Parkway West Dominates Stan Nelson; Koester Continues Breakout
Parkway West, one of the top teams in the state on both sides, did not go to Forest Park, instead trekking down to House Springs for the Stan Nelson Invitational -- as has become their tradition. They trounced the field on the boys and girls side in the team race in typical Parkway West fashion -- packing up and running from the front.
The girls race was dominated by the Longhorns, Chloe Hershenow in particular, as Hershenow ran a huge PR running a stellar 18:54 and beating Christian High freshman Mercedes Schroer by 27 seconds. Schroer ran a stellar 19:21 in only her second high school 5K. She looks to be a putting together a great freshman campaign. Claire Smout and Emily Dickson were 3rd and 4th from Parkway West with Stephanie Anthonies of Seckman 5th in 19:47. With 23 points, Parkway West girls made a statement that they are very legit and very much ready to compete for a state trophy this year. They are also rolling along without Natalie Butler having recorded a time yet this season. We are on high alert for the Parkway West girls.
Hillsboro's Kevin Koester stole the show at Northwest's home meet, running to an impressive 15:53 personal best to win by 20 seconds over Kirkwood's Christian Baker. Koester has been a force this season so far, running 9:55 at Fleet Feet Arnold, 16:48 at the tough Blackburn Park for the win, and now 15:53 and appears to be gearing up for a strong senior campaign. He has one all-state medal to his name after finishing 25th in 2015. Parkway West boys used a 15 second 1-5 split to take the team title over Kirkwood 36-62. Matyas Csiki-fejer was absent this weekend for the 2nd time in 3 weeks, but Blake Selm, Andrew Lofgren, and Cerow Aligab and Zane Yates this time continued to carry the torch for the Longhorns. They averaged 16:36 even missing their typical 1 or 2 man, making them a force to be reckoned with going forward this season.