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Cross country Lady Jackets finish third in conference Josie Kattenbraker leads girls in 16th; Logan Gregory leads boys in 19th

The Chester Yellow Jackets and Lady Jackets competed in their final Black Diamond Conference meet Thursday, Oct. 15. The event was hosted by Vienna High School at the Tunnel Hill 3-mile cross country course. Next year Chester will move to the Cahokia Conference.

Girls

The girls division of the BDC featured three qualifying teams - Hamilton County, Vienna and Chester. An additional four schools - Carmi-White County, Goreville, Fairfield and Eldorado - fielded independent runners. Schools must have at least five runners to qualify for a team score. A total of 35 runners competed.

In the team competition, Hamilton County won the conference title with 17 points. The Lady Foxes were led by junior Maddie Karcher, who crossed the finish line first overall in 19:22.3.

Hamilton had the first three runners to finish, with freshman Hannah Moore (19:51.3) in second and junior Caroline Lueke (20:01.9) in third.

The Foxes' final runners included Ashlee Wellen (fifth, 20:24.2); Kaylie Brake (seventh, 21:15.9); Jessica Hargrove (19th, 23:11.3); and Kaelee Karcher (13th, 24:22.8).

Vienna placed second in the team standings. The Lady Eagles recorded a team score of 39 points with runners finishing in fourth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 11th to grab the runner-up position. Katrina King, a junior, was the lead runner for Vienna with a fourth-place finish (20:13.0).

The Chester Lady Jackets placed third in the team competition with 81 points. The Jackets fielded five runners - just enough to qualify for a team score. Chester was led by senior Josie Kattenbraker, who placed 16th overall with a time of 24:22.8.

Junior Madison Kribs was Chester's second finisher, with 25:06.0 for 19th overall. Josalynn Anaya, a Lady Jacket freshman, finished third for the Jackets and 27th overall with a time of 26:56.

Katie Shinabargar crossed the finish line fourth among Lady Jacket competitors. Shinabargar, another rookie runner in her senior year, finished 33rd overall with 34:59.2.

Chester's final runner to finish was senior Amelia Shemonic (36:39.2, 35th).

Five schools did not have team scores. Carmi's lead runner was MacKenzie Willis, a junior, who finished sixth overall (21:11.6). Goreville's lead runner was Ellie Grammer (11th, 23:01).

Fairfield's Jessie Crawford finished in 23:23.6 for 13th place. Johnston City fielded just two runners - Kalli Lazorchak and Miranda Garland. Lazorchak finished 28th (27:40) and Garland finished 34th (35:01). Eldorado's Destiny Childress was the Eagles' top finisher (30th, 29:14.9).

The individual champion was Maddie Karcher of Hamilton County with a time of 19:22 and winning pace of 6:28.

Other top 10 finishers: Hannah Moore of Hamilton County (2nd, 19:51); Caroline Lueke of Hamilton County (3rd, 20:01.9); Katrina King of Vienna (4th, 20:13); Ashlee Wellen of Hamilton County (5th, 20:24.2); MacKenzie Willis of Carmi-White County (6th, 21:11.6); Kaylie Brake of Hamilton County (7th, 21:15.9); Chloe Capron of Vienna (8th, 21:18.6); Emma Rush of Vienna (9th, 21:23.4); and Jaylyn Rademaker of Vienna (22:436.2).

Boys

The boys division featured 36 competitors from seven schools, with four schools - Fairfield, Vienna, Hamilton County and Goreville - competing for the team title. Carmi-White County, Chester, and Johnston City provided independent runners.

Chester's top runner was senior Logan Gregory, who finished 19th overall with a time of 19:07.4 and pace of 6:23 minutes per mile. Sophomore Jacob Handel placed 24th overall (20:18, 6:46). Trace Fricke, a sophomore, finished 28th (21:12, 7:05), followed by junior Blake Huffman (22:29, 7:30) in 31st overall.

Fairfield won the Black Diamond Conference title with 41 points. The Mules were led by Austin Schuster, who finished sixth (17:51.6, 5:58).

Vienna was the runner-up. The Eagles registered 48 team points and were led by Cambell Douglas, who placed fourth (17:40, 5:54).

Hamilton County finished third with 55 points. Trace Butler was the Foxes' lead runner, finishing third overall (17:16.1, 5:46). Goreville placed fourth with a team score of 77. The Black Cats were led by senior Cole Rushing, who placed 10th (17:54.3, 5:59).

The individual Black Diamond champion was Ty Barbre from Carmi-White County, who had a winning time of 15:32.8 and leading pace of 5:11 minutes per mile.

The rest of the top 10 included Tanner Spence of Carmi-White County (second, 16:55.7); Trace Butler of Hamilton County (third, 17:16.1); Cambell Douglas of Vienna (fourth, 17:40); Braydon Middendorf of Hamilton County (fifth, 17:40.3); Austin Schuster of Fairfield (sixth, 17:51.6); Avery Warehime of Vienna (seventh, 17:53); Colton Ethridge of Vienna (eighth, 17:53.8); Chase Smith of Fairfield (ninth, 17:54.1); and Cole Rushing of Goreville (10th, 17:54.3).

Senior Josie Kattenbraker ran her first and last Black Diamond Conference Meet Thursday, Oct. 15, at the Vienna High School Tunnel Hill course. She placed 16th with a time of 24:22.8. Jim Beers Photo