Nicole Mello had to settle for a runner-up finish in her first race of the season as the Hickman senior star was edged by Ste. Genevieve freshman phenom Taylor Werner. After missing out on the Forest Park XC Festival last week while taking the ACT, Mello was looking to defend her title from last year. While that didn't happen Mello, did manage a 3 second improvement over last year's time clocking an impressive 19:22 despite a run-in with mother nature. On the back side of the course, over the middle mile, a deer ran out of the woods in front of her which had to be startling. Mello will look to stay healthy and continue to run fast in pursuit of the Class 4 State title and a second straight trip to Footlocker Nationals for which she qualified as a junior in 2011. 20120915114608 2012 Enke HC Inv Nicole Mello int.mts