Saxony cruises to Class 1 district title

The Saxony Lutheran boys squad breezed through the Class 1 District 1 meet at Jackson City Park to begin its state title defense.

The Crusaders, who qualified as a team for the state meet on Saturday in Jefferson City, occupied the top four spots and placed all seven runners in the top 15 to post a near-perfect team score of 17. (Perfection is 15.)

Peter Winningham won the race in 17 minutes, 15 seconds. Brandon Etzold finished second (17:30), Trey Maevers was third (17:33) and Max Wieser was fourth (17:48). Grant Lehmann finished seventh for Saxony in 18:04, with Scott Schwiesow placing 14th (18:58) and Andrew Etzold in 15th (18:58).

"They ran a really good race, from No. 1 to No. 7," Saxony Luther coach Larry Cleair said. "They went out and dominated the field. Our goal was to get all seven runners in the top 15, and we accomplished that and we were pretty happy."

The top 15 runners advanced to state along with the top two teams.

Advance qualified two boys -- Cody Roper and Nate Middleton -- while Terry Hafner advanced for Meadow Heights.

No local girls team qualified for state. Meadow Heights, led by Whitney Breitenstein's third-place finish, scored 60 points and was seven behind runner-up Crystal City. Eric Wilfong also qualified for Meadow Heights.

Saxony's Deanna Dippold and Delta's Jessica Drew also earned spots in the state meet.

Class 1 District 1

BOYS

Team scores -- Saxony Lutheran 17, Valley Park 54, Advance 101, Oak Ridge 105, Metro 135, Meadow Heights 155, Crystal City 158.

Local state qualifiers -- 1, Peter Winningham (SL), 17:15; 2, Brandon Etzold (SL), 17:30; 3, Trey Maevers (SL), 17:33; 4, Max Wieser (SL), 17:48; 5, Cody Roper (A), 18:02; 7, Grant Lehmann (SL), 18:04; 10, Nate Middleton (A), 18:29; 12, Terry Hafner (MH), 18:55; 14, Scott Schwiesow (SL), 18:58; 15, Andrew Etzold (SL), 18:58.

Local teams

Saxony Lutheran -- 1. Winningham; 2. B. Etzold; 3. Maevers; 4. Wieser; 7. Lehmann; 14. Schwiesow; 15. A. Etzold.

Advance -- 5. Roper; 10. Middleton; 25. Robby Maddox, 19:56; 35. Rusty Hendricks, 20:35; 36. Dan Van Gennip, 20:58; 38. Cody Van Gennip, 21:28; 46. Tyler Slinkard, 23:05.

Meadow Heights -- 12. Haffner; 32. Ruggero Morretto, 20:26; 39. Derrick Wilfong, 21:39; 42. Josef Brown, 22:08; 45. Zach Bynum, 23:04.

Delta -- 41. Alex Parks, 21:53; 49. Allen Seabaugh, 24:11; 50. AJ Horn, 24:39; 51. Nathan Stroder, 24:44.

Oak Ridge -- 16. Walter Ruessler, 18:59; 17. Caleb Schoen, 19:20; 18. Ricky Wilkens, 19:21; 29. Kaz Lange, 20:21; 34. Tyler Williams, 20:33; 37. Justin Aden, 21:02.

GIRLS

Team scores -- Valley Park 48, Crystal City 53, Meadow Heights 60, Metro 73, Delta 93.

Local state qualifiers -- 3, Whitney Breightenstein (MH), 22:25; 5, Deanna Dippold (Saxony Lutheran), 22:49; 7, Erica Wilfong (MH), 23:10; 8, Jessica Drew (D), 23:19;

Local teams

Meadow Heights -- 3. Breitenstein; 7. Wilfong; 17. Jenna Hahs, 24:44; 21. Alexa Sutter, 25:42; 25. Abi Wissore, 27:19

Delta -- 8. Drew; 18. Jessica Kidd, 25:10; 26. Amanda Seabaugh, 27:44; 28. Amanda Drew, 28:12; 32. Susannah Green, 29:11; 33. Aleshia Trovillion, 29:53

Saxony Lutheran -- 5. Dippold; 36. Alicia Bohnert, 34:39; 37. Cassandra Mirly, 34:40

Class 3 District 1

Perryville's boys qualified for Saturday's state competition with a second-place finish in the Class 3 District 1 meet at Potosi.

Jesse Kueker led the Pirates with a 17:20 time good for a seventh-place finish. Kyle Bert was eighth (17:22) and Montana Giesler finished 10th (17:37).

"We were shooting for that two spot," Perryville coach Wes Armbruster said, "but Potosi will probably be state champs. We didn't have our best day, but we put in a good enough effort for second. We're motivated for next weekend."

Perryville's girls failed to make the cut, finishing just two points behind second-place Festus.

Three girls qualified individually for the Pirates. Kendra Schilli placed eighth, Leslie Schilli was ninth and Kasey Riney was 15th.

Class 3 District 1

BOYS

Team scores -- Potosi 18, Perryville 58, Festus 104, North County 125, Farmington 134

Perryville individuals -- 7. Jesse Kueker, 17:20; 8. Kyle Bert, 17:22; 10. Montana Giesler, 17:37; 18. Andrew Camarillo, 18:32; 20. William Benline, 18:37; 22. Andrew Thieret, 18:56; 42. Kenny Stephenson, 20:59.

GIRLS

Team scores -- De Soto 35, Festus 53, Perryville 55, Hillsboro 92, Lutheran South 95

Perryville individuals -- 8. Kendra Schilli, 21:37; 9. Leslie Schilli, 21:49; 15. Kasey Riney, 22:32; 18. Lauren Blechle, 22:53; 23. Melissa Freeman, 24:06; 32. Jen Warfield, 26:58; 38. Kelsey Dobbelare, 30:27.

-- From staff reports