Not once, but twice, Kickapoo (MO) came up short Saturday at the Forest Park XC Festival in St. Louis, Missouri. Kickapoo finished second to team champion St. Louis University (MO) in the boys varsity competition, 87-159. In the girls race, Kickapoo fell to Jefferson City (MO), as both squads finished with 96 points, but Jefferson City being crowned champions off of their better sixth place finisher.
In the boys varsity green race, St. Louis University H.S. used a great effort from their top three trio of Austin Cookson, Caleb Ford and Cliff David, with Cookson leading the charge in seventh in the team scoring with a 16:27 finishing effort. Lacking a front runner didn't hurt St. Louis University, as the squad packed it up nicely.
Jacob Swearingen (Sr., Potosi, MO) won the overall individual title, outkicking Danny Thater (Jr., Kickapoo) 15:44-15:46, easily establishing themselves as the top two runners in the race with a mile to go.
Alyssa Allison (Sr., Festus, MO) also continued her dominating ways, crushing the girls field and winning by thirty seconds. Allison proved last spring that she would be a force this fall, dominating track meet after track meet. That sort of established running proved victorious this time around, crossing the finish line in 19:11.
The most dramatic scene came from the Jefferson City/Kickapoo clash, which came down to the sixth runner. Jefferson City's sixth runner, Hilary Weaver, came up big for her squad by placing 36th in the team scoring, eleven spots ahead of Kickapoo's sixth.