The SLUH cross country team hosted one of the biggest meets in the state, the Forest Park Cross Country Festival, this past weekend. Although it was a stressful week of mowing, painting, and mapping the course leading up to Saturday, the SLUH coaches made due and made shin-high grass into a 2K loop perfect for race day. The team on the other hand spent all last week learning the course’s sharp turns and windy stretches to prepare for the meet. 

On race day, there was plenty of competition, with hundreds of teams from five states in the Midwest. After the team raced successfully at two meets in the weeks before, head coach Joe Porter decided to run the top 16 runners in the Green Division, the fastest race of the meet. In the end, the teams took fourth and eighth overall, once again demonstrating their hard work that makes even the JV racers faster than many great Missouri teams.

“Everything I saw, including a strong performance from our top team and our secondary V2 team, who both took down lots of teams that we’ll be racing at districts, gives me every indication that we are exactly where we want to be at this point in the season,” said coach Mike Lally.

Individually, the varsity ran great through a rising heat index and a very fast start; the top SLUH racers were led by Nolan Meara (16:37; 11th place), Tim Griener (17:03; 28th), and Carter Lowe (17:03; 30th), who medaled and led the way for the rest of the pack. Followed by them came Charlie Murray (17:19; 36th), Will Riggan (17:20; 37th), Mason Scargall (17:29; 45th), and Anthony Zangara (17:33; 48th).

“It was a pretty hot day with tough course conditions,” said senior Will Riggan. “But I loved seeing guys out there battling through it. For me, it was cool to have 15 other teammates to pack up with in that varsity race.”

Tomorrow the team takes on one of the toughest courses of the year at Sioux Passage, which is known for its daunting hills. At the Paul Enke Invitational, SLUH will race the Varsity 2 squad as the top nine take on a hard workout in preparation for the upcoming Palatine Invitational in Chicago.