The Father Tolton Catholic Lady Trailblazers kicked off the 2024 season, defense of their Class 5 state title, and quest for their 4th straight state title (Class 3 in 2021, Class 4 in 2022, Class 5 in 2023), one night earlier than initially anticipated. Still, the result was as expected, with the Tolton Catholic ladies taking home lots of hardware, including the 1st place team trophy and plenty of individual medals.
(also posted below)
Fort Zumwalt North High School hosted the Fort Zumwalt North Twilight Cross Country Invitational at the gorgeous St. Louis Youth Soccer Association (SLYSA) Complex in north St. Charles for a 2nd straight year. A issue came up though and the meet was held a day earlier than originally scheduled with coach Josh Janisse and assistants Alec Gerke and Jackie Hastings putting on the 5th edition of the memorable meet with an exciting atmosphere under the lights at the well-lit venue with great footing for the 2nd time, on Thursday, September 5.
The Varsity Girls 5,000 meter race kicked off at 8:30 p.m. with temperatures in the 80s and the humidity at about 50%. However, that reporting seems low, as the air felt thicker than the abundantly healthy rows of corn that lined the facility's north side in the fertile soil less than 3 miles south of the Mississippi River.
Tolton Catholic wasn't the only defending state champions in the race as back-to-back Class 3 champions St. Charles West also toed the line just 1.5 miles from their campus. The Lady Warriors started their 2024 campaign the week before winning the First Capitol XC Meet at McNair Park in St. Charles. Sophomore superstar Brianna Krueger earned the individual victory by 46 seconds over a field that included at least six Class 3, 4, and 5 All-State performers.
Thursday, Tolton Catholic raced without one piece of their all-time great, fabulous foursome. The Trailblazer's top 4 at state scored just 34 points in the Class 5 State race last year with then-junior Elyse Wilmes-2nd, Fr. Angelina Cottone 9th, So. Makaylin Viet-11th, and Jr. Madison Taylor-17th.
Cottone had a phenomenal freshman year. She placed 9th in State XC in 18:18, then earned PRs and state track finishes of 2nd/11:13 and 3rd/5:05 in the 3200 and 1600, and a 4x800 state title in Class 4 before a 5:00/5:02 Festival of Miles 1600/Mile.
Her absence on Thursday didn't hurt the final result. At the mile, Tolton Catholic's senior superstar Elyse Wilmes shared the lead with the previously mentioned St. Charles West sophomore Brianna Krueger and fellow Liberty-Wentzville sophomore standout Bella Navaro-Sanchez. Sanchez dropped 7 seconds off her 800 meter best from Districts to the State Track meet last Spring to take 4th in Class 5 in 2:14.11 as a freshman, then led the Liberty-Wentzville Lady Eagles to a 6th place 4x8 finish.
A half-step back at the Mile was Rockwood Summit's Caterina Rossomanno, while Francis Howell Central's Reese McDevitt and Tolton Catholic's Viet were a stride or two back with their teammates, Noel Rice and Madison Taylor not far behind.
It wasn't long after that Wilmes had had enough, and time was up. Wilmes had proven her elite speed on the national level by claiming the New Balance Nationals Outdoor 800-meter title this summer at the home of the Penn Relays, Franklin Field in Philadelphia, in 2:04.92. Shortly after the mile, Wilmes took off and never looked back. She pushed through the thick air and strode around the fields under the lights and to the possible dinner of Imo's Pizza that awaited her and her teammates before hustling back on the road for school on Friday.
Elyse Wilmes cruised to victory to open her final prep season of cross country
Wilmes had flown down the homestretch and across the finish line in 18:45. Her teammate Makaylin Viet had a strong finish. The junior passed both McDevit and Krueger from 4300 meters to 4900 meters and placed 2nd in 19:04 for a 1-2 Tolton Catholic finish. Krueger was 3rd in 19:07, McDevitt was 4th in 19:10. Rossomanno was 5th, and Navaro-Sanchez was 6th.
Makaylin Viet of Tolton Catholic of 2nd.
Brianna Krueger of St. Charles West was 3rd
Reese McDevitt of Francis Howell Central was 4th.
Madison Taylor made it a 1-2-7 finish for Tolton, crossing in 19:49. Last year's #5 for Tolton, Sarah Kesterson, now a sophomore, placed 27th in 20:54. Senior Addison Wheeler was 30th in 21:03, her first varsity race for the Trailblazers after transferring from Rock Bridge last year.
Caterina Rossommanno of Rockwood Summit was 5th.
Liberty-Wentzville sophomore Bella Navaro-Sanchez was 6th.
Madison Taylor of Tolton Catholic was 7th
Tolton totaled 56 points for the win. St. Charles West, who also returns four All-State performers like Tolton, placed 2nd with 87. Besides Krueger, the Lady Warriors had two other medalists (top 20), with Miley Jackson 10th-19:56 and Claire Horstmann 13th-20:06.
Francis Howell Central had a great 2023, and they may have been headed for a school-best top 5 or 6 or at least a top 10 Class 5 state finish before some misfortune struck during the State race. The Lady Spartans graduated two of their top 4 but ran well Thursday and placed 3rd, scoring 111 points. Reese McDevitt and Noel Rice led the way with a 4-12 finish.
The Lafayette Lady Lancers have lost a lot of talent in the last few years, but despite that, they managed to place 4th with 152 points. Lafayette won the JV race, scoring 75 points to edge Francis Howell Central's 79 points. They went 1-2 with freshmen, who are siblings of past and current runners who are likely to make an impact on the varsity squad this season. Marli Groenewald won at 21:33. Big sister Mizelle Groenewald is a senior and ran in the varsity race, and brother Lukas "LJ" Groenewald was an All-Stater for Lancers. Claire Robeson was 2nd in 22:19.6, while Jack Robeson was a senior last year, placing 5th for the Lancers at State.
Lutheran St. Charles' Class 3 All-State performer from their '23 state trophy team, Madalyn Mahoney, was 8th in the varsity race. In 9th was Class 5 All-Stater Annika Barks, who led Jackson to a 5th place finish with 157 points. Jackson and Coach Andrea Talley won the award for making the longest trip on a school night.
Madalyn Mahoney was 8th for Class 3 2023 trophy team Lutheran St. Charles
Jackson's Annika Barks raced to a 9th place finish
Tolton Catholic averaged just 19:55 per runner, while Class 3's Herculaneum had the smallest 1-5 split with just 51 seconds. The Blackcats placed 6th in a field of 17 scoring teams. They had a especially tight 1-4 pack that was led by junior Claira Davis. Liberty-Wentzville was 7th with 186 points but appears to have three soon-to-be future varsity runners in freshmen who ran successfully in their first career high school races in the JV race.
The host Fort Zumwalt North Panthers nearly had two medalists. Junior Lukah Sandine was 15th in 20:16 while senior Zoe Johnson was 21st in 20:36.6, just 0.2 seconds back of the final medal position of 20th place.
Fort Zumwalt North junior Lukah Sandine medaled at her home meet placing 15th
One school made a debut Thursday. Kind of. O'Fallon Christian, or Christian High School in O' Fallon, is now Veritas Christian Academy.