Parry sets her own pace at Hancock Invitational cross county meet

ST. LOUIS -- Jackson senior Tori Parry had two goals as she prepared to run at Saturday's 48th annual Hancock Invitational cross country meet at Jefferson Barracks Park.

Parry wanted to finish in the top five and finish in less than 20 minutes.

Parry accomplished one goal and came within one-third of a second of reaching her other goal as she finished fifth in the Class 4 race, covering the course in 20 minutes, 0.32 seconds.

"I knew I was right on the line," Parry said. "But I felt I ran well, especially without Taylor around. This is a good measuring stick for the rest of the season."

Teammate Taylor Dickerson, who finished second to Parry's third in last week's Central Invitational, missed the meet because she was competing in a choir competition.

"I didn't feel quite as comfortable without Taylor around," Parry said. "She is usually the one I set my pace around."

Parry feels she is in good position to reach her goal of winning a medal at the state meet. The two-time state qualifier was 29th at last year's state meet. The top 25 receive medals and all-state recognition.

The Notre Dame girls had their best finish ever at the Hancock Invite, finishing second to Mary Institute-Country Day School. Festus finished third.

"That is the first time we have ever beaten Festus," Notre Dame coach Bill Davis said. "Today should provide a boost to our confidence. Our top runner [junior Elizabeth Kiblinger] felt sick to her stomach and almost didn't run the race. But she performed well as did the two freshmen [Maddie Baumgart and Elsie Anderson]. I have never had three together up front like I do this year."

Baumgart was the top Bulldogs finisher. She was 12th (21:26.67), followed closely by Kiblinger in 14th (21:32.01) and Anderson in 19th (21:37.97).

The Bulldogs boys also enjoyed a good day, finishing second to Festus. Ethan Holcomb had a top-10 finish, taking ninth in 17:25.73.

"The boys ran better than they have all year," Davis said. "It was a good day all around with some kids, both boys and girls, running a PR on a fairly tough course."

The Central boys finished fourth behind West Plains, Parkway West and Francis Howell. Eric Schott finished fifth (16:54.18) to pace the Tigers boys. Jordyn Richmond was the first Central girl to cross the finish line, taking 15th (20:45.37).

"We had some specific plans for today and for the most part we were able to pull them off," Tigers coach Mark Hahn said. "It was all about managing the race, and I think we took a good step forward in our race management. I am happy with all of the kids today."

Scott City's Brandon Shemonia was the lone local individual champion in the six varsity races. Shemonia won the boys classes 1 and 2 race, finishing in 16:47.60. Ryan Jackson of Herculaneum was second in 16:56.24. No other runner broke 17:15.

"He's doing great is what he's doing," Scott City coach Travis Schiwitz said. "As long as he stays within himself and stays within his race, I can't see him not doing really well in anything he does."

One of the runner Shemonia defeated Saturday, Arcadia Valley's Caleb Sutton, is the defending Class 2 state champion. Shemonia finished 28.30 seconds faster than Sutton.

"I wouldn't call him peak yet," Schiwitz said of Shemonia. "I would say he's right on where he needs to be at this point in the season."

Shemonia's run helped Scott City to a third-place finish.

Eric Essner was 12th (18:15.86) and Luke Keesee was 21st (18:57.23) for the Rams.

Classes 1 and 2

Boys

Team results -- 1. Herculaneum 29; 2. Christian 133; 3. Scott City 142; 4. Acardia Valley 165; 5. Pembroke Hill 175; 6. Valley Park 180; 7. Lutheran North 193; 8. Metro 194; 9. Principia 205; 10. Arcadia Valley 220; 11. Wright City 253; 12. New Haven 253; 13. Woodland 279; 14. Whitfield 327; 15. Hancock 344

Local top fives

Scott City -- 1. Brandon Shemonia 16:47.60; 12. Eric Essner 18:15.90; 21. Luke Keesee 18:57.20; 58. Tyler Adams 20:39.21; 63. Jesse Sanders 20:51.70

Kelly -- 30. Juan Campos 19:33.40

Woodland -- 56. Austin Stause 20:36.00; 60. Dalton McCormick 20:45.60; 77. Dakota Long 21:24.10; 83. Hayden Mayfield 21:40.90

Girls

Team results -- 1. Herculaneum 15; 2. Pembroke Hill 62; 3. Lutheran North 71; 4. Principia 91

Local top fives

Scott City -- 4. Melanie Lacey 21:44.40; 37. Miranda Brashear 27:18.40

Woodland -- 22. Haley Morris 24:14.40; 41. Tess Rainey 28:22.60

Class 3

Boys

Team results -- 1. Festus 64; 2. Notre Dame 113; 3. St. Dominic 130; 4. Potosi 136; 5. De Soto 167; 6. Priory 180; 7. Centralia 199; 8. MICDS 228; 9. Lutheran South 244; 10. John Burroughs 275; 11. St. Clair 281; 12. Moberly 295; 13. University City 323; 14. Clayton 349; 15. Hannibal 358; 16. St. Mary's 358; 17. School of Osage 421; 18. Owensville 482; 19. Dexter 576

Local top fives

Notre Dame -- 9. Ethan Holcomb 17:25.70; 18. Nathan Lincoln 17:50.00; 26. Josh Johnson 18:01.20; 27. Cole Ross 18:03.20; 48. Adam Raines 18:52.70

Girls

Team results -- 1. MICDS 98; 2. Notre Dame 128; 3. Festus 160; 4. St. Dominic 161; 5. Hannibal 165; 6. St. Charles West 181; 7. Pacific 183; 8. Borgia 203; 9. Villa Duchesne 230; 10. North St. Francois County 232; 11. John Burroughs 253; 12. Clayton 266; 13. Moberly 268; 14. Lutheran South 309; 15. Centralia 333; 16. Rosati-Kain 383; 17. St. Clair 389; 18. School of Osage 395; 19. Bishop DuBourg 492

Local top fives

Notre Dame -- 12. Maddie Baumgart 21:26.70; 14. Elizabeth Kiblinger 21:32.00; 19. Elsie Anderson 21:38.00; 41. Ashley Schmittzehe 23:01.40; 73. Tara Grojean 24:22.30

Class 4

Boys

Team results -- 1. West Plains 74; 2. Parkway West 77; 3. Francis Howell 106; 4. Cape Central 122; 5. Fort Zumwalt West 128; 6. Kirkwood 130; 7. Oakville 174; 8. Rockwood Summit 182; 9. Fox 237; 10. Columbia Hickman 238; 11. Jackson 332; 12. Vianney 339; 13. Poplar Bluff 346; 14. Chaminade 359

Local top fives

Central -- 5. Eric Schott 16:54.20; 16. Roy Leighton 17:14.10; 22. Colin Summers 17:37.30; 35. Brandon Bryant 18:00.90; 46. Lars Monia 18:17.30

Jackson -- 49. Riley Talbut 18:20.80; 51. Brock Nanney 18:28.50; 67. Ray Hecht 19:04.70; 84. Nate Martin 20:00.60; 91. Aaron Cheney 20:42.00

Girls

Team results -- 1. Rockwood Summit 78; 2. West Plains 102; 3. Eureka 115; 4. Kirkwood 131; 5. St. Joseph Academy 148; 6. Francis Howell 152; 7. Lafayette 153; 8. Parkway West 193; 9. Columbia Hickman 234; 10. Incarnate Word 244; 11. Cape Central 260; 12. Poplar Bluff 274; 13. Jackson 282; 14. Ursuline 356; 15. Oakville 393

Local top fives

Central -- 15. Jordyn Richmond 20:45.40; 34. Laura Chavez 21:41.00; 73. Lessley Dennington 24:06.60; 74. Chleo Legrand 24:18.70; 84. Mallory Dickson 25:05.80

Jackson -- 5. Tori Parry 20:00.30; 55. Lindsey Seabaugh 22:20.90; 62. Zhao Ni Dirnberger 22:45.20; 86. Kylie Christensen 25:07.00; 95. Xiao Shu Dirnberger 27:04.20