Ste. Genevieve High School freshman Taylor Werner interview with Ben Rosario after her amazing victory in 16:59 in the Varsity Girls Green Division 5k at the 2012 Forest Park Cross Country Festival in St. Louis, September 8.
Coverage
Video of the Varsity Boys Green Division Race 5k at the 2012 Forest Park Cross Country Festival in St. Louis, September 8. Includes footage from the start, 300 meters, 1.2 miles, 1.8 miles, 2.1 miles and the finish as Marquette HS (MO) junior Noah Kauppilla captured the victory in the last half mile with a time of 15:18. The O' Fallon (IL) Boys dominated putting 5 in the top 27, capturing the team title with 66 points, led by the 2-3 finish by Patrick Perrier and Alex Riba. O' Fallon won their 2nd title in three years, keeping the Rock Bridge from repeating as the Bruins finished 2nd with 141 points. Host St. Louis University High scored 160 points to place 3rd while Blue Springs placed 4th, totaling 214 points without top runner Simon Bilete. The race featured 278 finishers and 35 total teams. 2012 FPXCF Varsity Boys Green Race.wmv
Race Video at the 1.2 mile mark of the Varsity Boys White Race after 1st runners have passed at the 2012 Forest Park Cross Country Festival in St. Louis, September 8. Sorry, must have mishandled camera at finish. Looked down after race and camera wasn't recording. 20120908115356 2012 FPXCF Varsity Boys White 1.2 mile- missed 1st runners.mts
2012 FPXCF Varsity Girls Green Race
2012 FPXCF Varsity Girls White Race
O' Fallon Illinois freshman Casey Carter is interviewed by Ben Rosario after her victory in the JV Girls Green Division 5k Race at the 2012 Forest Park Cross Country Festival in St. Louis, September 8. 20120908091924
2012 Forest Park Cross Country Festival Junior Varsity Girls Green Division 5k Race Finish 1st place -30 minutes. 20120908090922
Few want to assign to much weight to results from the first weeks of a new cross country season, especially when trying to determine which teams look like contenders. Injuries nearly always become a factor at some point, and numerous runners will move in or out of varsity lineups as the coming weeks unfold. Even with those caveats in mind, the Lee’s Summit West girls appear poised to make another run at the Class 4 state title.
By time the tents came down and the crowd had left Forest Park Saturday, one race was already reverberating throughout the running world, and those that saw it immediately added it to their short list of memorable moments in Missouri running.
The junior varsity races are typically filled with two types of runners – underclassmen looking to gain experience and upperclassmen looking to earn a spot on the varsity seven.
Interview with Blue Springs sophomore Stephen Mugeche and James Barnett after their 5th and 19th places finishes that helped the Wildcats finish 4th without their top runner Simon Bilete at the 2012 Forest Park Cross Country Festival in St. Louis. 20120908140213
Interview with Columbia Rock Bridge's Nathan Keown after guiding the Bruins to a 2nd place finish in the Varsity Green 5k with his 7th place finish in 15:45. 20120908135647
Interview with Springfield Glendale's Spencer Haik and Chris Mooneyham after their 16th and 4th place finish in the Varsity Green 5k at the 2012 Forest Park XC Festival. 20120908133719
Ste. Genevieve High School (Missouri) freshman Taylor Werner interview after her amazing 16:59 victory in the Varsity Girls Green 5k race at the 2012 Forest Park Cross County Festival in St. Louis, Saturday, September 8.
The O' Fallon Township High School Boys of Illinois captured the 2012 Forest Park Cross Country Festival Varsity Green Division 5k scoring just 66 points to dominate the field. Post meet interview with Coach Burnett and junior Patrick Perrier and senior Alex Riba who went 2-3 to lead the way to victory. The O' Fallon boys will placed 2nd at the 2011 Illinois State Meet and are shooting for another trophy this year. 20120908132707
Marquette junior Noah Kauppila talks after a great race at the 2012 Forest Park Cross Country Festival where he pulled away from the lead group in the last half mile to win the Varsity Green Division 5k in 15:18. 1-20120908124305
Interview with the Lee' s Summit West Girls JV after their runner-up finish in the JV Green Division at the 2012 Forest Park Cross Country Invitational in St. Louis' Forest Park. 20120908094157
Video of top 20 finishers in varsity girls green race
The running community began rumbling last year about an eighth grader and the times she was running. The anticipation for the arrival of Taylor Werner grew over the summer, especially after her 5:00.52 at the Festival of Miles, but few probably expected such an elite performance for her first high school 5k.
Some people race the clock; other’s race top-flight opponents. Parkview’s Cameron Byrley likes to race the Gator. Byrley, a junior, knew the Forest Park Cross Country Festival course after having won the JV White Division as a freshman. Now he has added the varsity White Division title to his résumé with his 16:28.90 on Saturday.
Villa Duchesne’s Elise Marker feels she has some unfinished business to take care of this season. She started off her season in the right direction, winning the White Division at Saturday’s Forest Park Cross Country Festival in 19:16.10, more than 40 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
After watching the girls set the course on fire, the boys opted to run a more restrained race Saturday in the Green Division of the Forest Park Cross Country Festival. That set up perfectly for what Marquette junior Noah Kauppila had planned as a pre-race strategy.
Check back throughout the day for live updates with pictures and results.
Varsity Boys Green Division passing the 2K mark
Post race interview with Connor Welby, JV Boys White Division winner
post race interview with Casey Carter winner of the girls JV green race
Live Twitter Updates from the 2012 Forest Park XC Festival
Todd Grasley interviews Ben Rosario from MileSplit HQ to preview the 2012 Forest Park XC Festival.
As we get ready for the 2012 Forest Park XC Festival, I’m once again hearing chatter about “The Curse of Forest Park.”