PERRYVILLE CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS EXCELL IN CHESTER INVITATIONAL

CHESTER, Ill. -- Perryville's and Kelly's cross country teams had big performances Thursday in the Chester Invitational.

Perryville won the nine-team girls division and placed second in the 12-team boys division, sparking the school to the overall combined title.

"We had a really good day," said Perryville coach Dean Lewis.

Kelly's boys were third while the girls finished fourth.

In the girls meet, Perryville had 37 points to 54 for runnerup Freeburg, Ill. Kelly was fourth with 93.

Perryville had five of the top 17 finishers. For the Lady Pirates, Renee Schlicting was second, Jen Hadler third, Andrea Weibrecht eighth, Jenny Danz 12th and Julie Berkbuegler 17th.

For Kelly, Laura Ruff was 11th, Melissa Garner 14th, April Cousins 16th, Megan Nelson 20th and Melissa Melton 44th.

Benton, Ill., won the boys meet with 62 points, followed by Perryville with 79 and Kelly with 80.

For Perryville's boys, Nathan Davis was fifth, Jared Tanz sixth, Nathan Moore ninth, James Boyce 14th and Nathan Fritsche 53rd.

Kelly's boys were paced by Nathen King, who was third. Also for the Hawks, Lucas Choate was eighth, Ashley Hahn 24th, Adam Daughetee 25th and C.O. Scheffer 28th.

"Both our teams ran extremely well," said Kelly coach Bill Davis.

Anna-Jonesboro Invitational

ANNA, Ill. -- Cape Central's girls placed second and Notre Dame finished seventh in the 10-team race.

In the 15-team boys event, Central took third and Notre Dame was eighth.

Carbondale, Ill., won both races.

Central's Myka Bohnsack took 10th, Kim Pancoast 11th and Brittany Ballard 15th. Lori Bittle placed 20th and Liz Meyer finished 22nd.

Jonathan Anderson, who placed 16th, led Central's boys. Mark Stone took 20th, Gabe Austin 21st, Jeff Haycraft 22nd and Justin Hawkins 23rd.

Notre Dame's Susan Judd placed sixth. Jean Stoverink was 25th, Laura Mittrucker 42nd, Micaela Shaffar 47th and Jill Eichhorn 49th.

The Bulldogs' Zach LeGrand took 30th, Matt Frey was 33rd and Adam Eftink finished 34th. Jason Peters took 46th and Brian Ivers 48th.