Forest Park XC Festival 2012

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.

Interview with Taylor Werner who won the Varsity Girls Green Division with a course breaking time of 16:59 in her first high school 5k

Finish of the record setting run by Taylor Werner, Hannah Long and Kaitlyn Fisher.

Lead pack, varsity girls green 2k

Post race interview with Varsity Boys Green winner Noah Kauppila.

Post race interview with Varsity Girls White winner Elise Marker

Post race interview with Emily Mitulski - JV Girls White Division winner

Finish of the varsity boys green division race

Varsity Boys Green Division passing the 2K mark

Post race interview with Connor Welby, JV Boys White Division winner

Post race interview with Varsity White winner Cameron Byrley

post race interview with Casey Carter winner of the girls JV green race

Video of top 20 finishers in varsity girls green race

Race footage from the JV Girls White race

Race footage of 2k and finish line - girls jv green

Race footage of the JV White Boys

JV Green Boys 2k footage

finish line footage of JV boys green division

2k and finish line video of varsity girls white race

2k and finish line footage of varsity boys white race.

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

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

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

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.

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

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 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

2012 Forest Park Cross Country Festival Junior Varsity Girls Green Division 5k Race Finish 1st place -30 minutes. 20120908090922

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

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2012 FPXCF JV Boys Green Race.wmv

As we get ready for the 2012 Forest Park XC Festival, I’m once again hearing chatter about “The Curse of Forest Park.”

Todd Grasley interviews Ben Rosario from MileSplit HQ to preview the 2012 Forest Park XC Festival.

Live Twitter Updates from the 2012 Forest Park XC Festival

Check back throughout the day for live updates with pictures and results.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

  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.