ST. LOUIS – Dustan Davidson was uniquely familiar with some of the closest competitors as he closed out the Green Division JV race Saturday at the Forest Park Cross Country Festival.
Davidson, a sophomore at SLUH, won the JV race in a dominating 16:24, beating Alex Harrison of O’Fallon (IL) by almost 30 seconds.
Davidson’s time would have placed him 36th in the varsity race, but he will not be joining the SLUH varsity this season. After transferring from O’Fallon following his freshman season, MSHSAA ruled him ineligible for the season, and he will race on the JV squad all season and in track.
“I transferred from a public school to a private school. It’s just MSHSAA’s rules,” Davidson said. “I knew that was probably going to happen when I came over here. It’s a good, positive environment, and I really bonded with coach (Joe) Porter. I’m just excited to run these next three years at SLUH.”
Saturday Davidson was racing against his former teammates, including Harrison (16:51) and fourth-place finisher Bryson Whiteside (17:14).
In the girls JV Green Division, Kirkwood freshman Erin Kelly worked her way in front of a quartet from O’Fallon to win in 20:04. Casey Carter led the O’Fallon foursome with a 20:41 as the Panthers rolled to a meet victory with 29 points.
The JV boys White Division provided another photo-finish as Parkway North’s Jon Butterbrodt came charging from deep in the field and nearly ran down St. Vincent’s Levi Krauss, who held on for the .1 victory in 17:50.80.
“I was pretty comfortable until the second mile and then I started to tell myself, ‘I need to push myself and keep my pace,’” Krauss said. “I saw him, and during track season I really worked on trying to keep my strength the last 100 meters, and I think that really helped.”
Butterbrodt intentionally sat back early before surging through the field during the last 1000 meters.
“That’s how I’ve raced this year – more conservative and holding back and then pick it up,” said Butterbrodt, who knocked more than a minute off his PR. “I got up that hill and started thinking about the finish and started kicking it in with him. It was hard. He kept on pushing; I kept on pushing, and it was a good battle to the end.”
Warrenton freshman Andrea Poole made easy work of the JV girls White Division with a victory in 21:33. Villa Duchesne sophomore Anna Bax was second in 22:17, and Jasmine Barge of McCluer North was third in 22:40.
