Central girls capture district championship

Make it seven out of eight district titles for the Central girls cross country team.

Sweeping the top three spots will do that.

Veronica Schabbing, Mary Dohogne and Brittany Moreland took the top three spots in the Class 4 District 1 meet Saturday on a muddy course in Chesterfield.

The Tigers have won eight of the last 10 district team titles.

"The way we've progressed the last few weeks, we thought we would be in the hunt for the district title," Central coach Mark Hahn said. "We thought we'd be tough going in."

Hahn said he'll make few changes this week in preparation for next week's sectional meet.

"It will just be another week of practice," he said. "We'll do things in practice differently, not because of the way we did today, just because it's the next week of the season.

"We'll practice the way we were going to practice. We won't change anything as a result of today. We probably won't talk much about next week."

Jackson's Taylor Dickerson was eighth in the girls race.

"She did well," Jackson coach Andrea Talley said. "We're so happy to qualify the girls team."

The Indians team will move on to sectionals after finishing fourth.

Jackson senior Greg Gibson, who missed last year's cross country season with an injury, enjoyed a successful meet, finishing second in the boys race.

"He's pretty much just getting back to where he was as a sophomore," Talley said. "He was second in the district as a sophomore. ... He's now making it back to where he was. This isn't surprising at all. He's working his way back. Gradually I've been able to increase the workout little by little with him."

Talley said Gibson's recent training has been limited because of blisters.

"There were days he wasn't even able to run at all," Talley said. "He's back in the swing of things."

The Indians finished fifth, so the team won't move on to sectionals.

But Gibson will be joined by teammates Cody Green and Dustin Spooler in the sectional race.

Central's Roy Leighton was Central's top runner in the boys race, crossing the line fifth. Teammate Eric Schott was 10th.

"We're real proud of them making it through as a team," Hahn said. "Schott, to finish in the 10 in districts, with 11 big schools, that was a nice day for him."

The Tigers finished third as a team and will move on to the sectional.

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Team scores — 1. Central 34; 2. Lindbergh 47; 3. Rockwood Summit 80; 4. Jackson 88; 5. Cor Jesu Academy 143; 6. Oakville 148; 7. Seckman 175; 8. Northwest 231.

Local finishers

Central — 1. Veronica Schabbing, 19:06.60; 2. Mary Dohogne, 19:36.54; 3. Brittany Moreland, 19:41.57; 12. Victoria Schabbing, 20:43.38; 20. Jordyn Richmond, 21:32.47.

Jackson — 8. Taylor Dickerson, 20:24.90; 15. Tori Parry, 20:51.64; 21. Jordyn Whitener, 21:36.85; 24. Diane Strong, 21:38.35; 32. Amber Crites, 20:34.29.

Boys

Team scores — 1. Lindbergh; 2. Oakville 81; 3. Central 88; 4. Vianney; 5. Jackson 124; 6. Fox 147; 7. Seckman 155; 8. Northwest 161; 9. Mehlville 240.

Local finishers

Central — 5. Roy Leighton, 17:05.14; 10. Eric Schott, 17:34.10; 24. Collin Summers, 18:11.75; 25. Alex Crawford, 18:12.57; 29. Jordan Pope, 18:18.39.

Jackson — 2. Greg Gibson, 16:45.58; 20. Cody Green, 17:59.84; 26. Dustin Spooler, 18:13.30; 34. Chris Hurst, 18:46.74; 47. Justin Bader, 19:25.72.

— From staff reports