Highland cross country teams fare well in conference meet
Last Thursday was a perfect day for the Highland boys and girls cross country teams as the Bulldogs harriers ended their 2023 regular season on a decidedly good note.
The teams traveled to Principia College in Elsah to compete in the Mississippi Valley Conference meet and turned in some of their best performances of the season to date.
“We were super proud and Coach McKee and I have been really proud of how hard the kids have been working this year it’s great when you see kids work hard and yesterday we were finally starting to see it kind of pay off (for them) a little bit more than we have been,” Highland coach Joe Shannon said. “We were really pumped about the results they had.”
In the girls division, Highland placed second overall with 63 points. The Bulldogs finished second to conference champ Waterloo, which won the meet with 25 points. Triad finished third behind Highland with 66 points followed by Mascoutah (80 points) and Jerseyville in fifth place with 154 points.
Highland had three runners medal and earned all-conference honors in the girls race. Payton Frey finished in fourth place with a time of 19:35. Rowan Passmore took 12th place with a time of 21:20 and senior Tarryn Keeney led the Bulldogs, placing 14th (21.56).
“Times didn’t look really well for how warm the weather has been but they raced really well,” Shannon said. “They got out in good position, held their position for the first two miles, and then did really well in the last mile to kick and get into a better place across the board. We were really happy with the way they competed.”
Ava McPherson took 16th place (22:10) and Lola Schlarman placed 17th (22:18) to round out the top finishers for HHS.
Highland finishes third in boys race
In the boys race, Highland placed third with 69 points behind first-place Civic Memorial (49) and second-place Triad (59). Waterloo claimed third place (74), followed by fifth place Mascoutah (90), and sixth place Jerseyville (181).
Three Bulldogs runners got all-conference recognition as Christian Knobloch placed fourth overall (15:57) followed by Avery Brock in fifth place (16:00.20) and Dallas Mancinas in eighth place (16:14).
“It was a really good day for Christian and Avery as well and they went four-five,” Shannon said. “That top 10 is a pretty talented group with a mix of Waterloo’s top guys, our top guys, Triad’s top guys, and Bethalto CM’s top guys, so to get three kids in that top 10, I was really happy to see that.”
Donnie Miller in 24th place (17:32) and Adin Roach in 28th place (17:55) rounded to the top five finishers for HHS.
The Bulldog cross country team will now focus their attention on preparation for the Class 2A HIghland Regional on Saturday at Alhambra Fireman and Legion Park in Alhambra.
“I really like the way they’ve been racing and our workouts have been looking great the past few weeks and the kids are starting to gain a lot of confidence which is awesome to see,” Shannon said. “We’re hoping to get five through the regional and our main plan is to survive and advance and if we’re fortunate to do that then give it all we’ve got at Jacksonville (in the sectionals).”
