Saxony Lutheran girls place five in top 15 to claim district championship

The Saxony Lutheran girls spent Friday night dancing away at the school's Halloween dance.

Coach Larry Cleair wasn't too worried about it.

"It got over early," Cleair said. "I told them to have a good time but use your head. They're great kids so I wasn't too worried."

He was right.

The Crusaders captured their second consecutive Class 1 District 1 championship Saturday with 33 points, edging out Chaffee with 36 points and Oak Ridge with 55 points.

BELOW: Oak Ridge's Amanda Lappe competes during Saturday's Class 1 District 1 girls race. (ABOVE: Saxony Lutheran's Kristin Dippold tries to catch Valley Park's Kelly Messina during Saturday's Class 1 District 1 meet.)

Saxony was led by junior Kristin Dippold, who finished second with a time of 22 minutes, 34 seconds at Jackson's City Park.

"I was really excited," Dippold said. "The whole week we've been working really hard and coach has been pushing us really hard. All of our team wanted to do good to win districts.

"We had a dance last night, so we got little sleep, but we did good."

Saxony placed five runners in the top 15.

After Dippold, Tori Winter finished fifth, Regan Oberman placed eighth, Claire Skelton came in 11th and Sarah Winningham captured 14th to round out the scoring.

Oak Ridge's Amanda Lappe runs during Saturday's Class 1 District 1 meet in Jackson. (TIM BRUMITT ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian)

"Our boys have had great success," Cleair said. "So for our girls to have the chance to win the district championship two times in a row is exciting. They worked hard."

The Crusaders weren't the only ones pleased with their performance.

Chaffee's Luisa Boschan won the girls race in 21:46.

"Very excited," Boschan said of her race. "I was nervous to do good for the team. It's exciting to know you can do better than the others."

Boschan opened up a large lead early and never relinquished it to pace her team.

Liz Schlosser finished sixth for the Red Devils, while Sierra Miller came in ninth, Sarah Sigman 13th and Randi Wiley 15th.

Oak Ridge was paced by Amanda Lappe. The sophomore placed fourth (23:15).

Team results -- 1. Saxony Lutheran, 33; 2. Chaffee, 36; 3. Oak Ridge, 55.

Local top fives

Saxony Lutheran -- 2. Kristin Dippold, 22:34; 5. Tori Winter, 23:56; 8. Regan Obermann, 24:47; 11. Claire Skelton, 25:37; 14. Sarah Winningham, 25:56.

Chaffee -- 1. Luisa Boschan, 21:46; 6. Liz Schlosser, 24:05; 9. Sierra Miller, 25:03; 13. Sarah Sigman, 25:52; 15. Randi Wiley, 26:33.

Oak Ridge -- 4. Amanda Lappe, 23:15; 7. Carlie Bolen, 24:06; 16. Shelby Proctor, 26:56; 21. Crystal Zoellner, 31:13; 22. Kali Myers, 36:00.