CGS cross country Jr. Jacket runners dominate JV races Addy May, Zane Eggemeyer win their divisions
Chester Grade School cross country hosted Steeleville and Sparta runners for a triangular meet Tuesday, Oct. 6, at the Cohen Recreation Complex under sunny skies and temperatures hovering at 80 degrees.
Boys and girls ran together in both a junior varsity and varsity division. The official starter was Paul Stallman and timing was conducted by Alias Race Management.
"We have been battling some injuries and with only 13 kids on our roster, eight boys and five girls, it is sometimes tough to field an entire team of five runners," said coach Jennifer Cartwright.
"We have just two eighth-graders, five seventh-graders and six sixth-graders. We have a really young team. I am very proud of the way our young runners step up and fill in when some of their teammates are unable to run."
Boys JV results
A total of 13 runners competed in the boys JV division - one fourth-grader, six fifth-graders, four sixth-graders, and two seventh-graders. CGS had six of those 13 JV runners, and all six finished in the top 10. The JV race was 1.2 miles.
Chester runners took the top two spots. Sixth-grader Zane Eggemeyer won the overall JV division with his time of 8:37 and pace of 7:11 per mile. Seventh-grader Gavin Wilderman was the runner up with his time of 8:39 and pace of 7:13.
Jack Kennedy, a sixth-grader, placed fourth (9:21, 7:48 pace). Drew Wilderman, a seventh-grader, finished sixth (9:45, 8:07). In eighth place was sixth-grader TaShawn Placico, who crossed the finish line in 9:59 with a pace of 8:20. Landon Conder, a sixth-grader, placed 10th (10:58, 9:09).
Sparta's top runner in the JV boys race was Max Baue. He finished in third place with a time of 8:43 and pace of 7:16. Steeleville's top runner was fourth-grader Kolton Welty, who placed fifth (9:29, 7:54).
The Chester boys won the JV boys race with a total of 15 points and an average pace of 9:17 minutes per mile per runner.
Girls JV results
The girls division was equally impressive as Lady Jr. Jackets Addy May, Anna Menathe and Jessica Stumpe claimed the top three places. May, a seventh-grader, was the winner with her 8:45 performance and pace of 7:17 minutes per mile.
The runner up was sixth-grader Menathe, who turned in a time of 9:43 and pace of 8:06. Stumpe, a seventh-grader, rounded out the top three (11:06, 9:15).
The only other runner in the girls JV division was Alaina Tretter of Steeleville. Tretter, a fourth-grader, finished fourth (11:44, 9:47). There were no team scores for the girls JV race.
Boys varsity results
A total of 11 boys competed in the boys varsity race. The distance of the varsity races for both boys and girls was 1.8 miles.
Chester did not have a team score for this race because the Jr. Jackets did not have the five runners necessary for a team score.
Steeleville - the only school able to field a team score - had a winning score of 15 points and an average time of 12:43 minutes per mile per runner.
Steeleville's Parker Fiene, a seventh-grader, won the boys varsity race with a time of 11:54.7. He had a winning pace of just 6:38 per mile. Steeleville also had the second-, third- and fourth-place finishers.
Seventh-grader Connor Brown, placed second (12:36.7, 7:01). Fifth-grader Breven Rubach finished third (12:52.5, 7:10) and fourth-grader Rhett Reiss placed fourth (12:58, 7:13).
Chester eighth-grader Lincoln Schroeder placed fifth. His time was 12:59.6 and he had a pace of 7:17. Eighth-grader Will Welge finished 11th (16:01.8, 8:55).
Sparta's first finisher was seventh-grader Grant Allard (13:49.4, 7:41).
Girls varsity results
Only 10 girls entered in the girls varsity race. Of those, three were from Sparta and the other seven were from Steeleville. The Chester Jr. Jackets had no varsity runners on this date.
In the team competition, Steeleville had the only team score, winning with 15 points and an average time of 14:00 minutes per mile per runner. Steeleville runners claimed the second through sixth positions, as well as the eighth and 10th places.
The overall winner of the girls varsity race was Sparta's Elise Hamilton, who had a time of 12:49.5 and a winning pace of 7:08. Sparta's other runners were Abby Hernandez (seventh, 14:01.9) and Ruth Pillers (ninth, 15:12.9, 8:28).
Steeleville's other runners were Hillari Cowan (second, 13:17.7); Teagan Patterson (third, 13:45.3, 7:30); Rylan Bockhorn (fourth, 13:34.5, 7:39); Lily Hepp (fifth, 14:29.6); Jaycee Conder (sixth, 14:35.9); Emma Woods (eighth, 15:01.9; 8:22); and Madelynn Tretter (10th, 15:38.7; 8:42).
CGS at DuQuoin, Friday, Oct. 2
The Jr. Jackets also traveled to three away meets the last two weeks. The first was at DuQuoin.
<b>JV Girls results (1.2 miles)</b>Anna Menefee (7th, 10:48)
JV Boys results (1.2 miles)
Zane Eggemeyer (2nd, 9:46)
Gavin Wilderman (3rd, 10:08)
Jack Kennedy (8th, 10:49)
TaShawn Placico (11th, 10:53)
Drew Wilderman (12th, 11:08)
Landon Conder (27th, 12:15)
Varsity Boys results (1.8 miles)
Lincoln Schroeder (14th, 13:59)
Will Welge (21st, 17:56)
CGS at DuQuoin, Friday, Sept. 25
The Jr. Jackets traveled to DuQuoin Friday September 25. A total of 11 CGS runners competed in one of four categories; JV Girls; JV Boys; Varsity Girls; and Varsity Boys.
<b>JV Girls' results (1.2 miles) </b>McKenzi Diemond (18th, 13:17)
JV Boys results (1.2 miles)
Drew Wilderman (3rd, 10:39)
Jack Kennedy (7th, 11:28
Landon Conder (17th, 13:13)
Varsity Girls results (1.8 miles)
Addy May (3rd, 14:11)
Anna Menefee (15th, 16:33)
Varsity Boys (1.8 miles)
Lincoln Schroeder (7th, 13:35)
Zane Eggemeyer (16th, 14:28)
Gavin Wilderman (18th, 15:08)
TaShawn Placico (20th, 17:07)
Will Welge (21st, 18:31)
CGS at Sparta, Wednesday, Oct. 7
The grade school cross country team traveled to Sparta Wednesday, Oct. 7. Only seven runners competed at Sparta, all in the varsity level races (1.8-miles).
<b>Varsity Girls (1.8 miles)</b>Anna Menefee (8th, 16:20)
Varsity Boys (1.8 miles)
Zane Eggemeyer (6th, 14:37)
Gavin Wilderman (7th, 14:40)
Drew Wilderman (8th, 14:57)
TaShawn Placico (12th, 16:02)
Will Welge (16th, 18:10)
Landon Conder (19th, 19:46)