The McAuley Catholic cross country program had a historic day.
McAuley Catholic’s boys and girls both captured the team championships at the 2023 Ozark 7 Conference Meet on Friday night at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course at Missouri Southern State University.
“I was extremely pleased with the efforts of both teams, and of our middle school kids,” McAuley Catholic coach Andy Youngworth said. “We were able to win all four divisions, quite an accomplishment for the kids and coaches! It was a hot, sunny day, but I thought our kids handled it well. I was very proud of our student body who came out and cheered us on today.”
The McAuley boys repeated as conference champs with 31 points. College Heights was second with 38 and Thomas Jefferson (55) was the third team with a full squad competing.
“Our boys team had some pressure on them this year, as we were the defending conference champion,” Youngworth said. “College Heights and Thomas Jefferson have some very good runners, and I knew we would have to run a great race in order to win.”
McAuley junior Michael Parrigon was the individual conference champion, as he crossed the line at 16:41, more than a minute faster than the runner-up.
College Heights Christian’s Colton McMillan took second in 17:46, McAuley’s Trae Veer was third in 17:48, Thomas Jefferson’s Braden Honeywell-Lynch took fourth in 17:54 and CHC’s Connor Jordan placed fifth in 18:32.
Finishing sixth through 10th were McAuley’s Will Mollnow, Thomas Jefferson’s Liam Cook, CHC’s Owen Horton, McAuley’s Connor Taffner and CHC’s Caleb Quade.
Rounding out the top 15 were TJ’s Spencer Long, McAuley’s Alex Bohachick, CHC’s Steven Calandro, Wheaton’s Jayson Peterson and CHC’s Drew Sawkins.
McAuley’s Cliff Nolan, TJ’s duo of Ashan Appuhamy and Jack Twiss, McAuley’s Max Anreder and Exeter’s Josue Alcaraz completed the top 20.
Youngworth, who noted the Ozark 7 schools appreciate MSSU allowing the meet to be held on campus at the Rutledge course, said his boys team performed well overall.
“Michael Parrigon continues to run well, racing alone for the bulk of the meet,” Youngworth said. “Trae Veer finished third, beating some good kids. Trae continues to improve each week, and just runs very smart races. Will Mollnow earned all-conference recognition, as did Connor Taffner. Alex Bohachick finished as our No. 5 and continues to improve after a long illness kept him out of competition for a few weeks. Cliff Nolan ran a solid race as our No. 6 and dropped 45 seconds from last year. Max Anreder rounded out our top seven.”
The postseason awaits for the Warriors.
“We will face a very tough Hermitage at districts next weekend, they are the defending Class 1 state champions,” Youngworth said. “We will have to have great races from all of our kids in order to challenge them.”
GIRLS HIGHLIGHTS
McAuley’s girls edged defending champion College Heights Christian by just three points, 26-29. The Warriors had four top-10 finishers, while the Cougars had three runners in the top five.
“I think the surprise of the day was our girls defeating College Heights, our first-ever girls conference championship,” Youngworth said. “They are very well-coached and were the defending conference champions, but I challenged the girls a little bit this week, telling them they had nothing to lose by being aggressive and running to win.”
McAuley freshman Olivia Parrigon was the conference champion with a time of 21:07.
College Heights Christian junior Marla Anderegg was the runner-up in 21:37 and McAuley senior Kendall Ramsey took third in 21:59.
CHC’s Jesalin Bever and Lilly Royer finished fourth and fifth, while Thomas Jefferson’s duo of Macie Shifferd and Sarah Mueller were sixth and seventh.
Exeter’s Kaylyn Weiser finished eighth and McAuley’s tandem of Riley Sears and Marbellie Villanueva finished ninth and 10th, respectively.
Also of note, College Heights’ Madi Carson finished 13th, McAuley’s Samantha Perrin was 14th, CHC’s Katie Moss placed 17th, CHC’s Lilly Lackey took 19th and McAuley’s Genevieve Billings finished 20th.
Youngworth noted he was proud of how the girls team performed.
“Olivia Parrigon is our first-ever conference champion, and she ran most of the race with Kendall Ramsey and was able to pull away in the last 800 meters,” Youngworth said. “I think the key to our win though was the work of our No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 runners. Riley Sears ran a career PR and earned all-conference honors, as did Marbellie Villanueva, who ran a PR for the season. Our No. 5 was Samantha Perrin, who finished 14th, but dropped over three minutes from last year’s race. We are starting to run with more confidence, and I look forward to the opportunity to see them compete at districts next week.”
OZARK 7 CONFERENCE MEET
Boys team standings: McAuley Catholic 31, College Heights Christian 38, Thomas Jefferson 55.
Girls team standings: McAuley Catholic 26, College Heights 29.
FULL RESULTS: Ozark 7 Conference Meet 2023 – Meet Results (milesplit.com)
