ST. LOUIS – O’Fallon (IL) senior Patrick Perrier will be remembered on both sides of the Mississippi after his victory Saturday at the eighth annual Forest Park Cross Country Festival.
Perrier was in a congested pack of front-runners throughout most of the race until he broke free over the final mile and crossed the finish line with a record-breaking time of 15:03.00, which currently stands as the No. 1 time in the nation by six seconds.
“I wanted to hit 15 flat, but that was a secondary goal,” said Perrier, who eclipsed the previous mark of 15:10.10 set by Rockhurst’s Zach Herriott in 2011. “I knew the competition would be good, so my primary goal was to just go out and win. I know a lot of these Missouri guys are very tough, so I knew I was going to have to run my best today to get the win.
“In the end, me and (Marquette’s) Noah (Kauppila) were just kind of biding our time a little bit and tried to make it a two-man race at the end. Last year he got me on the kick, and this year I got him.”
Perrier’s late-race charge opened up a 10-second gap on Kauppila (15:13.70), who found himself battling Patrick Gregory of Butler Traditional (KY) and Glendale’s Spencer Haik for positions at the end.
“I’m not pleased with the placement, but the time was decent for the day,” said Haik, who finished fourth in 15:15.60. “Me and my teammates decided it would be a good idea to play a little Frisbee earlier, and I think it took it out of my legs a little bit. But I’m happy I felt I had a strong race – it’s my PR by 10 seconds.”
Haik said the race opened his eyes a little more about where he needs to be to close that final gap and compete for the top honors at the state meet, and he knows his days racing the out-of-state competition isn’t over either.
“I’ll see them on a national level,” Haik said. “I’ll go out there and take care of it then hopefully. I’ll keep training same way I have been and keep practicing. I’m training through this meet and trying to get onto the next one and keep building up for state and post-state races.”
Perrier said he will be a little more restrained with his race schedule this year in an attempt to better prepare for Foot Locker nationals after the Illinois state meet.
“We cut back on my racing schedule,” said Perrier, who was 19th at Foot Locker last year. “We’re just focusing everything to Foot Locker nationals. We want to be in the top 5 out there, and I think I have the potential to do it, and I just want to get my name in the hat.”
Perrier has begun making his official campus visits and has narrowed down his college list to Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Michigan and Stanford.
“I’m looking to make a decision in early October, so I can get the college search process done and worry about my senior year and racing the best I can,” Perrier said.
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