EDWARDSVILLE – Max Weber of Civic Memorial won the boys race. At the same time, Madison and Morgan Popelar finished in fourth and fifth, respectively, in the girls race as the Edwardsville boys won the 59th running of the Edwardsville Invitational cross country meet. The girls team finished third, on Saturday morning, Sept. 20, 2025, at the Mud Mountain course at SIU-Edwardsville.
In the boys’ race, Weber won the individual title at 15:38.8, while Wade Patton of the Longhorns was second at 16:07.1, Gillespie’s Chaz Oberkfell was third with a time of 16:19.4, Edwardsville’s Cooper Wittek came in fourth at 16:21.7, and teammate Colin Thomas rounded out the top five at 16:25.6.
The boys’ team won with 50 points, while Parkway West of west St. Louis County was second with 69 points, Civic Memorial was third with 81 points, Ft. Zumwalt West of St. Charles County was fourth at 151 points, and Pinckneyville came in fifth at 165 points. Mascoutah was right behind in sixth with 166 points, Belleville East was 10th with 345 points, Okawville finished 11th with 362 points, Dupo came in 13th with 378 points, in 14th place was Collinsville at 393 points, East St. Louis was in 15th place with 411 points, and Staunton came in 16th place with 443 points. New Athens also had runners who entered the race, but not enough to record a team score.
The top three runners for East were Jayce Peterson at 18:04.6, Keenan Miksell at 18:46.3, and Sebastian Powell at 20:27.0. To go along with Weber’s winning time, CM saw Logan Kearbey come in at 16:51.5, and Jacob Cranford had a time of 17:02.1. The Kahoks’ top three runners were Chase Cummins at 17:25.4, Anton Beljanski was home at 20:34.1 and Issac Perez-Lopez came in at 21:21.9.
Dupo’s top three runners were Keith West at 19:20.8, Carter Lumpkins at 19:21.6. and Aiden Finley at 20:40.8. Marcus Parker led East Side at 19:51.6, while Robert Harris was in at 19:53.8, and Durand Sain, Jr. had a time of 20:03.2. In addition to Wittek and Thomas, Edwardsville saw Taylor Davis have a time of 16:42.3.
Lucas Jensen was the top runner for Mascoutah, coming in at 16:35.5, while Jackson Schubert was in at 17:47.1, and Chris White had a time of 17:51.6. New Athens saw Cole Dachsteiner come in at 17:22.7. while Marley Hall had a time of 18:38.3, and Will Barlock came home at 23:15.1. Ryker Obermeier led the Rockets with a time of 18:58.3, while Gabriel Charles had a time of 19:15.4, and Ransom Lugge came home at 19:47.0. Aidan Green led Staunton with a time of 17:53.3, while Bryan Podwojski was in at 21:06.0, and Jorell Black had a time of 21:23.1.
Popelar Sisters Fourth and Fifth In Edwardsville Meet
In the girls race, the winner was Savannah Amann of St. Joe’s was the individual champion, coming in at 18:51.8, while Jaydyn Gerard of Anna-Jonesboro finished second at 19:23.2, Okawville’s Caroline Tepe was third at 19:31.8, Madison Popelar was fourth at 19:56.8, and Morgan Popelar rounded out the top five, having a time of 19:59.3.
In the girls’ race, the team champions were the Tigers, with 36 points, with Anna-Jonesboro second at 60 points, St. Joseph’s Academy Catholic of west St. Louis County was third with 66 points, the Indians finished fourth at 136 points, and Parkway West rounded out the top five with 146 points. The Rockets came in sixth at 227 points, the Eagles finished ninth at 253 points, the Flyers came in 10th at 258 points, the Lancers came in 12th at 292 points, and the Bulldogs finished 13th with 326 points. The Kahoks, Dupo, and the Yellow Jackets, along with Woodlawn, also had runners who competed in the race, but not enough to keep a team score.
Paulette Millender was the top runner for East with a time of 21:53.5, while Aziza Walker was in at 23:25.2, and Meagan Prott came in at 26:20.4. Olivia Wiley led the Eagles with a time of 22:56.5, while Lillie Wood came home at 23:46.1, and Taylor Brooks came in at 24:04.4. Collinsville had two runners in the field, with Ivanna Torres was in at 28:30.2, and Esme Malo came in at 28:47.3
Dupo saw Tania Rivas lead the way with a time of 23:34.8, while McCullouch Miller right behind of 27:21.6, and Izzy White was in at 31:16.5. Daniya Hill led the Flyers with a time of 21:24.0, while Shirloria Stewart came home at 24:06.2, and Branae Brown was in at 24:28.7. In addition to the Popelar sisters, Edwardsville saw Ella Thompson finish eighth at 20:07.9, with Reagan Jumper coming in ninth at 20:15.0, and Willow Jackson was 10th at 20:15.2.
Milla Cryder led Mascoutah with a time of 21:15.3, while Ryleigh Pillar had a time of 21:56.5, and Chloe Millett was in at 22:03,8. Brooke Deterding was the only runner for New Athens, coming in at 20:46.1, and along with Tepe, Okawville saw Kaylee Wolf have a time of 23:08.5, and Katelyn Gogolski come in at 23:55.9. Carly Kolesa led Staunton with a time of 22:52.9. At the same time, Elsah Clark was home at 26:27.1, and Lydia LaRosa had a time of 27:50.0.
