Rock Bridge Boys
At first glance, it appears like Rock Bridge would be entering a rebuilding season. They lost four out of their runners from the state winning team last season, including state champ Caleb Wilfong, as well as 800m state champ and 7th place in XC, Jordan Cook. However, they return a trio of solid runners.
Throughout the year they were known for having one of the best 1-2-3 punches around the nation. This will continue, this time with Evan Schulte and Zach Cook joining Nate Keown. Schulte finished 20th last fall and dipped under the 10 minute barrier this spring. Keown, who holds a 5K PR of 15:42, looks to be the leader of the team this year. He just missed out on All-State but should be among the best harriers this season. Cook, a 9:43 3200m man, should be ready for a great fall after a successful track season.
Coach Blackburn Says...
"I feel pretty good about our team as we head into the season. Our kids did a fairly nice job of running together this summer and our major players adhered to their training program well. We seem to be starting the season off healthy so that is an obvious plus. We have a three mile time trial that we do as part of our camp each July and Nathan Keown ran the fastest I have ever had a kid run, so I am hoping that his summer builds his confidence in knowing it's his turn to be our number one guy. Evan Schulte (20th last year at state) is running well and coming off of a spring in which he was unable to crack our district track lineup, but went 9:48 and 4:34 respectively. Zach Cook, also had a solid sophomore track season running 4:30, 9:43, and 1:58 so we are hoping that he will build off of those performances and help us have a fairly fierce trio. Lucas Harrington was a ninth grader a year ago, but went 4:38 this past spring and based on his time trial seems to have progressed well. Our five, six, and seven seem to be battles between some of our juniors and seniors (4:45-4:48 mile guys) who have run anywhere from high 16s to low 17s in cross, so whoever can step up and continue their progression will be of tremendous value to us. Those guys went anywhere from 16:40 to 17:12 at our time trial, which at the time, was a course p.r. for them in comparison to a year ago. "
"Our schedule is exactly what it's been with the exception of one meet. Instead of Palatine, we are going to take part in Hancock and stay more local this fall. We are a bit younger throughout both squads, so we are going to stay in state. We open with Liberty, then Forest Park, Hancock, Parkway West, and Border Wars for our varsity squads. Sounds like Parkway West will be quite loaded with Blue Springs, Marquette, Sluh, Parkway West, and ourselves. Should be a fun meet."
"Our goals are pretty simple in their establishment...it will be the execution of them that will be a bit more challenging. We would like for our athletes to build off of the success that our last several teams have accomplished and in doing so, establish ourselves as one of the better teams in Missouri, controlling our own destiny. In order to do so, we believe in paying attention to the "Not So Small Things" in injury prevention amongst other things, and if we are able to tend to those matters, I believe we can put ourselves in the mix with some of the better teams across our state. "
2012 Returner's Top Times
3200 Meters
1600 Meters
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<em>Coaches - Interested in featuring your team? - Please contact David @ deverett@milesplit.com</em></p>