Perryville wins first trophy since 1994

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- For more than three quarters of Saturday's Class 3 boys state cross country meet, the only team beating Perryville was district nemesis Potosi.

The Pirates hit a wall over the final 700 meters and slipped to third place. Despite a few thoughts of "what if," Perryville coaches and runners had no regrets on a day which saw the Pirates bring home just the second state cross country trophy in school history and the first since 1994.

"If it's a 4,300-meter race, we're probably second place," Perryville coach Wes Armbruster said.

Potosi won the race with 36 points, well in front of defending state champion West Plains. The Zizzers finished with 122, followed by Perryville (194) and MICDS (199).

"Bar none, those were the best teams in Class 3, and probably the two best in Missouri," Armbruster said. "Two coaches in the Hall of Fame. I'll take third behind those two programs."

Perryville entered the meet under the radar after finishing 14th last year. The Pirates had four runners back from last year's squad.

"Nobody seemed to give us any attention," Armbruster said.

Over the final six weeks of the season, the Pirates were nearly unbeatable before settling for second to Potosi in the district meet.

The returning runners all showed marked improvements from last year, led by senior Jesse Kueker, who was Perryville's lone all-state runner in 25th place in 17:16. Last year Kueker was 69th in 18:45.

"We went out really quick, and the last 200 or 300 meters I was giving everything I had; I was dying," Kueker said. "I fell across the finish line. It wasn't pretty. Our team was third. That's what we wanted, to come here to get a plaque."

Montana Giesler, a sophomore, finished 31st. William Benline, a junior, finished 61st, followed by senior Kyle Bert in 70th and fellow senior Andrew Thieret in 112th.

"This is the culmination of all the hard work we've all put into this," Kueker said. "To bring home a state plaque, what an accomplishment for our school and our community. The second plaque Perryville has ever had in cross country. We're awful proud of it."

With three runners returning from this year's state meet the Pirates will try to bring home some more hardware next year.

"We have a good group coming back," Armbruster said. "Three of the top seven and four of the top eight. This plaque will hopefully get those guys not doing anything in the fall to come out to the program."

Perryville finishers -- 25. Jesse Kueker 17:16, 31. Montana Giesler 17:33, 61. William Benline 17:59, 70. Kyle Bert 18:04, 112. Andrew Thieret 18:42, 130. Andrew Camarillo 18:58, 159. Ken Stevenson 20:05

All-state honors

Along with boys from Saxony Lutheran, Notre Dame and Perryville, three other area runners grabbed all-state honors on Saturday.

Cody Roper, a senior from Advance, finished 17th among Class 1 boys to nab all-state honors for the second straight year. Roper finished 19th last year.

Notre Dame sophomore Jessica Banda finished 22nd in the Class 2 girls race in 21:13. This was her first trip to the state meet.

"For her to run all-state her first time is pretty amazing," Notre Dame coach Bill Davis said.

Another first-timer, Central freshman Brittany Moreland, earned all-state honors in the Class 4 race. Moreland finished 16th in 19:51.

Snow sets record

Eureka senior Merideth Snow, who lived briefly in Southeast Missouri in her youth, set the girls state record with a time of 17:51 to win the Class 4 race. The previous record was 18:16. This was the third straight Class 4 title for Snow, who won a state title in Nebraska as a freshman.

Area finishers

Class 1 boys -- 17. Cody Roper, Advance, 18:08; 54. Nate Middleton, Advance, 19:26; 73. Terry Hafner, Meadow Heights, 19:49

Class 4 boys -- 36. John Kipper, Central, 17:03; 87. Greg Gibson, Jackson, 17:49; 113. Tyler Yeargain, Central, 18:08

Class 1 girls -- 34. Deanna Dippold, Saxony Lutheran, 22:46; 88. Whitney Breitenstein, Meadow Heights, 24:44; 101. Jessica Drew, Delta, 25:08; 106. Erica Wilfong, Meadow Heights, 25:24

Class 2 girls -- 22. Jessica Banda, Notre Dame, 21:13; 43. Victoria Pfau, Notre Dame, 22:00

Class 3 girls -- 53. Kendra Schilli, Perryville, 21:44; 78. Leslie Schilli, Perryville, 22:24

Class 4 girls -- 16. Brittany Moreland, Central, 19:51; 113. Amy Sterling, Jackson, 22:02; 117. Veronica Schabbing, Central, 22:06