The Mascoutah faithful should be in full force this week... as should the MileSplit IL coverage crew
Date: August 27, 2022
Location: Mascoutah Middle School
Times: Junior High Girls 8a; Junior High Boys 8:30a; HS Girls 9a; HS Boys 9:30a
Teams: Belleville (Althoff), Alton, Breese Central, Columbia, East St Louis, Father McGivney, --O'Fallon (First Baptist Academy), Freeburg , Waterloo (Gibault), McLeansboro (Hamilton County), Lebanon -- Marissa,
Mascoutah , Breese (Mater Dei) Nashville, Okawville, Pinckneyville, Steeleville, Wesclin
Team Rankings: MILESPLIT IL
In no particular order
Big meet status-
This will be the first major invitational of the season in the St. Louis Metro area (IL side) this weekend. On the boy's side of the ledger, look for defending champion Belleville Althoff to be dethroned. Two 1A schools of note are ready to duel and shake things up: #19 Freeburg and #24 Steeleville. They finished second and seventh last year. Earlier this week, Freeburg handled Althoff comfortably at the HOKA Postal Nationals two-miler.
Waterloo was the girls defending champion but they are no longer entered in the meet. It could be 1A #9 Father McGivney's opportunity to stand out. #22 Breese Mater Dei may have something to say about it all though. An "X" factor could be the host Mascoutah who placed second last year. The Indians lost top runner Jayda Williams to graduation but they retained five starters ready to battle.
Elena Rybak-
The uber-talented sophomore Elena Rybak from state ranked from Father McGivney will make her season debut and all eyes will be on her. It's hard to believe that Rybak lost this race last year considering her status but she did, to Eris Nelson of Althoff by five seconds. Rybak is also the defending mile champion with a personal best of 4:58.13. She will be very difficult to beat if the mental game is tight.
Isaac Teel-
A new entrant to the boy's ledger is junior Isaac Teel of Pinckneyville. Is one of the best runners in southern Illinois. No make that in the state when considering how lofty his credentials are. Teel won the 1A 1600m track title and took fifth in the 3200m. Already this summer he dropped some three-mile fire by winning the Detweiller at Dark title in 14:45. If nothing else, Mr. Teel should be worth the price of admission.