Led by Etzold, Saxony Lutheran captures district title again

The Saxony Lutheran boys cross country program captured its fourth Class 1 district title in four years of existence on Saturday, winning the District 1 meet at Jackson City Park.

The Crusaders, who have won the last two state championships, cruised ahead of a nine-school field in the meet hosted by Oak Ridge.

Saxony Lutheran senior Brandon Etzold finished first with a time of 17 minutes, 51 seconds.

Teammate Peter Winningham was 36 seconds back in second place. Bryant Steffens finished fourth for Saxony in 18:42, while Max Wieser was sixth in 19:01 and Ross Gage seventh in 19:04.

"It was a sloppy course, but the kids ran well," Crusaders coach Larry Cleair said. "Not a bad performance at all. Brandon ran a nice relaxed race. He looked smooth, and Peter did a great job out there. Those two are our seniors and they led us well today."

Oak Ridge finished second as a team and will move on to the state meet.

"I could not be more proud of our boys," Bluejays coach Jason Niswonger said. "A couple of them were sick, but they stepped up and did exactly what they needed to do. I thought we were the second-best team in our district, but I knew Advance would be close.

"If we run a good race up at state, we have the potential to be in the top 10. Our seniors are real strong, we have great leadership."

Leading Oak Ridge were Dustin Owens, who finished eighth in 19:05, and Caleb Schoen, who was ninth in 19:07.

Terry Haffner of Meadow Heights finished in third with a time of 18:35, and Advance's Nate Middleton came across fifth in 18:52.

The top 15 placers and top two teams in the district meets earn state bids.

In the girls race, Meadow Heights finished first as a team and Delta was second.

Erica Wilfong, Jenna Hahs and Bethany Payne finished in the top 10 for Meadow Heights.

Jessica Kidd finished eighth to lead Delta.

SoRelle Peat from Brentwood captured the individual crown with a time of 22:43. Saxony's Deanna Dippold was the top local finisher, placing fourth in 24:01.

Boys

Team standings -- 1. Saxony Lutheran, 20; 2. Oak Ridge, 61; 3. Advance, 73; 4. Meadow Heights, 107; 5. Delta, 128.

Saxony Lutheran -- 1. Brandon Eztold, 17:51; 2. Peter Winningham, 18:27: 4. Bryant Steffens, 18:43; 6. Max Wieser, 19:01; 7. Ross Gage, 19:04; 10. Andrew Eztold, 19:29; 16. Sam Kluesner, 20:40.

Oak Ridge -- 8. Dustin Owens, 19:05; 9. Caleb Schoen, 19:07; 11. Garret Light, 19:28; 13. Walt Ruesler, 20:09; 20. A.J. Collins, 21:25; 21. Tyler Lappe, 21:32; 25. Kaz Lange 22:02.

Advance -- 5. Nate Middleton, 18:52; 14. Cody Vangennip, 20:20; 17. David Vangennip, 21:02; 19. Matt Hale, 21:09; 22. Tyler Slinkard, 21:41; 23. Mike Jones, 21:47; 30. Blake Seabaugh, 22:56.

Meadow Heights -- 3. Terry Haffner, 18:35; 15. Derrick Wilfong, 20:29; 26. Cole Bollinger, 22:04; 33. Joe Brown, 23:29; 34. Josh Overbey, 23:30; 35. Dustin Hubler, 24:00.

Delta -- 18. Teddy May, 21:06; 27. Nate Stroder, 22:05; 28. Alex Parks, 22:26; 29. Allen Seabaugh, 22:36; 31. Cody Naramore, 23:05; 32. Aaron Criddle, 23:18; 37. AJ Horn, 24:19.

Girls

Team standings -- 1. Meadow Heights, 19; 2. Delta, 39.

Meadow Heights -- 6. Erica Wilfong, 24:53; 9. Jenna Hahs, 25:35; 10. Bethany Payne, 25:36; 11. Rachel Brights, 26:08; 14. Riki Lacey, 27:18; 17. Tora Jordan, 29:21; 20. Abi Wissore, 30:06.

Delta -- 8. Jessica Kidd, 25:32; 15. Amanda Drew, 27:21; 16. Amanda Seabaugh, 27:44; 19. Susannah Green, 29:34; 22. Amanda Rozmirsky, 37:31.

Saxony Lutheran -- 4. Deanna Dippold, 24:01. 18. Chelsea Mirly, 29:24.

Oak Ridge -- 12. Erin Owens, 26:36; 23. Olivia East, 38:29.

Class 4 sectional

Central sophomores Brittany Moreland and Veronica Schabbing qualified for the Class 4 state meet by finishing among the top 25 individuals in the sectional at Jefferson Barracks Park in south St. Louis County.

Moreland finished third in 20:03, which was 31 seconds off the winning pace set by Hilary Orf of team champion Marquette.

Schabbing was fifth in 20:22.

"To finish in the top five at a sectional, at this sectional in particular, is something to be proud of," Central coach Mark Hahn said.

Central finished sixth in the girls standings and did not advance to state. The Tigers scored 133 while Eureka took the fourth qualifying spot with 94 points.

"We leap-frogged Cor Jesu, who beat us in the district, so that's nothing to be ashamed of," Hahn said.

Jackson finished eighth, led by Beth Barton's 35th-place finish.

The only boys runner to move on was Jackson sophomore Greg Gibson, who finished ninth in 17:08. CBC's Dan Quigley won the meet in 16:14.

Jackson finished eighth in the boys team division with 168 points. CBC was first with 47.

Boys

Team standings -- 8. Jackson, 168

Jackson -- 9. Greg Gibson, 17:08; 34. Tanner Cline, 18:16; 50. Cody Green, 18:45; 53. Caleb Statler, 18:50; 69. Joe B. Miller 20:26; 72. Nick Welker, 20:53; 73. Ira King, 21:05.

Central -- 40. Cole Bradley, 18:28; 62. Shawn Owens, 19:31.

Girls

Team standings -- 6. Central, 133; 8. Jackson, 173.

Central -- 3. Brittany Moreland, 20:03; 5. Veronica Schabbing, 20:22; 49. Tiffany Mead, 22:34; 54. Alyx Waterman, 23:07; Jessie Hahn, 24:00; 72. Jenny Huo, 25:12; 73. Brianna Egbuka, 25:28.

Jackson -- 35. Beth Barton, 21:54; 37. Amanda Craven, 22:00; 44. Casey Hatton, 22:19; 50. Amy Sterling, 22:47; 61. Nicole Parrish, 23:33; 71. Jordan Whitener, 25:03.

Class 2 District 1

Nichole Balzer finished 14th in the district meet at Jefferson Barracks Park in St. Louis County to earn a spot in the state meet for first-year program Woodland.

Balzer, a senior, finished the meet in 23:20.

Woodland finished fourth as a team.

Kelly sophomore Tara Johnson placed 13th in 23:10 and also earned a state berth.

In the boys race, Kelly's Cody Kern placed 13th in 18:43 to grab a spot at state.

Kelly was sixth as a team while first-year Woodland, led by Daniel Lewis in 29th place and Filippo Manca in 30th, finished fifth.

Boys

Team standings -- 5. Woodland, 153; 6. Kelly, 166.

Woodland -- 29. Daniel Lewis, 20:19; 30. Filippo Manca, 20:32; 32. Timothy Abner, 20:34; 34. Ethan Lix, 20:43; 40. Benjamin Rhodes, 21:13; 41. Tyler Vangennip, 21:14; 48. Dalton Toombs, 21:43.

Kelly -- 13. Cody Kern, 18:43; 38. Omar Campos, 21:02; 43. Mike Warren, 21:18; 44. Brett Harper, 21:26; 49. Josh Rogers, 22:05; 51. Sam Nelson, 22:13.

Girls

Team standings -- 4. Woodland, 109.

Woodland -- 14. Nichole Balzer, 23:20; 25. Kayla Setters, 25:26; 26. Emily Jetton, 25:49; 30. Brittany Wilkinson, 26:54, 34. Tierney Behrs, 29:42; 35. Ashley Hahn, 29:45; 37. Terra Eldridge, 31:02.

Kelly -- 13. Tara Johnson, 23:10.

Class 3 District 1

The Notre Dame boys team, the Class 2 champion last year, finished second in the Class 3 district meet to return to the state meet.

"Getting the team back to state was our main goal," Bulldogs coach Bill Davis said. "We knew Potosi was going to be tough. They did just want they planned. Ste. Genevieve gave us all we could handle, but our guys ran real well up top. We got the job done and we're going back to state. We'll see what we can do when we get up there."

Nationally ranked Potosi posted the perfect score of 15 in the boys race.

Notre Dame was second with 67, and Ste. Genevieve finished third with 79 points.

The top two teams and 15 individuals advance to the state meet.

Sophomores Dillon Klaffer and Logan Davis led Notre Dame with top-10 finishes. Klaffer finished sixth in 16:55, while Davis was seventh in 16:57. Neil Kanneberg, Ben Beussink and Jon Ramsey rounded out Notre Dame's scoring, all placing in the top 25.

Perryville's Montana Giesler finished ninth in 17:16.

Potosi's Daniel Forbes led the 1 through 5 finish for the Trojans boys, and Festus' Alyssa Allison won the girls race.

Perryville's Emily Westmoreland and Kendra Schilli earned state bids by finishing in the top 15. Perryville placed fourth as a team, 32 points behind De Soto.

Notre Dame -- led by Jessica Banda's 22nd-place finish -- placed sixth. Notre Dame sophomore Tori Pfau, the Bulldogs' top runner, did not compete due to a stress-fracture injury.

Boys

Team standings -- 1. Potosi, 15; 2. Notre Dame, 67.

Notre Dame -- 6. Dillion Klaffer, 16:55; 7. Logan Davis, 16:56; 13. Niel Kanneberg, 17:23; 21. Ben Beussink, 17:58; 24. Jon Ramsey, 18:05; 32. Wynn McClellan, 18:51; 37. Richie Bohn, 19:05.

Perryville -- 9. Montana Giesler, 17:16; 40. Ken Stephenson, 19:37; 47. Tyler Johnson, 22:17; 57. Sergey Arkhitov, 21:10.

Girls

Team standings -- 1. St. Genevieve, 22; 2 DeSoto, 80; 3. Festus, 112; 4. Perryville, 112; 5. Farmington, 133; 6. Notre Dame, 141; 7. Hillsboro, 145; 8. North County, 148.

Notre Dame -- 22. Jessica Banda, 22:38; 25. Emily Messmer, 23:02; 31. Abbie Messmer, 23:35; 35. Lauren Castleman, 24:05; 38. Jessica Brandon, 24:48.

Perryville -- 14. Emily Westmoreland; 15. Kendra Schilli; 23. Lea Clifton; 33. Aaron Martin; 37. Theresa Troncale.