photo credit: Heather Koller
ST. LOUIS – The size of the opponents didn’t matter in the slightest to Ste. Genevieve.
The Class 3 school stood atop the podium of the Green Division of the Forest Park Cross Country Festival with 141 points, bettering even defending Class 4 state champion Francis Howell, which finished runner-up with 165 points.
Ste. Genevieve had the benefit of Taylor Werner’s record-setting performance to bolster the scoring. Her first-place time of 16:47.20, currently tops in the nation, skewed the scoring split to a misleading 3:21. Werner was a full minute ahead of third place, and she was nearly two minutes ahead of teammate Mia Jerman (18:34), who finished eighth. But the time between Jerman and the fifth Dragon, Shelby Werner (20:08) was a respectable 1:34.
“It’s quite a feat to win this meet, but I’m still going to focus on keeping them healthy and tracking toward November,” Ste. Genevieve coach Brian Jett said. “I didn’t think that we’d won it as I watched, but it worked out for us.
“I think we had a good day. I’m proud of the effort everybody put out. We had a good summer and worked hard. Everybody did their part – even our six and seven girls did their part. I don’t know that there was anybody that stepped up more than the other.”
Ste. Genevieve won its first Class 3 state title last year behind Taylor Werner’s individual victory. She has started her sophomore season right where she left off, which bodes well for the team scoring, too. Jett said he still gets amazed at what she can do.
“I get to watch her every day and sometimes I have to think about how good she really is,” Jett said. “We train her with the boys because no one else can keep up with her. She has a special ability to push herself like that. I don’t really know what she’s capable of. Every race she’s redefining barriers.”
Francis Howell coach Dave Rogles said he wasn’t thinking about class alignments after the race. His Vikings ran well and scored low, but it still counts as a runner-up finish.
“That’s like saying you get knocked out by a light weight, you’re not knocked out,” Rogles said. “We were knocked out. They’re a legitimate team.”
Rogles said he also knows there are more races to come where his team can showcase their strengths. He also seems excited about the potential for fast times in the future.
“We have a lot of room for improvement,” Rogles said. “Our fifth place finisher in the state had an off day. If she has an on day, I think things might be a little different. Overall, pleasing progress.
“The girl that finished 45th last year (Arnica Zitting), was running All-State and ran out of gas about 100 yards short. This year she has that 100 yards.”
Rogles knows he can’t replace All-State runners Whitney Adams and Valeska Halamicek, who graduated last spring, and helped the Vikings to last year’s Class 4 cross country title. He might have a good start at a substitute in freshman Maddi Leigh, who finished fifth in 18:08.10. Zitting was 10th (18:36), giving the Vikings two finishers in the top 10.
Herculaneum packed together to capture the White Division with 141 points and had a split of just 53 seconds. Clayton was second with 178 points, and Mexico took third with 216 points.