Fox runners finish with a bite

Notre Dame sophomore Austin Critchlow felt two distinct stings Saturday at the Tiger Time Invitational cross country meet at Cape Girardeau County Park North.

Critchlow first felt the sting of a yellow jacket between his toes before the race. He put that crisis aside and ran remarkably well, only to encounter the sting of being overtaken just feet from the finish line in a near dead-heat in the boys' varsity race.

Matt Boone of Fox edged Critchlow by a second to complete a clean sweep for the St. Louis school. Fox also produced the girls' varsity champion, Kristy Sullivan, and took the team titles in both races.

Critchlow, who already has broken Notre Dame's 5K school record twice this season, barely missed becoming the school's first champion in a large meet. Notre Dame hasn't had one since starting its cross country program in 1993.

"I'm a little disappointed, but a second-place finish in a meet this big will suffice for now," Critchlow said. "Next year I plan on winning it."

Critchlow (14:47) and Boone (14:46) led the field for most of the 2.6-mile race. Critchlow, who went into the lead in the first mile, intentionally yielded the front spot to Boone around the 2-mile mark but regained it with about 300 yards to go.

Critchlow, all-state in the 800 relay on Notre Dame's track team last spring, is known for a strong kick, and he thought the race was his at that point.

"I thought I had the speed, but I guess he just had more energy left," Critchlow said.

Notre Dame coach Bill Davis said the bee sting, which occurred when Critchlow was walking barefoot, may have figured into the finish.

"You get all that adrenaline and then he was emotionally distraught over the bee sting," Davis said. "That spurred him into doing something he shouldn't have done, and that was going a little bit too fast at the beginning of the race. I think that cost him at the end of the race, because he's got tremendous kick.

"But we were real proud of the kids. We're trying to build this program. And the best way to do that is to be successful."

Notre Dame finished with two top 20 medalists. Ryan Roggow placed 13th to help the Bulldogs to a fifth-place finish, the highest among local schools. Central's boys took seventh and Jackson eighth in the nine-team field.

Poplar Bluff's Ross McDonald, who finished runner-up last year and won the Kelly Invitational last week, did not run due to illness.

Central sophomore Jennifer Pancoast (17:50) took fifth in the girls' race, the same placement she had in last week's Northwest Invitational.

At more than a minute faster than her time last year, Pancoast was the top local runner. As a freshman, Pancoast, along with her then-senior sister Kim, helped the Tigers win the team title. With Sullivan leading the way, Fox dethroned Central with 58 points. Jackson, led by Nicole Fadler in eighth place, finished in a tie with Carbondale (Ill.) and Northwest House Springs at 85 points but won the tie-breaker for second. Central (102) finished fifth.

"My sister is gone, so I'm just trying to run better," Pancoast said. "I worked a lot harder this summer hoping to have a good year. I worked on my speed a lot."

Pancoast, a state qualifier as a freshman, knew Sullivan, a senior, would be among the runners to beat.

"It was my goal just to keep her in sight," Pancoast said.

Sullivan (16:38) has won three of four races this year, including the Webster Invitational. She dethroned Caitlin Chrisman of Carbondale, who finished about 20 yards behind in second. She also avenged her only loss this season, finishing ahead of Northwest's Megan Robertson, who placed third.

Alisa Uzoara of Central won the girls junior-varsity race in 19:39. Jackson won both the boys and girls junior varsity titles.

jbreer@semissourian.com

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