GRANITE CITY – Granite City High School announced that the 48th Annual Granite City Cross Country Invitational will now be known as The Robinson/Lang Invitational, in honor of former GCHS North head coaches Pete Robinson and Harry Lang.
The renaming was announced during the awards ceremony at the 48th Annual Granite City Cross Country Invitational held Saturday at Wilson Park.
“One of my favorite parts of coaching is connecting our current team to those who laid the groundwork before them and have established the legacy of GC Cross Country,” said GCHS cross country head coach Richie Skirball. “I’m honored to be a part of the GC Invitational and very excited they will be here along with many other Steeler and Warrior XC legends.”
The 1970s were a golden era for GC Cross Country, beginning with the 1969 and 1970 GCHS Warriors and the Granite North and South schools from 1973-1983. Coach Robinson and Coach Lang were an essential part of that, leading the Steelers to back-to-back state berths in 1975 (Sectional Champions) and 1976.
In the Fall of 1974, Robinson and Lang conducted the running of the Inaugural Granite City Cross Country Invitational. Nearly 50 years later, the Granite City Invitational has become one of the premiere cross country meets in the state of Illinois conducted Labor Day hosting over 40 teams from Illinois and Missouri.
St. Louis University High School ran away with the boy’s team title on Saturday with four top-15 finishes, while O’Fallon captured the girl’s title on a tiebreaker with Edwardsville after recording three top-10 finishes.
Individually, Alex Partlow of Carbondale nearly set the course record with a time of 14:42.40 to win the boys race, while Payton Schieppe of O’Fallon won the girls race in a time of 17:36.60.
For more information about Granite City School District #9, visit www.gcsd9.net.
