CHS cross country: Girls finish 4th, boys are 5th at Marissa Invite

Posted September 23, 2020 1:00 am

By Jim Beers Contributing writer

The CHS cross-country teams competed Sept. 14 at the 2020 Marissa Invitational. The Lady Jackets came in fourth place among six schools; while the Yellow Jackets finished fifth among six schools.

Lady Jackets are 4th

Thirty-three girls raced from six schools: Chester, Columbia, Gibault Catholic, First Baptist Academy, Okawville and host Marissa. Columbia, Chester, Okawville and Marissa each had at least five runners and therefore qualified for team scores.

Columbia was the winner of the meet with 35 points. Okawville followed with 38 points; Marissa had 49 points and Chester finished 4th with 92 points.

Senior Josie Kattenbraker paced the Lady Jackets with a time of 26:48 - good enough for 18th - and an overall pace of 8:58 per mile. She improved over her time last week of 27:41.

Junior Hannah Blechle also improved at Marissa. Last week Blechle ran 30:46 with a pace of 9:39. This week she took 23rd place with a time of 28:37 and a pace of 9:35 per mile.

The third Lady Jacket to finish was Madison Kribs, a junior who came to cross-country this year when the volleyball season was pushed to winter. Her time this week was 28:41, just four seconds behind Blechle. Last week at Chester she ran 28:55, thus improving by 14 seconds at Marissa.

Freshman Josalynn Anaya crossed the finish line at 30:48, in 28th place, a full two minutes better than her run last week.

Senior Katie Shinabargar, who normally plays volleyball in the fall, had a time of 33:19 with an overall pace of 11:09 per mile. Last week she ran the course in 35:00, improving by almost two minutes. She finished in 31st place.

The overall individual winner of the race was Madison Missey from Columbia. She has a winning time of 20:51 and she maintained an overall pace of 6:59 per mile.

Boys come in 5th

Thirty-five boys competed in the race, from Chester, Columbia, Okawville, Gibault Catholic, Marissa and First Baptist Academy. All schools except Gibault had enough runners to qualify for team scores.

Columbia won the boys race with 31 points, followed by Okawville (50), First Baptist Academy (74), Marissa (76) and Chester (98).

The Yellow Jackets were led by Logan Gregory who placed 7th with a time of 19:09 and a pace of 6:24. He improved upon his time from last week of 19:34.

Sophomore Jacob Handel crossed the finish line in 21st place with a time of 22:11 and a pace of 7:25.

Senior Jordan Hughes and freshman Blake Farmer finished back-to-back in 25th and 26th places. Hughes had a time of 22:35 and a pace of 7:33 while Farmer had a time of 22:43 with a pace of 7:36.

Rookie Trace Fricke, a sophomore, finished the race in 28th, with his time of 22:50. His overall pace was 7:38 per mile. Last week Fricke ran 25:10, so he improved his time this week by nearly three minutes.

Closing out the competition was junior Blake Huffman, who finished 32nd with a time of 24:07 and a pace of 8:04 per mile. Last week at Chester Huffman ran the race in 28:16, giving him an almost four-minute improvement at Marissa.

Next week: Results from the Sept. 21 Chester home meet vs. Christ Our Rock Lutheran, Christ Our Savior Lutheran, Columbia, Valmeyer and Vienna; and results from the Sept. 22 meet at Goreville and the Sept. 24 meet at East Alton-Wood River.

Sophomore Trace Fricke finishes the 3-mile Marissa race in 22:50. Jim Beers photo