Freshmen help Central extend SEMO streak

The Tigers won their seventh straight conference championship.

The rebuilding task for the Central girls cross country team didn't take very long at all.

The Tigers, who had lost their top two conference finishers from last year's team, had three freshmen among their top five Thursday when they won their seventh straight SEMO Conference championship.

Central freshman Brittany Moreland led the field in a personal best time of 20 minutes, 27 seconds for her first varsity victory. Classmates Veronica Schabbing finished third in 20:49 and Jessie Hahn was 10th in 22:30. Also for Central, Linnea Woldtvedt was fourth and Allison Dohogne was ninth.

The Tigers finished with 27 points, while Jackson was next with 45.

Central also won the boys team title.

The Central girls' dominance in recent years had been led by Jennifer Pencoast, who won the meet for three straight years from 2002 to 2004 and is now at the University of Nebraska with her older sister, Kim.

"I've had a coach say to me in jest, 'Let's see how you do without any Pancoasts,'" Central coach Mark Hahn said. "I think we're doing all right. Three freshmen in the top 10 is pretty exciting."

Moreland's emergence is particularly exciting. Her best previous run was a fifth-place finish last week at the Potosi Invitational. "My goal by the end of the season was to be on varsity," she said.

Due to shin splints, she has done as much cycling as running this fall in her training.

"We've modified her training just to be on the safe side," Hahn said.

Hahn had even more reason to celebrate as the Central boys edged Notre Dame 37-43 to claim the boys crown.

John Kipper finished second and Dan Austin was third for the Tigers, both finishing behind Poplar Bluff's John-Mark Lewis. Notre Dame's Matt Pfau and Greg Kanneberg finished fourth and fifth.

"I was elated with how the boys ran," Hahn said. "Our 3, 4, 5 guys really stepped up. We didn't run our No. 3 guy [Eddie Glenn] because he was a little ouchy, but Tyler Yeargain, Bryan Schott and Dale Brannock all had big races."

VARSITY RESULTS

BOYS

Team scores -- Central 37, Notre Dame 43, Poplar Bluff 81, Jackson 86.

Top individual -- John-Mark Lewis (PB) 16:40.

Central -- 2, John Kipper 16:52; 3, Dan Austin 17:14; 8, Tyler Yeargain 17:41; 10, Bryan Schott 17:52; 14, Dale Brannock 18:20; 17, Beau Jordan; 18, Joey Guidos.

Notre Dame -- 4, Matt Pfau 17:22; 5, Greg Kanneberg 17:31; 9, Logan Davis 17:49; 12, Neil Kanneberg 18:09; 13, Dillon Klaffer 18:16; 15, John Ramsey 18:41; 20, Richie Bohn 19:19.

Jackson -- 6, Greg Gibson 17:34; 11, David Welker 17:59; 21, Cody Green 20:33; Ira King 20:52; 25, Caleb Statler 21:07; 26, Nick Greishop.

Kelly -- 16, Jordan Felter 18:44; 19, Derek Brucker 19:18.

GIRLS

Team scores -- Central 27, Jackson 45, Notre Dame 76, Poplar Bluff 106.

Top individual -- Brittany Moreland (C) 20:27.

Central -- 1, Moreland; 3, Veronica Schabbing 20:49; 4, Linnea Woldtvedt 21:26; 9, Allison Dohogne 22:21; 10, Jessie Hahn, 22:29; 16, Hannah Lewis; 17, Emily Ponder.

Jackson -- 2, Amy Sterling 20:37; 6, Beth Barton 22:02; 11, Casey Hatton 22:29; 12, Mandy Craven 22:38; 14, Nicole Parrish 23:29; 20, Ashley Ptacek.

Notre Dame -- 5, Jessica Banda 21:51; 8, Tori Pfau 22:18; 18, Christen Edmonds 24:50; 21, Jennifer Hinkebein 25:16; 24, Brooke Heischmidt, 26:15; 25, Stacie Kula 26:44.

Kelly -- 13, Tara Johnson, 23:08; 26, Lisa Gray, 27:15.

JV results

Girls

1. Central 19, 2. Notre Dame 52, 3. Jackson 84

Top individual -- 1. Lizzy Alberson (C), 23:18; 3. Brytny Masters (J), 23:45

Boys

1. Central 29, 2. Notre Dame 49, 3. Kelly 49, 4. Jackson 171

Top individual -- 1. Shawn Owens (C), 18:44; 25. David Law (J), 21:18