COURSE RECORDS AND TOP TIMES

Boys 5k Course Record- 15:28.30 * Josh Thebeau, Potosi, 2006

Girls 5k Course Record- 18:41.8 Natalie Todd, Ladue, 2007

Freshman Boys 3k Course Record- 10:20.1 Daniel Raterman, SLUH, 2007

Freshman Girls 3k Course Record- 11:12.3 Angie Sumner, Eureka, 2009

Middle School Boys 2k- 6:38.8 Thomas Gross, Potosi, 2009

Middle School Girls 2k- 7:23.6 Kassie Rawlings, Potosi, 2009

Open Race 4k Mens Course Record- 12:41.5, Walker Yane, 2009

Open Race 4k Womens Course Record- 13:48.3, Elizabeth Knight, 2007

* = converted time from 2006 (course was shortened so EMT's could attend to a runner from the previous race)

FOREST PARK CROSS COUNTRY FESTIVAL
TOP 25 TIMES

Boys 5k

1) 15:28.30* Josh Thebeau (SR), Potosi, 2006
2) 15:33.35* Josh Mathis (SR), Potosi, 2006
3) 15:35.2 Caleb Hoover (JR), College Hts Christian, 2009
4) 15:39.6 Jacob Swearingen (JR), Potosi, 2007
5) 15:41.07* Kyle Rood (SR), Ft Zumwalt South, 2006
6) 15:43.0 Jake Erschen (SR), Marquette U. HS, 2009
7) 15:44.2 Jacob Swearingen (SR), Potosi, 2008
8) 15:45.8 Rick Elliot (SR), Kickapoo, 2007
9) 15:46.9 Danny Thater (JR), Kickapoo, 2008
10) 15:47.7 Ben Chapman (SR), Glendale, 2009
11) 15:48.7 Nick Niggemann (JR), Potosi, 2007
12) 15:51.98* Phillip King (SR), Rock Bridge, 2006
13) 15:55.3 Nick Happe (SR), Francis Howell N, 2008
14) 15:55.4 Caleb Wilfong (SO), Rock Bridge, 2009
15) 15:56.1 Adam Behnke (SR), Lutheran South, 2007
16) 15:56.1 Matt Schwab (SR), Francis Howell N, 2007
17) 15:57.4 Connor Callahan (SR), DeSmet, 2008
18) 16:02.52* Matt Lawder (SR), SLUH, 2006
19) 16:03.1 Danny Thater (SR), Kickapoo, 2009
20) 16:03.4, Nick Niggeman (SR), Potosi, 2008
21) 16:05.4 Wynn McClellan (SR), Cape Notre Dame, 2009
22) 16:06.40* Pat Cole (SR), Ft. Zumwalt South, 2006
23) 16:08.1 Alex Mason (SR), Herculaneum, 2009
24) 16:08.17* Jacob Swearingen (SO), Potosi, 2006
25) 16:09.3 Jeff Kaiser (SR), Rock Bridge, 2007


* = converted time from 2006 (course was shortened so EMT's could attend to a runner from the previous race)

Girls 5k

1) 18:41.8 Natalie Todd (JR), Ladue, 2007
2) 18:59.8 Briana Watson (JR) Jeff City, 2009
3) 19:00.6 Aimee Bonte (SR), Summit, 2007
4) 19:05.1 Grace Bridwell (JR), MICDS, 2009
5) 19:06.1 Alyssa Allison (JR), Festus, 2007
6) 19:07.09 Hilary Orf (JR), Marquette, 2006
7) 19:07.2 Conradette King (SO), Jeff City, 2009
8) 19:11.5 Alyssa Allison (SR), Festus, 2008
9) 19:12.8 Sarah White (FR), Potosi, 2007
10) 19:13.3 Sarah Jacobsen (FR), Potosi, 2009
11) 19:16.1 Sadie Darnell (JR), Festus, 2009
12) 19:21.0 Tessa Riley (JR), Lee's Summit N, 2009
13) 19:23.2 Rachel Carpino (SR), Lee's Summit N, 2009
14) 19:27.7 Liz Reida (JR), Kickapoo, 2009
15) 19:31.4 Lauren Borduin (SR), Rock Bridge, 2007
16) 19:31.59 Lauren Borduin (JR), Rock Bridge, 2006
17) 19:36.1 Lauren Collette (JR), Kickapoo, 2009
18) 19:36.9 Sam Garrett (SO), Rock Bridge, 2009
19) 19:38.0 Eileen Schweiss (SR), Herculaneum, 2009
20) 19:40.4 Sabrina Hostler (JR), Cor Jesu, 2009
21) 19:41.4 Veronica Schabbing (SR), Cape Cent, 2008
22) 19:42.2 Melody Elswick (JR), Kickapoo, 2009
23) 19:45.7 Ashley Scott (SR), St. Clair, 2008
24) 19:47.4 Krenda McClure (SR), Lebanon, 2009
25) 19:47.5 Leah Krause (SO), Francis Howell, 2009


ALL PAST RESULTS

RACE HISTORY

2009 - The fourth annual Forest Park Cross Country Festival was one for the ages. For the first time the meet became a two-day event with a course jog Friday afternoon featuring US Olympic Marathoner Brian Sell signing autographs and giving out Brooks posters. Brooks, a major sponsor of the meet, flew Brian down for the weekend and he was on hand for Saturday's races which were some of the fastest in the four-year history of the event.

The course was in very good condition and the girls, especially, took full advantage with 20 athletes breaking the 20 minute barrier. Jefferson City's Briana Watson led the way in 18:59.8, the second-fastest time ever at the Festival. Watson pulled away from a lead pack that included her teammate Conradette King, MICDS' Grace Bridwell and a host of others. On the team side despite Jeff City's big 1-2 punch it was the ladies from Springfield Kickapoo that took home the title with 73 points led by Liz Reida and Lauren Collette. Jeff City, Lee's Summit North, Jackson and Eureka rounded out the top five.

The storyline for the boys was whether or not junior Caleb Hoover from tiny College Heights Christian would be able to take on the top runners from all the big schools at the biggest meet of the year. The answer was a resounding yes. Hoover pulled away in the second mile and never looked back, running 15:35.2 and moving into third on the all-time list for the Festival. Grabbing runner-up honors was Marquette University High senior Jake Erschen who traveled down from Wisconsin to take on Missouri's best. Erschen and his Marquette teammates finished second in the team battle to hosts Saint Louis University High School, who won their third straight Festival title.

Other meet highlights included middle school records for the boys and girls for the second year in a row. Potosi's Thomas Gross won the boys race in 6:38.8 and his teammate Kassie Rawlings shattered the girls record in 7:23.6. Perhaps no race was more impressive though than the freshman girls race where Eureka's Angie Sumner blitzed an 11:12.3 to smash the old record by almost a minute.

2008- The third edition of the Forest Park Cross Country Festival was presented by National City and word had obviously spread about the event with many more out-of-town teams traveling to the meet including traditional State powers Jefferson City and Lee's Summit North. For the first year the fields were split into two divisions to accomodate the high number of entries. Warm temps prevented any possible course record attempts but the races still sizzled with tight team and individual battles across the board.

No race was closer than the battle for the GO! St. Louis varsity girls green division title between Jefferson City and Kickapoo. The two squads were tied at 96 points through five runners with Jeff City then claiming the championship on the strength of their sixth runner, Hilary Weaver, who finished 40th. The individual race was won by one of the top female distance runners in Missouri State History, Festus' Alyssa Allison. The senior added a Festival title to her already stellar resume' that now includes a total of eight individual State Championships in cross country and track.

On the boys side hosts Saint Louis U. High defended their title from 2007 with a resounding 72 point win over Kickapoo. The individual race was much closer with defending champ Jacob Swearingen keeping the Potosi winning streak alive with a two second victory over Kickapoo junior Danny Thater. Swearingen would go on to win another Missouri State Championship in November as well as qualify individually for the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon.

Other meet highlights included new middle school records for the boys and girls. Cape Central's Billy Leighton ran 6:40.1 to take home the boys championship while Potosi's Sarah Jacobsen covered the 2k course in 7:41.9 to win the girls race. In the junior varsity boys green division Rockhurst was able to upset Saint Louis U. High by two points while the ladies from Rock Bridge dominated the JV girls green division scoring only 26 points.

2007-The second annual Forest Park Cross Country Festival nearly doubled in size with more than 2,000 athletes competing over the course of ten races. The story on this day was not one team but rather the incredible depth in the GO! St. Louis Varsity boys and girls races. An amazing 34 runners broke 21 minutes on the girls side with 26 boys dipping under 17 minutes. With 32 teams in each varsity race the compeitition was as tough as any race in Missouri, perhaps including even the State meet. For the second year in a row the meet featured the eventual Class 3 and Class 4 State Championship boys teams.

The hosts from St. Louis University High School won a close battle over Marquette University High School from Milwaukee to take the boys team title at the Festival. SLUH went on to finish the season undefeated in Missouri and finished third at the Nike Team Regional meet in South Dakota. Marquette finished third at the Wisconsin State Meet. The girls team title went to the ladies from Ste. Genevieve who were victorious by a mere three points over a tough Rockwood Summit team led by individual runner-up Aimee Bonte.

The individual title for the girls went to Ladue junior Natalie Todd who blitzed a field that included Bonte as well as State Champions Alyssa Allison from Festus, Lauren Borduin from Rock Bridge and Hilary Orf from Marquette en route to an 18:41 course record. While Todd won by 19 seconds on the girls side, the boys race was much tighter with a pack of five separating themselves from the field from the gun. Kickapoo's Rick Elliot took the early pace, followed by 4:13 miler Adam Behnke of Lutheran South, Francis Howell North's Matt Schwab and the dynamic duo of Jacob Swearingen and Nick Niggemann of Potosi. In the end all five runners broke the 16 minute barrier but it was a late charge by Swearingen that sealed the race for the junior. His time of 15:39.6 made him the third fastest performer in meet history.

The girls Junior Varsity race was won by Columbia Rock bridge for the second year in a row as they outdistanced St. Joseph's Academy by 34 points. Marquette took the freshman girls race, scoring an impressive 34 points. The boys JV and freshman races were won by SLUH, making it a clean sweep on the day for the Jr. Bills.

2006- The inaugural Forest Park Cross Country Festival saw more than 1,100 athletes compete on the fast, spectator-friendly course at Central Fields in beautiful Forest Park. The story of the day was the Potosi boys team, who scored a mere 30 points to dominate a very strong field that included eventual Class 4 State Champs Fort Zumwalt South. The Trojans, led by seniors Josh Thebeau and Josh Mathis used the meet as a springboard to an incredible season that included another Class 3 State Championship and a 7th place finish at the Nike Team National Meet.

The girls race was won by the yellow-clad ladies from Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Mo. Led by individual runner-up Lauren Borduin the Lady Bruins put five runners in the top 28 and out-distanced second place Marquette by 23 points. Marquette came out on top in the individual race however, with eventual Class 4 State Champ Hilary Orf taking the victory in 19:07.

The boys junior varsity and freshman races were won by the boys from St. Louis University High who scored a meet low 17 points in winning the latter race. The girls JV race was another Rock Bridge versus Marquette battle with Rock Bridge coming out on top just as they had in the varsity race. Fort Zumwalt South took home top honors in the girls freshman race.