Anna Sophia Keller struts her way to a fourth straight FTTF title (Tracy Burmester photo)
The 8th Annual FTTF Kick Off Invitational hosted by Metro East Lutheran High School has quietly become the kickoff to the Illinois invitational season. Although the majority of the listed are from the surrounding St. Louis area, there was a strong Illinois presence. With over 700 competing runners and around 50 different schools, the SIU Edwardsville cross country 5000 meter course was the place to be Saturday morning.
On the girls' side, it was a scene from previous years with Effingham St. Anthony's Anna Sophia Keller way out in front. The senior, who has run a meet record every year, didn't disappoint as she cruised to another record breaking time of 18:00.02. Coming in second for Notre Dame High School of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, was junior Alaina Baumgart, followed by Breanna Chandler of Freeburg High School who is only a freshman. In fact, 10 freshmen cracked the top 30 runners, making the years to come for this meet to be just as exciting.
The winner's reaction: "I was hoping to break 18:00 because in other years I was 18 low something."
Another Freeburg runner left their mark on the boys' side as Charlie Parrish, the junior, won the race with a time of 16:31.30. What seemed would be a close race between Parrish and junior Hayden Wimberly of Salem, was soon just Charlie separating himself from the rest of the field. It was Rochester junior Josh Cable who then made up some ground to capture second place with a time of 17:07.50.
Charlie Parrish gives a fast recount of his victory