Highland boys, girls cross country teams dominate in winning Bulldog Season Opener
The Highland boys and girls cross country teams started the COVID-19 2020 season off in perfect fashion.
The Bulldogs boys rolled thanks to top six finishes by seniors Easton Rosen and Josh Loeh, and sophomore Dallas Mancinas in the boys division of the Bulldog Season Opener on Saturday at Firemen’s Park in Alhambra with 30 first place points. Rosen finished third with a time of 17.02:40. Loeh was fourth with a time of 17:59.20 and Mancinas took sixth place, clocking the 3-mile course in 18:51.90.
“In the varsity boys race Easton Rosen was running against two kids who are certainly all-staters. Justin Mumford from Wesclin just took off and may have ran one of the fastest times ever on the course. Tyler Guthrie of Father McGivney is smooth and strong. Easton battled early but settled into third and ran really relaxed there,” Highland coach Doug Bradley said.
“He’s had a rough summer in which he lost lots of training time due to injury but he’s getting into a rhythm again and I’m excited to see him get better each week.
Sophomores Cole Basden, Mason Steinbeck, and Ethan Smith rounded out the top 10 finishers finishing eighth, ninth, and 10th, respectively.
Junior Cameron Pace finished 12th overall.
“Our kids really shined. In the boys race we got two medals and were in one heck of a battle for another one but lost out,” Bradley said. “The varsity girls steamrolled their way to a perfect score and they grabbed all five medals.”
Father McGivney placed a distant second with 50 points. Wesclin placed with 54 points, and Chester took fourth place with 102 points.
In addition to an aggressive pace by both Bulldogs teams, Bradley said he felt like good conditioning paid off for both teams as the humidity pushed runners to their limits a bit.
“The weather was humid but the kids persevered and I felt like we were often the strongest looking team at the end of each race,” Bradley said.
Highland girls runners also perform well
The Lady Bulldogs also had a strong opening day, scoring the top five spots with senior Grace Meyer, Julia Loeh, juniors Faith Brindley and Madalyn McCall, and sophomore Liv Heinzmann leading the way to an impressive opening day first place performance.
Meyer won the girls division with a first place time of 20:35.40, while Loeh was second with a time of 20:50. 50. Heinzmann took third with a time of 21:12. 30. Brindley placed fourth (21:18.70) and McCall closed out the Lady Bulldogs top five finishing fifth (22:27.90).
“Grace Meyer has had a fabulous summer of training. She picked up where she left off last cross country season and has built herself into a better runner with some really intense training,” Bradley said. “Julia Loeh was really consistent today. She’s our engine. She doesn’t take her feet off the gas ever.”
Highland dominated the 3-mile race with a first place finish of 15 points. Alton Marquette finished second with 48 points and Chester placed third with 57 points to round out the girls division.
The Lady Bulldogs’ strong performance left Bradley feeling good about their early season preparation.
“The varsity girls showed up and took care of business,’” Bradley said. “I kept them in a pack for 2 miles and then they cut loose after that. “
The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will be back in action Saturday, Sept. 5, when they travel to Granite City and run at Wilson Park in the Granite City Invite at 10 a.m.