Nerinx Hall positioning for another podium run

 
WARRENTON, Mo. – It was a close battle for sectional supremacy Saturday, as two state stalwarts squared off again.
 
Nerinx Hall, the runner-up in Class 4 last year, got the edge over Rock Bridge, which finished just off the podium in fifth last fall, in the Class 4 Sectional 2 girls’ race 37-44.
 
Rock Bridge had a good pack to place four in the top 10, but the Markers had their own pack working and had their Nos. 4-6 bunched together just in front of Rock Bridge’s No. 5 runner to secure the team title.
 
“We did exactly what we wanted to do,” Nerinx Hall coach Gaylerd Quigley said. “We didn’t kill ourselves early in the race, and we moved through the pack mid race and finished strong. We did just what we wanted to do without having to over-exert ourselves.”
 
“(Meggie Hagerty), who has been No. 6, stepped up and finished as our No. 4. She bounced back after not feeling well with low iron early in the season. That’s promising.”
 
Hagerty, a senior, is one of three Markers who have not raced on the state course before. They’ll get a first look at the Oak Hills Golf Course on Friday before Saturday’s MSHSAA Cross Country Championships in Jefferson City. The Class 4 boys start the racing at 9 a.m.
 
Quigley wanted to help prepare the girls for big races and overnight trips, so the Markers included the Greater Louisville Classic on the race schedule this year. Not only did Nerinx Hall win the meet title, but they got to experience a schedule similar to what the state meet will offer.
 
“We go over there to get ourselves ready to experience a road trip and be overnight somewhere and run the course the day before and get that feeling so they’re not too intimidated at the state meet,” Quigley said. “So it just feels like one more race – there will be enough adrenaline going as it is.”
 
Nerinx Hall senior Sophia Racette aided the team score when she captured her first sectional title in 18:18 after leading the final two miles of the race. She said she wanted to keep a little in reserve for the state meet, where she’s hoping to erase last year’s ninth-place finish.
 
 
“I wanted to capture my first sectional win of my high school career; I’ve never had a good sectional race,” Racette said. “I wanted to go out kind of conservative. I wasn’t alone the first mile so I kind of turned it on, and in the end I was able to back off a little bit. I was happy with how it turned out.
 
“I want to redeem myself for last year for sure. Last year did not end how I wanted it to end. If I’m at the top of my game and have a great race, I can be top three, but in the end being on the podium at all is a great finish, individually and as a team.”
 
As Racette gained separation from the field, Rock Bridge’s Kayla Funkenbusch tried to keep her in sight. She stalked Racette around the course and finished runner-up in 18:57.
 
 
 
Rock Bridge coach Neal Blackburn said he expects Funkenbusch to repeat a performance like that next week on the state course, but it will come down to that pack behind her if the Bruins are going to find their way onto the podium this year.
 
“She’s got big goals to try to cap off what at times has been a really super career,” Blackburn said. “We’re doing everything we can to get her positioned into that top 10 and make a run for as low a stick as she can possibly be for us.
 
 
“We have to tighten the reins one through five, and honestly one through seven. Our No. 7 ran (19:39) today and was right there with our normal No. 2-3 … the goal is to be within 45 seconds of a good Kayla performance.”
 
The Bruins’ sectional split of the 1-5 runners was 1:16. 
 
Also qualifying for the state meet was Webster Groves (100) and Holt (107)