Central's Schabbing races to second place

ST. LOUIS — Central cross country coach Mark Hahn called it a "coming out party" for senior Veronica Schabbing.

"It's hard to say that about someone who was all-state last year," Hahn said. "But this was a great day for Veronica. There are a lot of cross country fans throughout the state, and I think her name is going to be on a lot of message boards in the next 24 hours. She is not going to be a secret around the state."

Schabbing had an outstanding run in the girls green division of the Forest Park Festival cross country meet Saturday. She finished second, be it a very distant second, to Festus senior Alyssa Allison in the competitive division of the event. Her time was 19 minutes, 41.40 seconds. Allison won the meet in 19:11.50.

"Oh my gosh," Schabbing said of Allison. "She ran an awesome race. I was hoping to place in the top five here this year and I was able to achieve that even though I am very, very tired now. My legs were tired throughout the race, but I just had to ignore it."

Schabbing's effort helped the Tigers to a fifth-place showing as a team in the green division, which featured 19 teams from throughout Missouri.

"It was hard to judge how we would do as a team here," Hahn said. "There are so many good teams. But I felt real good about both the boys and girls. We had goals for certain kids to run with others and for the most part we met those goals. It was a step in the right direction for everyone."

Mary Dohogne also had a top-10 finish for the Tigers. She was 10th (20:14.60).

Brittany Moreland also broke 21:00, doing so in 20:59.90. She just missed out on winning a medal. Moreland was 29th. The top 25 won medals.

There were two area top-10 finishers in the girls white division, including the overall champion.

Jackson sophomore Tori Parry won the event, running a 21:33.70. Tori Pfau of Notre Dame was sixth in the white division. She just missed breaking 22:00, running a 22:00.70.

Neither Jackson nor Notre Dame entered enough runners for a team score in the white division.

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Green division

Team scores — 1. Jefferson City 96; 2. Kickapoo 96; 3. Lindbergh 165; 4. Lee's Summit North 190; 5. Central 191; 6. Festus 192; 7. Rock Bridge 204; 8. Francis Howell Central 232; 9. Parkway West 238; 10. Ste. Genevieve 247; 11. Lebanon 283; 12. Marquette 296; 13. Branson 311; 14. Rockwood Summit 315; 15. Francis Howell North 377; 16. Rosati-Kain 408; 17. Ladue Horton Watkins 410; 18. Lutheran 411; 19. St. Joseph 432;

Local top-five finishers

Central — 2. Veronica Schabbing 19:41.40; 9. Mary Dohogne 20:14.60; 26. Brittany Moreland 20:59.90; 66. Victoria Schabbing 22:30.90; 88. Jordan Richmond 23:48.70.

White division

Jackson — Tori Parry 21:33.70; Diane Strong 23:19.60; Megan Devenport 29:55.90; Jenn Fellows 33:20.50

Notre Dame — Tori Pfau 22:00.70; Morgan Morris 25:07.10; Tara Grojean 25:31.60; Katie Obermark 26:10.00