ST. PETERS, Mo. – The Lutheran St. Charles girls began defense of their Class 2 state track title Saturday at their home track.
The squad was pushed by Montgomery County, but the Cougars came out on top of the team standings 140-124 by winning eight events at the Class 2 District 2 meet. The Cougars won the state title 64-47 over Herculaneum last year.
Lutheran St. Charles got things started with their 3,200-meter relay (10:15.88), and they closed it out with another victory in the 1,600 relay (4:07.51), which was loaded with individual champions for the Cougars.
Courtney Rogers ran on both relays, and she also added victories in the 1,600-meter run (5:27.98) and 3,200-meter run (12:20.25).
“We were just going for wins. Time didn’t matter this week. Next week it might matter a little bit more,” said Rogers, who is the defending 1,600 state champion. “It’s not like my team or coaches are like, ‘You have to win this.’ It’s more myself pressuring because I know what I can do. I’ve been on top, and once you know what it feels like on top you don’t want anything else.”
Sophie Angell anchored the 1,600 relay after winning the 800-meter run (2:30.89). She ran just her second leg ever on the 800 relay, which the Cougars also won.
“I definitely like the 4x4 a lot. It’s fun to go out there and do it by yourself, but being with this group – everyone has a great attitude and you can’t beat that,” Angell said. “We’re all seniors, and just being with them is fun in itself. There’s no other way I’d want to go out senior year.
“(The 800 relay) is over very quickly. By the time it’s started, it’s already ended. It’s just kind of a fun filler. I like the speed side of things so it’s a fun changeup.”
Hannah Leppien was the 400 champion (58.87), and she ran the second leg of the 1,600 relay. Carley Von Deylen had the third leg, and she also chipped in legs on the winning 3,200 and 800 relays. That loaded relay squad has the Cougars thinking of some big possibilities come the state meet.
“Our 4x4 is pretty sick. We’ve never had a better looking 4x4 than this, and we want to not only go after the state title, but the state record as well. I’m really excited for that race,” Rogers said.
Blair Oaks set the Class 2 girls 1,600-meter relay record in 1999 with a time of 4:00.15. Lutheran St. Charles won the event last year in 4:06.91 after running a 4:05.36 in the prelims.
Before getting to the state meet, Lutheran St. Charles coach Chris Mizel wanted to take a moment to appreciate the district title and give pause to make sure the team doesn’t take the sectional meet for granted.
“We don’t talk about state; we don’t talk about being defending state champions, but we talk about how this is the beginning of the postseason, this is the beginning of where it all has to start all coming together,” Mizel said. “I encourage the kids that it’s about focus and attitude. Be focused on what you need to do, have a positive attitude, then let the results take care of themselves.
“I’m really happy with where we are today because things are starting to come together. You’re starting to see the vision of what it could look like in a couple of weeks.”
Even the athletes saw the district title as a precursor of what could be another run at a state title.
“Today has made it a real goal that it could happen,” Angell said.