Notre Dame cross country runners victorious on home course

(Corrected to show change in Oak Ridge results)

There's nothing like home cooking.

The Notre Dame cross country teams used their home course to their advantage Saturday, claiming titles in both the boys and girls divisions of the Notre Dame Invitational.

The Bulldogs' boys team won handily with 39 team points, paced by freshman Rudy McClellan's first-place finish in 16 minutes, 28.60 seconds.

Notre Dame's girls emerged from a strong field to eke out a win with 47 points. Farmington and Mehlville both finished within 11 points of the Bulldogs. Graves County (Ky.) was a close fourth on a course that was slowed by early-morning and intermittent rains.

"I was expecting [Farmington] to be a lot more packed," said Notre Dame coach Bill Davis after the girls' results were posted. "They're really tough, and they've had a great season.

"And Graves County brought a nice crew over. To me, those were the two that stood out."

Farmington's Tabitha Griffith dominated the girls race, winning in 19:26.11. Griffith, a senior, started pulling away from the lead pack after the first 100 yards and never looked back.

"The faster the pack is, the easier it is to pace yourself," Griffith said. "At the beginning, my goal was to run as fast as I could. About a mile in, I knew I wasn't running fast so I just decided to run to win."

Notre Dame's Adilyn Mueller was running neck-and-neck with Mehlville's Olivia Miller at the two-mile mark before pulling away down the stretch with a strong finishing kick.

"When I came around the corner, I had to kick it in," Mueller said. "I was hoping for about a 20-minute [time]."

Pack mentality worked for the Bulldogs, with four finishers in the top 11 for team points.

"Our main strategy was to have a good attitude, stay in contact and talk during the race," said Notre Dame senior Elsie Anderson, who placed 14th overall (11th for team points placement).

Other top area finishers were Katie Hanners (4th) and Maddie Baumgart (9th) of Notre Dame, McKenzie Elam (6th) and Alexis Wunderlich (8th) of Oak Ridge and Maddy McDonald (23rd) of Central.

"I feel like I probably could do a little bit better," said McDonald, a junior. "Part of it was the conditions, and part of it was the fact I've been out of it for the past two weeks."

McDonald is coming back from an irritated muscle in her hip that sidelined her the past few races.

In the boys race, McClellan helped set the pace with a pair of teammates, all three leading at the one-mile mark. At two miles, McClellan and Mehlville's Nick Bewen were shoulder-to-shoulder.

"Usually I stay behind and follow along, but I thought we were running a little slow," McClellan said.

McClellan finished nearly three seconds ahead of Bewen.

Notre Dame had eight finishers among the top 10.

"It's our home meet, and we were pumped up," said Bulldogs junior Michael Peters, who finished seventh. "Coach always tells us to run in a clump. Today we were so pumped up, it just naturally happened."

"They ran really well," Davis said about his boys. "The humidity had really peaked, especially after the first mile. That first mile is so fast, then they really feel it over that second mile."

Davis said McClellan's goal was to keep pace with Farmington's Ryan Parson, who wound up third in 16:58.45.

"[Parson] has the fastest freshman time in the state of Missouri," Davis said. "Rudy was ready for the task. And the other kids ran well. They ran in a pack."

Saxony Lutheran's Greg Hapgood continued his strong season with a ninth-place finish for the Crusaders.

"When I came into this year, I was wanting to get sub-18s," Hapgood said. "And I already did that."

So what's next for the Saxony senior?

"Sub-17s?" he laughed.

Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational

Boys

Team scores: 1. Notre Dame 39, 2. Mehlville 100, 3. Arcadia Valley 113, 4. John Burroughs 134, 5. Graves County (Ky.) 136, 6. Poplar Bluff 153, 7. Farmington 154, 8. Woodland 162, 9. Central 194, 10. Jackson 196, 11. Saxony Lutheran 226, 12. Dexter 350.

Individuals

1. Rudy McClellan ND 16:28.60; 2. Nick Bewen M 16:31.34; 3. Ryan Parson F 16:58.45; 4. Robbie Wunderlich JB 17:02.65; 5. Bailey Davidson PB 17:14.04; 6. Jacob Meadors ND 17:19.94; 7. Michael Peters ND 17:20.78; 8. Brock Kasten ND 17:29.72; 9. Greg Hapgood SL17:46.68; 10. Seth Anderson GC 17:49.40.

Local finishers

Notre Dame -- 1. Rudy McClellan 16:28.60; 6. Jacob Meadors 17:19.94; 7. Michael Peters 17:20.78; 8. Brock Kasten 17:29.72; 18. Tyler Pech 18:08.98.

Woodland -- 13. Garrett Reynolds 18:02.05; 34. Landon Thomsen 18:52.74; 38. Logan Thomsen 19:02.02; 46. Kyle Davis 19:20.65; 60. Jimmy Champagne 20:08.94; 62. Cortland Vawter 20:18.92; 72. Jarrett Lincoln 20:45.19.

Central -- 19. Logan Wright 18:09.98; 43. Dalton Buchanan 19:15.85; 50. Clayton Monia 19:26.26; 59. Matt Stearns 20:07.13; 61. Josh Morrison 20:11.07; 73. Alex Churchill 20:46.11; 75. Kent Bernhardt 20:56.74.

Jackson -- 15. Charlie Townsend 18:04.30; 47. Austin Dost 19:21.5951. Whitten Stoverink 19:30.96; 54. Caleb Bishop 19:40.00; 65. Tyler Spooler 20:28.94; 66. Brandon Gills 20:37.33.

Saxony Lutheran -- 9. Greg Hapgood 17:46.68; 31. Aaron Koehler 18:44.72; 64. Taylor Richmond 20:27.42; 82. josh Vogel 21:56.54; 84. Jacob Yantis 22>31.00; 88. Zach Woodney 24;31.49.

St. Vincent -- 12. Isaac Baer 17:59.31; 25. John Lipe 18:17.49.

Oak Ridge -- 30. Jake LeGrand 18:43.47; 69. Chris Seyer 20:40.99.

Kelly -- 35. Trey Walker 18:52.91; 39. Robbie Hopper 19:03.52; 52. Jerrod Lynn 19:31.97.

Scott City -- 36. Jesse Perry 18:58.65.

Meadow Heights -- 48. Chris Bollinger 19:22.09; 58. Josh Wilfong 20:06.04; 74. Ryan Foltz 20:54.97; 85. Ben Davie 23:17.38.

Girls

Team scores: 1. Notre Dame 47, 2. Farmington 56, 3. Mehlville 58, 4. Graves County (Ky.) 79, 5. Poplar Bluff 112, 6. Arcadia Valley 158, 7. Woodland 190, 8. Saxony Lutheran 197, 9. Jackson 204.

Individuals

1. Tabitha Griffith F 19:26.11; 2. Adilyn Mueller ND 20:18.41; 3. Olivia Miller M 20:21.09; 4. Katie Hanners ND 20:49.44; 5. Sidney Anderson GC 21:00.99; 6. McKenzie Elam OR 21:03; 7. Jessica McKenzie F 21:03.69; 8. Alexis Wunderlich OR 21:12; 9. Maddie Baumgart ND 21:12.11; 10. Anna Thomas AV 21:12.27.

Local finishers

Notre Dame -- 2. Adilyn Mueller 20:18.41; 4. Katie Hanners 20:49.44; 9. Maddie Baumgart 21:12.11;14. Elsie Anderson 21:31.40; 28. Jordan Meadors 22>05.58; 31. Amy Banda 22:16.09.

Woodland -- 38. Cheyenne Wells 23:34.11; 39. Bailey Jones 23>46.13; 52. Taylor Toombs 25:08.18; 57. Aiyanna Storie 25:30.03; 58. Rachel Ekstam 25:31.04; 59. Valerie Lewis 25:31.94; 66. Kathlyn Cooper 26:29.49.

Saxony Lutheran -- 41. Grace Hanebrink 23:49.36; 42. Breanna Etzoldt 23:50.13; 45. Kristin Gruenwald 24:36.61; 63. Kat Wollhousen 25:58.54; 64. Abby Breite 25:58.85; 67. Danielle Childers 26:33.80.

Jackson -- 36. Catie Dovin 23>06.96; 53. Morgan Asendorf 25:13.53; 55. Lilly Shell 25:21.84; 56. Callie Englehart 25:29.21; 65. Bailey Lape 26:11.86; 68. Becca LaPlant 27:11.55.

Oak Ridge -- 6. McKenzie Elam 21:03; 8. Alexis Wunderlich 21:12.

Central -- 23. Maddy McDonald 21:45.37; 30. Haley White 22:13.48; 34. Bridget Trepasso 22:52.02; 44. Aleksandra Aleksandrova 24:31.62.

Delta --32. Jamie Hodge 22:31.19.

Chaffee -- 61. Holly Rutherford 25:41.64; 62. Hannah Glueck 25:45.91.

Meadow Heights -- 70. Becky Mayfield 27:44.61.