ALTON – Sophia Helfrich and Monica Klockenkemper finished in the top two spots, and it helped Alton High’s girls cross country team win their own Invitational meet Wednesday afternoon at Alton High School.
The Redbirds won with 27 points, with Jersey coming in second with 46 points, edging out third-place Collinsville, who had 47 points. Granite City, Marquette Catholic, Cahokia, McCluer High of Ferguson, Mo., and Maryville Christian also had runners who competed, but not enough for a team score.
Helfrich said she was proud to win her third straight Alton Invite crown.
Helfrich won the race with a time of 20:53.62, with Klockenkemper second at 21:13.78. third place went to Brinley Kelly of the Panthers, who was in at 21:14.52, Aliyah Rehling of the Redbirds was fourth at 21:22.73, and the Comets’ Teresa Jackson rounded out the top five with a time of 21:25.80.
Jackson was from McCluer High across the river in Ferguson, Mo., and said she enjoyed competing in the Alton race.
“There was a lot of good competition and it was a nice day to race,” she said.
To go along with Helfrich, Klockenkemper and Rehling, Alton saw Allison Pruitt finish in sixth at 22:35.89, while Jessica Gabriel was in at 27:36.42. Along with Kelly, Jersey had Taylor Woodring finish in eighth at 22:45.54, Belle Peterbaugh came in at 24:54.98, Reese Lorton was in at 25:03.00, Jerra Vanausdoll’s time was 27:13.18. Rory Speidel came home at 29:11.53, and Lillie Benedict was in at 31:10.33.
The leading runner for the Kahoks was Catalina Jimenez-Magana, who finished ninth at 23:04.53, with Danielle Cary placing 10th at 23:16.07, Claire Garkie was right behind at 23:19.07, Morgan Laing was in at 24:05.90, and Sadie Demick had a time of 26:13.94.
Mia Donald was the Lions’ only runner, finishing seventh at 22:37.30, while Elizabeth Genis was the only runner for the Warriors, coming in at 23:37.24, while the Comanches’ Jazmine Moncelli had a time of 29:10.47, and teammate ZyAirra Hold was clocked in 30:38.92. The leading runner for the Explorers was Sabrina Eccles, who was in at 23:53.01, with Cassidy Eccles having a time of 26:57.36, Grace Fischer coming in at 27:06.98. and Isabel Downey was in at 27:25.18.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
