Runnerup Pancoast leads Central girls team into Class 4 state m

ST. LOUIS -- Jennifer Pancoast again led the way for the Central girls cross country team, this time leading the Tigers to the Class 4 state meet.

Pancoast placed second in the sectional field on the 3.1-mile layout at Jefferson Barracks Park Saturday as Central claimed the fourth and final state spot in the eight-team field.

Pancoast covered the course in 19 minutes, 17 seconds, her second-fastest time of the season and second only to defending state champion Katy Bundy (18:59) of Marquette.

"It was a tougher course today," said Central coach Mark Hahn. "That was just a fantastic time."

Pancoast, a sophomore, will be making her second trip to state, but she'll be accompanied by her teammates for the first time. Central's girls last qualified for state as a team in 1999.

Central, 120 points, finished just two points ahead of fifth-place Parkway South to qualify.

"It was a nailbiter," Hahn said. "We knew we were in the mix and it would come down to a really close score like that."

Rounding out Central's score was Linnea Woldtvedt (32, 21:27), Holly Shaffer (34, 21:32), Cassie Kipper (43, 21:48) and Mallory Wilson (54, 22:23).

Marquette won the race with 46 points, followed by Lafayette (48), Washington (114) and Central. Jackson placed eighth with 166 points.

Central, 157 points, finished seventh in the boys' race, won by Parkway South (49).

Alex Schneider led the Tigers by placing 31st, one spot out of the top 30 individuals who qualified for the state meet.

The state meet will be held Saturday at Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City, Mo.

Notre Dame, Kelly qualify runners for Class 2 meet

ST. LOUIS -- Notre Dame and Kelly each qualified runners for the state meet after they placed among the top 15 finishers in the Class 2, District 1 meet at Jefferson Barracks Park.

Notre Dame qualified a school-record three male runners and two female runners. Kelly will send a pair of runners to the state meet.

Austin Critchlow (11, 18:35), Sam Montgomery (12, 18:42) and Matt Pfau (14, 18:44) qualified for Notre Dame's boys, which finished third as a team. Kelly's Trey Simmons (6, 18:13) and Michael Glastetter (9, 18:32) finished in the top 10 to also advance.

Sarah Unterreiner (13, 23:46) and Megan Rosenquist (14, 23:47) qualified for Notre Dame's girls team, which was fourth. Defending Class 2 state champion Herculaneum won with defending Class 1 state champion Valley Park second.

Meadow Heights, Oak Ridge qualify teams

ELSBERRY, Mo. -- Meadow Heights and Oak Ridge finished one-two in Class 1, District 1 as both schools qualified their boys teams for the Class 1 state meet.

Meadow Heights topped the field at Spanish Lake Park with 49 points while Oak Ridge (67) won a tie-breaker with Advance.

Alex Fadler (19:07) placed ninth to lead Oak Ridge and teammate Austin Morrison (12, 19:32) also medaled. Damien Lange (18, 20:13), Cory Woods (20, 20:21) and Jared Schoen (21, 20:26) rounded out the Blue Jays' team score. Oak Ridge will be making its first trip to state in the program's brief three-year history.

Advance's Cody Roper (4, 18:45) and Cory Roper (11, 19:26) qualified for the state meet as individuals.

Delta's girls placed third, just missing a state birth, but was able to qualify three runners for state.

Angie Green finished 10th in a time of 23:02 and Sarah M. Cook captured 12th with a time of 23:11. The top 15 qualify for state.

Aaron Kinder was the lone male state qualifier for Delta with a fifth place finish in a time of 18:53.

Boys' soccer

CLASS 2, DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT

The favored teams all won as the tournament got under way at Notre Dame.

Second-seeded St. Pius routed No. 7 Fredericktown 6-0, No. 3 Hillsboro beat No. 6 Sikeston 4-1 and No. 4 Windsor downed No. 5 De Soto 5-2.

Monday's semifinals will feature St. Pius vs. Hillsboro at 5 p.m. and No. 1 seed Notre Dame vs. Windsor at 7 p.m. The finals are Wednesday at 7 p.m.

-- From staff reports