage course, with Kester also meeting individual qualifying criteria with a strong 13th place finish. The SLUH pack was led by Greg Linhares (27th), Jim Spies (28th), Shawn Halley (30th) and John Brooks (34th), all of whom had personal bests despite racing on the challenging Sioux Passage course. The team had achieved its goal -- they were going to Jefferson City. There, the top 6 were joined by late-peaking sophomore Jeff Bierling, who had dominated in recent JV races, to form the first SLUH state XC team in 20 years. The team finished a very respectable 10th overall, and were the fourth best team from the St. Louis area that year at the meet. Individually, Luna completed his three-year quest to be all-state with a 10th place overall finish, still the second best individual state placement by a SLUH runner in the Linhares era, thus cementing his status as one of the finest SLUH runners ever.

Head Coach: Jim Linhares
Assistant Coach: Jerry Harp
State Finish: Did Not Qualify (Mickey Luna, individual 28th)

Post-Dispatch Story from 1988:

• "After long dry spell, Junior Bills emerge as runners" (October 13, 1988)

Prep News stories from 1988, by Angelo Directo, Dave Blankenship, Greg Linhares, Scott Franklin:

• "High hopes for experienced harriers" (August 26, 1988)
• "Cross country blue/white determines team" (September 2, 1988)
• "Harriers run over St. Mary's" (September 9, 1988)
• "Harriers win Eureka invitational" (September 16, 1988)
• "Harriers surmount 'Manmaker," run well in Hazelwood invitational" (September 23, 1988)
• "B and C harriers" (September 30, 1988)
• "Extremes fail to daunt Harriers" (October 7, 1988)
• "V harriers 2nd at Districts" (October 28, 1988)
• "Harriers end year, Luna advances to State" (November 4, 1988)
• "Luna finishes 28th at State" (November 11, 1988)

SEASON PRACTICE LOGS FROM 1988

MEET RESULTS FROM 1988:

September 1 - Intrasquad (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet & Race Results

September 6 - St. Mary's Dual (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet

September 9 - Parkway West Dual (Forest Park)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen

September 13 - Eureka Invitational
Team Split Sheet | Varsity 

September 17 - Hazelwood Invitational (Sioux Passage Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Sophomore

September 24 - Hancock Invitational (Jefferson Barracks)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results | Varsity | Junior Varsity | Freshmen and Sophomores

September 29 - Prep Seminary Invitational (Cardinal Glennon Seminary)
Team Finish Sheet & Team Results | Sophomore race | Freshman race

October 1 - Parkway West Invitational (Maryville College)
Team Finish Sheet | Team Results | Varsity medalists | JV medalists | C medalists

October 4 - De Smet Invitational (De Smet)
Team Split Sheet | Varsity medalists

October - CBC, Vianney, De Smet Quad Meet
Team Split Sheet | Junior Varsity | Freshmen 

October 15 - Tiger CC Classic (SIUE)
Varsity results | Junior varsity results

October 19 - Hazelwood Frosh Invitational (Sioux Passage Park)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results | Full race results

October 22 - District meet (Jefferson Barracks Park)
Team Split Sheet & Team Results | Full race results

October 26 - Lindbergh JV & C Invitational (Lindbergh H.S.)
Team Split Sheet | Junior Varsity | Freshmen 

October 29 - Sectional meet (Jefferson Barracks Park)
Team Split Sheet | Team Results

November 4 - State meet (Hough Park Golf Course, Jefferson City)
Race results

A special thanks to Greg Linhares for this account of the 1988 season:

1988 saw a SLUH team that could finally call itself experienced looking firmly at a state meet berth not as a longshot, but as an expectation. For the first time in recent memory, SLUH returned all of its top runners, and all had improved their stature since the 1987 campaign. Junior Mickey Luna burst out of the gate as SLUH's #1 runner at the dual meet with eventual state champion Parkway West, running right with a host of 4 eventual all-staters to finish in a blazing then-personal best of 16:44. Senior Brian Lawler followed up a strong track campaign with a solid summer and became the early-season #2, running in the 17:30s and medaling at major invitationals including the large Hazelwood Invitational.

The team's promise of past years finally became reality when the team won its first Varsity invitational in recent memory, the 10-team Eureka Invitational, which featured perennial area power Lafayette, among other strong teams. As the season progressed, senior John Sadlo and junior Jerry Kester joined Lawler and supplanted him on occasion, giving SLUH 4 runners who could be at or below 17:30 on any given day, a strong formula for success come tournament season. The team even began to make ground on rivals De Smet and CBC (who unfortunately had been their superior for some years at the time) by finishing 3rd to the Spartans (featuring all-staters Terry Ryan and Ryan Nicholson) and the Cadets (featuring all-staters Dan Munz and Bill Dauphinais) at the De Smet Invitational. Prepared as they could be, the team easily qualified through District in 2nd place, with a team of Luna, Sadlo, Kester, Lawler, Jamie Cummings, Angelo Directo, and up-and-coming sophomore Jim Spies (who rose to #6 on varsity in only his first season out for the sport), all able to cruise through district without any fear for the first time in memory. Sectionals at Jefferson Barracks proved to be an even tougher test than expected, however, with a district from southeast Missouri providing perhaps its best representation ever. This fact was best evidenced by the fact that not even team #2 John Sadlo was able to qualify for state despite running a personal-best 17:17, which was only 27th place in this speedy sectional. The remainder of the top five, including Kester, Lawler and Cummings in order, ran respectably in the 17:30s and 17:40s, but it was not enough as SLUH missed the state meet by twenty points, with only Luna (7th overall) making the state meet. Luna then set his goals on an all-state top 15 performance, but fell just short of this difficult goal in a still-impressive and once again improved 27th place finish.

On the JV and C levels, both units steadily improved the winning SLUH tradition. With the dominant freshman teams from 1986 and 1987 now mature juniors and sophomores, the JV team was both one of the deepest and most talented in the area. Part-time Varsity runner and multi-sport performer, junior Scott Franklin, often led the JV in only his first cross country season, and was followed by other part-time varsity runners, including junior Greg Linhares and sophomore Shawn Halley. Sophomores Kurt Moellering and Pete Leutchmann also ran with the front of the talented JV group. Injuries prevented juniors Curt Miles and John Rotter from fulfilling their potential, but when healthy, these two could also be seen with the best of the JV runners. Once again, though, it was the SLUH freshmen who shone brightest. Chris Schmidt, John Miles, and John Brooks led a large and talented group to several invitational victories, with others such as Steve Brockland, Mike Kenney and Jeff Bierling medaling on several occasions as well.

Despite the disappointing sectional finish, it could truly be said that, as of that time, this was the greatest SLUH team since Jim Linhares had taken over the program. Finally emerging as an area power on all three levels while garnering a #8 St. Louis Post-Dispatch metro area ranking throughout the season, the 1988 team can clearly be pointed to as the foundation of the tradition, class and pride that is now known as SLUH XC.