Jr. Jackets run well at final home meet of 2020 Lady Jr. Jackets dominate JV cross country race; Zane Eggemeyer gets back-to-back individual titles
The Chester Grade School Jr. Jackets cross country team welcomed Pinckneyville and Evansville grade schools for its final home meet of the year Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Cohen Recreation Complex in Chester.
"I am super proud at how hard all these kids ran at today's meet," said coach Jenny Cartwright. "They pushed through the finish to get the medal. They have been working really hard at practices and it shows on the course. We have a couple battling injuries but hopefully will recover and be able to perform at regionals on Thursday."
The official starter was Paul Stallman and race results were calculated by Alias Race Management; Mary Stallman was the official scorekeeper.
JV girls results
A total of 10 JV girls competed in the 1.2-mile race. There were no official team scores.
The Chester JV girls had the top four finishers with Anna Menefee winning the division. Menefee, a sixth-grader, had a time of 9:13 and an overall pace of 7:41 minutes per mile. Seventh-grader Joshlyn Rhoden, finished in second place (9:45, 8:08), followed by seventh-grader MacKenzie Deimund in third (10:14, 8:32) and seventh-grader Jessica Stump in fourth (10:27, 8:42).
Pinckneyville's three runners finished together in fifth, sixth, and seventh places: sixth-grader Haylie Fleming (5th, 10:31, 8:46); fifth-grader Lillyth Hackworth (6th, 11:06, 9:15); and sixth-grader Annaleigh Downard (7th, 11:43, 9:46).
The final three finishers were Evansville fourth-graders Ruthie Orella (8th, 12:20, 10:17); Aiden Willig (9th, 12:23, 10:19); and Lyla Wilson (10th, 12:30, 10:25).
JV boys results
The Jr. Jacket JV boys tied for the meet title with Pinckneyville with a score of 28. Even though the Pinckneyville squad also had a score of 28, the Chester boys had an average time per runner of 9:27 per mile while the Pinckneyville runners recorded an average time of 9:24. Chester's overall team time was 47:00 vs Pinckneyville's 47:15.
Chester's Zane Eggemeyer won the individual title for the second week in a row with a time of 8:32 and pace of 7:06 per mile. Pinckneyville's Liam Brand finished second with a time of 8:51 and pace of 7:23 per minute.
Chester's Jack Kennedy finished third (9:08 and 7:37) followed by Pinckneyville's CJ Woodside (9:21) and Edward Hagene (9:26) in fourth and fifth.
The Jr. Jackets also had good performances from Gavin Wilderman, Drew Wilderman, TaShawn Placico and Landon Conder. The Wilderman brothers finished sixth and seventh with times of 9:39 and 9:42, while Placico and Conder recorded times of 9:59 and 10:05.
Evansville's only JV runner was Tristan Jones, who finished 15th (12:19, 10:16). There were 16 runners in the boys' JV 1.2-mile race.
Varsity girls results
The Pinckneyville girls won the varsity race as the only team in the event to field a five-runner squad. Pinckneyville had seven girls in the 1.8-mile race; Evansville had just four. Chester had no girls in the varsity division.
The winner of the varsity race was Zoey Conway with a time of 13:01.6 and race pace of 7:17 per mile. Evansville's Lily Tejada was runner-up with a time of 13:13.1 (7:21).
Varsity boys results
Chester eighth-graders Lincoln Schroeder and Will Welge did CGS proud in their last cross country home race. Schroeder finished in fourth place out of 13 runners (12:50.3, 7:08). Welge finished in 10th (15:15, 8:29) to earn his first medal of the season. Both Jr. Jackets completed their grade school home appearances with improved performances and a medal.
Pinckneyville had the only team score with 15 points. The Pinckneyville boys had eight of the Top 10 finishes. Brendon Conway was the overall winner with a time of 11:28.6 and a race pace of 6:23.