SLUH Dominates Sectional 2; Gibbens, Griesenauer Run Away Again
One of the most storied boys programs in state history, the recent tradition of St. Louis University High School at the state meet lives on as the Jr. Billikens booked their 25th straight trip to the state meet and 40th total with a dominant performance in Class 4 Sectional 2 on Saturday. The Bills, led by junior Patrick Hetlage in 3rd, hung a 33 spot on the field and beat District 4 winners Rock Bridge by 43 points. After a slower start to the season by their standards, SLUH has come on strong in October and appears poised at making a podium run in 2017. With a 25 second split, the Bills kept it tight up front with all 5 boys between 16:35 and 17:01. Just behind them was a team with an equally impressive 1-5 spread: Rock Bridge. They saw a mere 18 seconds between this week's #1, freshman Matthew Hauser, and their #5, senior Dallin Tucker. With Hamzah Firozi and Dean Frossard just behind Hauser and Kylan Rottinghaus just ahead of Tucker, the Bruins, much like Parkway West in Section 1, showed that they can swap their top boys and still enjoy success as they were able to hold off Jefferson City again in this one. Rock Bridge is making their 9th straight trip to state and have been on the podium 7 of their last 8 trips. Jefferson City punched their 4th straight ticket to state and 36th overall. Webster Groves held off Hickman for 4th and will be making state trip number 18 and 9 in a row.
We spoke with the SLUH and Rock Bridge boys after they received their plaques:
In the girls team race, it was, as expected, a nail biter. It was a repeat of last year, though, as Rock Bridge and Nerinx Hall made it very close. Last year, Rock Bridge pulled off the 1 point victory over the Markers and this year they made it even closer as they won this one on the 6th runner tie breaker. The Bruins were led by Ellie Dimond again in 5th (20:16) and Caroline Stevens came across 7th (20:22). Rock Bridge was able to secure the victory, but could very well have been out of the top 4 as the top 5 teams were separated by 20 points, 15 from 1-4. Nevertheless, they will made their 10th straight trip to the state meet. Nerinx Hall will make their 12th straight trip to the state meet. Ft. Zumwalt West was 3rd, 8 points behind the winners, and they will make their 5th trip in the school's 20 year history and 1st since 2011. In 4th was Holt as the Indians were able to sneak in for the 4th straight year.
The individual races were never in any doubt heading into this one as Chandler Gibbens from Hickman took the boys race from the gun and never looked back. Running well ahead of his competitors yet again, the Hickman junior traversed the Parkway Central course in 16:05 and took home a 23 point victory. His performance shows that he is ready to compete for his first all-state medal and possibly make it a top 5. Gibbens was followed by Jefferson City senior Cole Biesemeyer who made a late push to overtake the SLUH trio of Hetlage, Paul Burka, and Reed Milnor who all took 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively. SLUH put 4 in the top 7 as #4 man Adam Mittendorf split up Webster Groves senior Ben Gossow and sophomore Charlie Teeter. Seventeen of the top thirty spots belonged to a SLUH, Rock Bridge, or Jefferson City harrier. The top 30 were all under 17:20 except for the 30th finisher.
We spoke with Gibbens after his monster race:
Gibbens was followed by Jefferson City senior Cole Biesemeyer who made a late push to overtake the SLUH trio of Hetlage, Paul Burka, and Reed Milnor who all took 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively. SLUH put 4 in the top 7 as #4 man Adam Mittendorf split up Webster Groves senior Ben Gossow and sophomore Charlie Teeter. Seventeen of the top thirty spots belonged to a SLUH, Rock Bridge, or Jefferson City harrier. The top 30 were all under 17:20 except for the 30th finisher.
Emily Griesenauer did her best to distance herself from the field as well as she led the race from start-to-finish and pulled off her 7th victory of the season in the process. The Holt senior came across in 19:18 and held off Ladue junior Lila Bensky by 14 seconds. Griesenauer has been powering past her competition for the better part of the season and has only lost, at her best, to two Missourians: Mikayla Reed and Victoria Findley. She has a knack for racing up to the competition level, but has also been racing by herself in many of her victories this season. She should be a lock for a top 10 spot on Saturday, but how deep into that top 10 shall be decided soon. In third was Liberty Wentzville sophomore Abbigael Woods and Nerinx Hall senior Bella Racette was 4th. After seeing the entire top 30 go under 20:20 in Sectional 1, this race only saw 6 girls pull of that feat as it was a significantly slower Sectional.
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