Cross Country Teams Finish Busy Week
The Nashville Cross Country teams finished up a busy week, in which they competed in three different meets. Nashville competed at the Sparta Invitational on September 13, the DuQuoin Indian Invitational on September 15, and hosted the Nashville Invitational on September 19. The harriers are off until the Chester Invitational on September 29. Okawville competed in the Sparta Invitational and the Nashville Invitational.
In Sparta, Nashville finished third in the boys meet and second in the girls meet. Nashville was also the winner of the traveling trophy for having the best combined boys and girls score with 201. The boys placed third with 117 points behind Herrin and Steeleville. Brandon Schnitker won the race with a time of 16:46. Caleb Zgonina also finished in the top ten, in seventh place with a time of 18:14. Landon Davis was the third Hornets' runner to cross the line in a time of 18:53 in 18th place. Gavin Love was close behind in 23rd place with a time of 19:13. Nicholas Orr rounded out the top five runners for Nashville in 68th place with a time of 21:33. Evan Anderson was the sixth Nashville finisher with a time of 22:15, just ahead of Derek Baugh who finished in a time of 22:16.
The Nashville girls took home second place behind Okawville in the meet. The top finisher for Nashville was Sabrina Kollbaum who finished in seventh place with a time of 22:01. Grace Maschhoff was right behind Kollbaum in eighth place with a time of 22:04. Brittnie Bartling was the third finisher for Nashville with a time of 22:54, which was good for sixteenth place. Jaylyn Bower finished in 21st place with a time of 23:35, followed by Avery Meade with a time of 25:11. Taylor Cook and Jadah Heidel rounded out Nashville's finishers in 37th and 53rd place.
The Okawville boys placed 12th in Sparta. The Rockets were led by Drew Frederking in 49th place with a time of 20:34. Frederking was followed by Russell Rodely in 54th place, Josh Madrid in 60th place, Tyler Roesener in 61st place, and Payton Riechmann in 77th place. The lone other runner in the varsity race for Okawville was Logan Riechmann.
The Okawville girls finished first overall in Sparta. Mallory Unverfehrt was the top finisher for Okawville in second place with a time of 21:08. Abby Riechmann wasn't far behind in ninth place in a time of 22:05. Madison Hackstadt was 22nd with a time of 23:49, followed by Megan Cook in 29th place with a time of 24:53. Megan Schleifer was the fifth finisher for Okawville in 45th place with a time of 25:49. Laura Weber finished in 50th place for Okawville.
The Nashville Cross Country teams had an off day before their next meet before the DuQuoin Indian Cross Country Invitational. The boys finished in third place behind Pinckneyville and Herrin, while the girls finished second behind DuQuoin. In the boys race, Schnitker was the top finisher for Nashville, as he finished in second place overall in a time of 15:53. Zgonina was seventh overall with a time of 16:59, followed by Davis with a time of 17:45 in 12th place. Gavin Love was the fourth finisher for Nashville in 16th place with a time of 17:59. Orr rounded out the top five for Nashville with a time of 20:49. Anderson and Baugh were right behind Orr with times of 20:53 and 20:56 respectively.
The Nashville girls team finished in second at DuQuoin with 72 points. Kollbaum was the top finisher for Nashville in fourth place with a time of 20:44. The Hornettes finished with three runners in the top ten as Bartling finished in eighth in a time of 21:16, and Maschhoff finished in ninth with a time of 21:32. Meade was the fourth Nashville runner across the line in 21st with a time of 23:24, followed by Cook and Heidel who finished two seconds apart. Taylor Cook finished in 30th place with a time of 24:44, while Heidel finished in 31st palce with a time of 24:46.
Nashville's cross country team hosted their only meet of the season at Washington County State Lake on September 19. The meet was Nashville's third in less than a week The Nashville boys placed third, while the Nashville girls placed second. Okawville's boys team finished 11th, while their girls team finished third.
Nashville's boys team finished third with 127 points behind Pinckneyville and Herrin. Schnitker won the boys race with a time of 16:24. Zgonina also finished in the top ten in eighth place with a time of 17:02. Davis was the third Nashville finisher in 22nd place with a time of 18:17, followed by Love with a time of 18:40, which was good for 26th place. Orr was the fifth Nashville finisher with a time of 20:41 in 70th place. Anderson was sixth for Nashville, followed by Brandon Restoff who finished with a time of 21:48.
Nashville's girls team finished in second place with 94 points, well behind Mater Dei, who won with 55 points. Nashville's top finisher was Maschhoff who completed the course in 21:02, which was good for fifth place overall. Kollbaum and Bartling finished back to back as Kollbaum finished in 12th, and Bartling finished in 13th place overall. Jaylyn Bower was the fourth Hornettes runner to cross the line in a time of 22:21 in 20th place. Meade finished in a time of 24:30, followed by Taylor Cook with a time of 25:05, and Heidel with a time of 27:19.
The Okawville boys team finished in 11th place out of 17 teams. Rodely was their top finished in 42nd place with a time of 19:32. Roesener was second for Okawvile with a time of 19:55 in 57th place, followed by Madrid in 63rd place and Payton Riechmann in 68th place. Logan Riechmann finished in 83rd place, while Frederking finished in 89th place to round out the runners for Okawville.
The Okawville girls team finished in third place, just behind Nashville. Okawville was led by Unverfehrt who finished in a time of 21:12 in seventh place. Right behind Unverfehrt was Abby Riechmann in ninth place with a time of 21:20. Madelyn Tepe was the third runner for Okawville to cross the line in 17th place with a time of 22:04. Tepe was followed by Hackstadt in 35th place, Megan Cook in 40th place and Weber in 43rd place. Schleifer was the last runner for Okawville in 57th place with a time of 25:01.
LEFT: Brittinie Bartling and Sabrina Kollbaum stay together on the course during the Nashville Invitational. RIGHT: Landon Davis finishes the race strong in 22nd place.
