Chester boys place fourth at second cross country invite
Chester High School welcomed runners from eight schools at the second half of its 30th annual Chester Invitational Cross Country Meet Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Randolph County Conservation Area.
The invitational was split into two meets to reduce the number of teams in order to comply COVID-19 protocols.
"We really wanted to keep the tradition of hosting a large invitational here at CHS," said Jeremy Blechle, CHS athletic director. "Most of our events in the past 29 years were anywhere from 10 to 18 teams. With the COVID-19 restrictions, it was impossible to host such a large event. So, I decided to split it in half and have Meet I and Meet II to accomplish the same overall effect with the 30th Annual Chester Invitational."
The start and finish was at Shelter I, with parents and other spectators prohibited from congregating there. Masks were required in that area and teams had to social distance before and after the races.
"Our course is a traditional cross country course. There is hardly a flat piece of land and it challenges most athletes," said head coach Chris Kern of the 3-mile course. "It is a true cross country course adding to the uniqueness of our races."
Medals were presented to the top 10 runners in the varsity division and the top five runners in the freshman-sophomore division.
Runners represented eight schools: Chester, Christ Our Savior Lutheran High School in Evansville, Steeleville, Christ Our Rock Lutheran High School in Centralia, New Athens, Okawville, Mascoutah, and Christopher.
It takes at least five runners to constitute a team. Only four schools fielded enough runners to qualify for team scores: Chester, Steeleville, Mascoutah and Okawville. A total of 35 runners competed: 19 in varsity and 16 in the freshman-sophomore division.
Steeleville won the meet with a score of 17 points and an average time of 18:39 per runner. (Keep in mind that in cross country, the lowest score wins.) Mascoutah came in second with 58 points and an average time of 20:08 per team member. Okawville placed third with a score of 71 and an average time of 20:39 per runner. Chester finished fourth with a score of 99 and an average time of 22:27 per runner.
The overall winner and meet champion was Zach McKowen of Christ Our Rock Lutheran High School in Centralia. He crossed the finish line in 17:25 with a race pace of 5:49 minutes per mile. His teammates Sam Britt (17:46) and Nickoly Bierbaum (18:05) finished in second and third.
Steeleville's Ray Dagner placed fourth (18:17, 6:06) followed by teammate Christain Rees in fifth (18:37, 6:13).
Rounding out the top 10 winners were Silas Angelli from Mascoutah (6th, 19:08, 6:23); Nick Rulevish of Okawville (7th, 19:30, 6:30); Joshua Copher from Mascoutah (8th, 19:53, 6:38); Logan Gregory of Chester (9th, 19:57, 6:39); and David Coleman of Steeleville (10th, 20:06, 6:42).
The host Yellow Jackets were led by senior Gregory, who finished 14th overall and ninth in the varsity division. Senior Jordan Hughes finished next in 19th place overall and 11th in the varsity division (21:18, 7:06).
Chester's third finisher was sophomore Jacob Handel, who finished 28th overall and 13th in the freshman-sophomore division (22:53, 7:38). Sophomore Trace Fricke (23:50, 7:57) finished 29th overall and 14th in his division. Junior Blake Huffman (24:14, 8:05) finished 31st overall and 16th in the varsity division.
The top five finishers in the freshman-sophomore division were Clayton Cratch of Steeleville (1st, 18:22, 6:08); Evan Reitz of Steeleville (2nd, 18:36, 6:12); Grant Schleifer of Okawville (3rd, 18:42, 6:14); Camden Pierce of Steeleville (4th, 19:19, 6:27); and Clayton Donagher of Steeleville (19:24, 6:24).
The Yellow Jackets will travel to Vienna Thursday, Oct. 15, for the 2020 Black Diamond Conference Meet and finish Saturday, Oct. 24, at the 2020 IHSA Regional Meet hosted by Marissa.