Prep cross country: CHS running toward end of season

The Chester High School Cross Country team is running to the end of the 2021 season. Here are the results of recent meets at which the Yellowjackets and Lady Jackets have competed.

Freeburg Invitational Meet

At Freeburg, 137 girls and 139 boys competed.

The winner of the girls' race was Elena Rybak from Father McGivney School. She had a time of 17:20.4 and a pace of 5:47. Chester's Madi Kribs finished 123rd with a time of 26.41.4 and a pace of 8:54. Teammate Josalynn Anaya finished 131st (27:42.3, 9:15).

Chester did not have a team score in the girls' race. Waterloo won the girls' Division with 69 points. There was a field of 17 teams in the event.

In the boys' division there were 19 teams. Benton won the event with 88 points. Chester finished 18th with 481 points. The overall winner was Gavin Genisio of Benton (14:47.9, 4:56).

Chester was led by Blake Farmer in 71st place (18:41.6, 6:14). Jacob Handel finished 102nd (19:48.9, 6:37). Blake Huffman finished 117th (21:05, 7:02). Hunter Decker, a new runner on the YellowJacket squad, finished 135th (25:41.4, 8:34). Will Welge finished 137th (27:05.5, 9:02).

Nashville Invitational

The Nashville Invitational featured 104 male runners and 86 female runners. The boys division had 19 schools represented with 12 team scores. Pinckneyville was the overall winner with 55 points. Chester did not have a team score.

Isaac Teel of Pinckneyville was the winner with a time of 15:58.89. Chester was paced by Blake Farmer, who turned in a time of 20:01.36 to finish 35th overall. Jacob Handel finished 74th (22:17.31). Will Welge finished 101st (27:20.66).

In the girls division there were 19 schools represented with nine team scores. Pinckneyville was the winner with 47 points. Chester did not have a team score.

The overall winner of the girls race was Olivia Phillips of DuQuoin with a time of 19:05.71. The Lady Jackets were led by Madi Kribs in 76th (29:11.99). Josalynn Anaya finished 82nd (32:18.65).

Pinckneyville Invitational

At Pinckneyville there were seven boys team scores. Pinckneyville won the race with 25 points. Chester did not have a team score. The overall winner of the race was Isaac Teel, who turned in a lead time of 16:05.

Chester entered just three runners including Jacob Handel (41st, 20:55), Blake Farmer (45th, 21:07), and Blake Huffman (57th, 22:59).

In the girls race there were nine team scores. Chester did not have a team score. The winner was DuQuoin with 63 points and overall winner Olivia Phillips (19:11).

Chester's two runners were Maria Nickle, who had a time of 26:39 for 56th, and Josalynn Anaya, who ran 31:56 for 70th.

Carterville Invite

The Carterville Invite featured 12 boys teams and 102 runners. The winner of the event was Steeleville with 42 points. Chester did not field a team score.

The overall winner of the race was Nick Fehr of Red Bud. He finished with a time of 16:00 flat. The Yellowjackets only fielded four runners. Blake Farmer led CHS with a 24th-place finish (18:28).

Jacob Handel placed 54th (19:45.9). Blake Huffman finished 90th (23:11.5). Rounding out the Chester contingent was Will Welge in 100th (27:05.8).

There were seven teams in the girls division. Carterville was the winner with 48 points. Chester did not have a team score. Ahry Comer from Golconda Pope County won in 18:13.

Chester runners included Maria Nickle (48th, 27:20.7), Josalynn Anaya (62nd, 32:06.3), and Madi Kribs (64th, 35:21).

31st annual Chester Invitational

The 31st annual Chester Invitational Cross Country Meet was held at the Randolph County Conservation Area on a mostly cloudy 79-degree day.

Eight boys teams competed, including Chester, Freeburg, Christ Our Rock Lutheran, Columbia, Nashville, Okawville, Sparta, and Marissa. Nashville won the team competition with 29 points, followed by Columbia (2nd, 75), Freeburg (3rd, 93), Christ Our Rock (4th, 116), Marisa (5th, 123), Okawville (6th, 134), Chester (7th, 167), and Sparta (8th, 186).

A total of 79 boys raced, including 46 in the varsity division and 33 in the freshman/sophomore division.

The varsity division was won by Nick Fehr of Red Bud (16:44.6, 5:35). Chester had two boys compete in this division: Jacob Handel (19th, 19:38.6, 6:33) and Blake Huffman (31st, 21:16.3, 7:06).

The freshman/sophomore division was won by Ethan Hogan of Columbia (18:49.7, 6:17). Chester had three runners in this division: Blake Farmer, Hunter Decker, and Will Welge.

Farmer, a sophomore, finished 5th out of 33 competitors with 19:39.9 and pace of 6:34. Decker, a freshman, finished 29th (26:22.2, 8:48). Welge, a freshman, finished 33rd (29:34.2, 9:52).

There were just four girls teams competing: Christ Our Rock Lutheran, Okawville, Nashville, and Freeburg. The winner was Christ Our Rock with 39 points, followed by Okawville (2nd, 43), Nashville (3rd, 46), and Freeburg (4th, 91).

A total of 54 girls competed - 29 in varsity and 25 in the freshman/sophomore division.

Chester had two girls compete at the varsity level: Seniors Maria Nickle (19th, 26:31.4, 8:54) and Madi Kribs (27th, 30:37.9, 10:13).

Sarah McKowen of Christ Our Rock won the varsity race in 20:41.1 (6:54).

Lydia Luechtefeld of Okawville won the freshman/sophomore division with a time of 22:19.5 (7:27).

Chester sophomore Josalynn Anaya finished 22nd overall and turned in a time of 32:02.0 (10:41).