Photo by Diane Cox

Arie Macias

The best may be yet to come for Arie Macias of Alton High.

Macias, a junior, established himself the past fall as one of the best long-distance competitors in Southwestern Illinois. That’s why he is the AdVantage News’ Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year.

And the way he is progressing, there might be more good things on the way. Take it from AHS coach Vernon Curvey. He views Macias as a sound work in solid progress.

“Arie has been improving steadily from the day he started as a sophomore,” Curvey said. Macias concentrated on soccer his freshman season.

Curvey added, “He’s an extremely hard worker, stepping to the line for every interval with the desire to be better.”

It seems that desire to succeed is ingrained with Macias. He comes from a sports family and is always striving for improvement. He snared it this season.

“I ran with more confidence and this year, I got more serious,” Macias said. “During the off-season, I incorporated weight training into what I was doing for the first time. I think that made me a lot stronger.

“I was pleased with my season.”

His additional strength and burgeoning confidence pushed his performances and enhanced his outlook. It showed.

Macias recorded his best time of 15 minutes, 39 seconds at the Peoria Invitational on the Detweiller Course. He earned second-team, all-Southwestern Conference honors and then finished seventh in the Class 3A Edwardsville Regional on the SIUE course.

“I think I got right mentally this season,” Macias said of his boost in confidence. “There were times during my sophomore season that I felt intimidated — like I shouldn’t be there in the top spots. This year, I felt like I belonged there.”

He ran 16:16 at the Normal Sectional to finish 31st and just missed out on qualifying for the state finals. He was also fourth at the Belleville West Invitational, fourth in the Alton Invite, sixth overall in the Madison County Meet and 11th in the SWC competition.

“I really wanted to get to state. That’s one of my goals for next season,” Macias said. “I also want to make first-team, all-conference.”

He added, “I want to be competing as a top runner in every single race next year.”

Curvey said, “Arie made the move to run with the lead pack early in the season at the Belleville Invite and that proved he belonged in that group the rest of the year. Although he didn’t qualify for state, he beat several individuals in the sectional that he hadn’t beaten the entire year from our area.”

For Macias, improvement was the name of the game. He will also compete in track this spring and likely run the 800-meters and 1,600-meters. Yet there’s a strong attachment to cross country.

“I’ve been running since I was in elementary school,” Macias said. “What I enjoy the most about it is the personal achievement. It’s just a great feeling to run and I think it’s the purest sport.

“It’s tough because it’s 90 percent mental. It’s all willpower.”

His mind over matter approach could carry Macias all the way to college competition in two years.

“I’d like to continue running and I’m looking at a few colleges,” said Macias, who’s planning to go into physical therapy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDWARDSVILLE – Will O’Keefe of Granite City added another accomplishment to his growing running resume Saturday.

The talented junior finished first in the boys’ 5K race during the Class 3A Edwardsville Cross Country Regional at SIUE. His winning time was 16 minutes, 25.26 seconds, more than six seconds quicker than runner-up Franky Romano of Edwardsville.

“One of my goals was to win the regional and I was happy about achieving that,” said O’Keefe, also the Southwestern Conference champion. “I wanted to hang in there and get the win.”

Alton coach Vernon Curvey noted, “He is just a strong runner and his foot speed is incredible.”

O'Keefe's brother Andrew, a freshman, finished third in 16:3.7.

“It means a lot that we finished first and third,” Will said. “I thought he definitely ran a better race than I did.”

Alton's Arie Macias, a junior, also ran a quality race. He took seventh in 16:50.56, following an 11th place finish in the SWC race at Belleville West.

“I was happy with what I did,” Macias said. “I’m moving on to the sectional and that’s all that matters.”

The top six teams and five finishers not on those squads advanced to the Normal Sectional, set for Oct. 31 at Maxwell Park. The three-class state finals unfold Nov. 7 at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

“My goal is to get through the sectional and go to state,” Macias said. “I’m very pleased with the way I’ve been running this year and I hope I can run the race of my life next week.”

Jett Durr, Sam Gentelin and Kelvin Cummings of the Redbirds also made it as individual sectional qualifiers. Durr is a senior, Gentelin a junior and Cummings a sophomore. Alton had 143 points overall and was seventh as a team in the eight-school field.

Granite City finished fifth as a team with 107 points and will be sending its entire squad to the sectional. Edwardsville tallied 38 points for team honors, followed by O’Fallon with 70 points. Belleville East (99 points), Belleville West (103) and Quincy (138) also advanced their teams to Normal.

The Tigers logged 24 points for the girls’ team title. O’Fallon (41 points), Belleville East (96), Quincy (104), Belleville West (140) and Collinsville (155) also qualified their teams for the sectional. Granite City had 165 points and Alton had just two finishers, not enough for team scoring.

“As far as team places go, we accomplished our goals with a sweep,” Edwardsville coach George Patrylak said.

Sophomore Brooke Witzel of O’Fallon won the 5K girls’ run in 19:32.72. Senior Rachel Schoenecker of Edwardsville took second in 19:47.54 and freshman teammate Maddie Miller was third in 20:05.24. The Tigers had six runners finish in the top nine places.

Alyssa Comer, a sophomore from Granite City, finished 23rd in 22:11.62 and led the five individual qualifiers. Teammates Kori Nesbit, Alexandra McLaren and Tara Khousana also advanced, as did Alton’s Tayton Kuebli. The Redbirds’ junior came in 36th at 23:42.67.

“I was definitely trying to qualify for the sectional and it’s the highlight of my career,” said Kuebli, who now will take aim on bigger and better things. “I definitely want to go to state.”

Comer is dreaming the same dream.

“I think I ran pretty well today on a tough course. It was one of my better races of the year,” she said. “Getting to the sectional is what I have been shooting for all season and now I’ll try and get through to state.”

Will O’Keefe has more than a goal of getting to Peoria. He wants to show that he’s one of the best runners in the state.

“I’m going to go for the win in the sectional and then try to do my best in the state meet,” he said. “My ultimate goal is to get in the top 25 runners and be All-State.”

Patrylak said that O’Keefe, sometimes overlooked because he’s outside of Chicagoland, shouldn’t be underestimated in the mix of Illinois’ best large-school runners.

“His coach, Richie Skirball, knows what he’s doing and has the experience of working with him,” Patrylak said. “Will is a bigger, stronger guy with speed. He also has a chip on his shoulder — like a lot of runners from our area — and rightfully so.”

Macias pointed out, “He (Will O’Keefe) sets the pace for guys from our conference.”

Class 1A New Athens Regional

Haley Kerpan, a senior form East Alton-Wood River, outdistanced the field and snared first in the girls' race at 1945. She finished 13 seconds in front of runner-up Kyrston Scifres of Roxana.

"I think that's the first female runner from our school to win a regional title," 26th-year Oilers' coach Russ Colona said of Kerpan. "She's a really competitive runner. Haley was in 11th place at the mile, then she took off and had a good finishing kick."

Kerpan finished second overall and first among small-school competitors earlier this season in the Madison County Meet. Next up is the Metro East Lutheran Sectional on Oct. 31 at the SIUE course.

Scifres' second-place effort enabled the Shells to finish third with 97 points and qualify the team for the sectional. Freshman Michaela Tarpley took 14th in 21:27 and sister Victoria Tarpley was 23rd  at 22:01. Shalyn Edwards, 26th in 22:16 and Alexis Stumpf, 32nd in 22:49; also figured in the Shells' scoring.

Marquette Catholic's Natalie Halliday, eighth in 20:35; also qualified individually for the MELHS Sectional.

Breese Mater Dei won the girls team title with 34 points. Freeburg was runner-up with 46 points and then came Roxana, five points ahead of fourth-place finisher Lebanon.

In the boys' competition, EA-WR wound up third with 117 points and qualified for the sectional. Junior Brenden Springman, seventh in 17:19, led the Oilers. Matthew Shea, 21st in 18:20; Andrew Noack, 28th in 18:57; Chase Wallendorff, 29th in 18:59 and  Ryne White, 32nd in 19:07; also boosted EA-WR.

"It's a young group and they really did well," Colona said.

Roxana placed seventh with 181 points and advanced its team to the sectional. James Henseler of the Shells was 17th in 18:02 to lead them. Cree Stumpf, 34th in 19:20; Will Cotter, 37 in 19:35; Dakota Stumpf, 40th in 20:00 and Zach Frey, 52nd in 20:50; complemented Henseler in the Shells' totals.

Freeburg won the boys' run with 22 points and sophomore Charlie Parrish of the Midgets finished first individually in 16:17.

Class 2A Jacksonville Regional

Alexis Singleton and Chol Callies of Civic Memorial advanced individually to the Decatur MacArthur Sectional, slated for Oct. 31.

Singleton, a senior, finished 20th at 19:20 in the girls race. Callies, a sophomore, placed 28th in 16:30 during the boys' run.

Rochester scored 40 points to edge Chatham Glenwood by four points for the girls' team championship. Freshman Katherine Perry of Rochester won the race in 17:02, Aly Goff of Springfield was second in 17:31. Jersey's Kiara Chapman and Kaleigh Grace advanced to the sectional.

Ben Flowers of Jersey emerged the regional champ in 14:49. The Panthers finished fourth in the team competition and moved on to the sectional. Springfield scored 39 points for the team title. The Senators finished two points ahead of Chatham Glenwood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALTON — Alex Singleton did Wednesday what she’s accustomed to doing at the Alton Cross Country Invitational.

She won it.

The Civic Memorial High senior prevailed in the 3.0-mile run for the second straight year at the Gordon Moore Park course. This time, she finished first in 20 minutes, 49.51 seconds. Cheyenne Finley of Centralia placed second in 21:30.72, or 41 seconds behind Singleton. Senior Natalie Halliday of Marquette Catholic took third in 21:42.54.

“I really wanted to try and win it again,” Singleton said. “It’s a confidence booster.”

She added, “The hills are a little tricky here, but I was leading the whole way. And that was part of my plan – to get out in front.”

Halliday, fourth at the AHS Invite in 2014, said running against Singleton helps strengthen her competitive edge. They will go at it again Monday during the George Havens Invitational at Principia College.

“I try to keep pace with her because she’s a good opponent,” Halliday said.

Collinsville scored 46 points to claim the girls’ team title. McCluer North finished second with 75 points and Granite City grabbed third with 81 points.

“We have good quality runners. It’s just that we don’t have a lot of quantity,” Warriors’ coach Richie Skirball said in reference to the numbers’ game.

Kori Nesbit paced Granite City by finishing seventh in 23:02.33. Teammate Alyssa Comer was 13th in 24:58.33.

Singleton has a busy week ahead. After competing Monday in the Havens Invite, she will run next Wednesday at the Triad Invitational and Saturday, Oct. 3, at Southwestern.

“It’s the time of the year when you have to turn it up,” Singleton said. “I’ve cut back on my mileage a little so that I can get more speed.”

Halliday, who has had to deal with a pair of right knee surgeries over the past three years, also is planning for a strong finish.

“I definitely want to go state. It’s my senior season, so I want to go out with a bang,” she said.

Ben Flowers of Jersey followed up his boys' victory Saturday in the Edwardsville Invitational by winning Alton Invite. His time was 16:32.12, or 19 seconds quicker than freshman Andrew O’Keefe of Granite City. Garrett Blanchard of Centralia snagged third in 16:53.58 and Arie Macias of Alton captured fourth in 17:05.15.

Macias, sixth in the Edwardsville Invite, helped the Redbirds take second to Jersey in the AHS boys’ team standings. The Panthers scored 43 points. The Redbirds accumulated 76 points, followed by Granite City, which had 85 points. CM was fourth with 107 points in the nine-team field.

“The first mile was what I wanted, then I sort of died out in the second and third one,” Macias said. “But I’m getting to where I really want to be and I need to keep working.”

Alton coach Vernon Curvey said, “Arie is a smart kid. He knows where he is at, where he needs to be and how to get there.”

Teammates Evan Rathgeb, 13th in 18:16.74; Alex Davis, 17th in 18:32.76; Jett Durr, 20th in 18:56.15 and Sam Gentelin, 22nd in 19:15.62, also figured in the Redbirds’ scoring.

“I think we have a solid group and just one senior (Jett Durr) in it,” Curvey said. “We have had some young guys step up for us.”

Frank Trost, eighth in 18:04.76 and Cohl Callies, ninth in 18:05.13; spurred CM. Teammate Weichia Li nabbed 23rd in 19:17.97.

Granite City’s Jake Roustio, 14th in 18:17.36; Kariem Ali, 15th in 18:17.69 and Josh Royce, 24th in 19:19.54, complemented O’Keefe’s running. His older brother, Will, didn’t run at Alton. Coach Skirball said Will O'Keefe be back in action Saturday at the Springfield Invitational.

“We held him (Will) out today to keep him fresh for Saturday,” Skirball noted.

Andrew O’Keefe savored his second-place finish to Flowers, one of the area’s top runners.

“It was a pretty hard course, but it was kind of a fun race,” O’Keefe said. “I’m happy with what I did.”

 

EDWARDSVILLE – Arie Macias made a big stride Saturday for the Alton High boys’ cross country team. He put his best foot forward.

The junior finished sixth in the 50th Edwardsville Invitational, a 5K event on the SIUE campus. His time was 16 minutes, 54.34 seconds.

“It’s probably my best finish in a major race and I’m excited about it,” Macias said. “As a team, we have started a little slowly this season, but this will bump up our spirits a little bit.”

The Redbirds, also getting a 48th place effort from Alex Davis in 18:25.15, finished eighth with 226 points in the 27-school competition. CBC of St. Louis snared the team title with 98. Carbondale took second with 109 points, followed by host Edwardsville at 112.

Jersey, showcasing individual champion Ben Flowers, came in fourth with 118 points. Flowers, a junior, won the race in 16:16.5, or nearly 17 seconds quicker than runner-up Atlantis Green of Carbondale.

“This course is the toughest one I run on, so it’s very exciting and satisfying to win here,” Flowers said. He joins former Jersey High standouts Ryan Todd and Sam Welbourne as Edwardsville Invite champions.

Civic Memorial, getting a 35th from Frank Trost in 18:12.39 and 39th from Cohl Callies in 18:18.60, took 13th with 348 points. Roxana was 17th with 440 points. James Henseler finished 67th in 18:56.67, tops for the Shells.

The Panthers’ Flowers will strive for another championship Wednesday at the Alton Invite. Macias also will be in the field.

“We need to keep having tough practices every day, and then we will come into each race feeling strong,” Macias said of the Redbirds’ preparation the rest of the season.

Vernon Curvey, the Alton coach, said Macias is becoming a team leader. The Redbirds were without key runner Evan Rathgeb on Saturday. He’s nursing a tender hamstring.

“Arie ran well at the Belleville West Invitational and he’s starting to figure it out,” Curvey said. “It’s a confidence thing. He’s running like he can and finishing where he belongs.”

Nerinx Hall of Webster Groves, Mo., showed where it belonged in the girls’ race. The Markers put four individuals in the top places and scored 28 points for an easy victory. Sophomore Sloane Montgomery won the race with a time of 19:19.22. Jenna Schwartz of Waterloo came in second at 19:25.71.

Edwardsville placed second with 72 points and Litchfield took third with 138 points. Roxana wound up with 237 points. Alton and CM didn’t field full squads.

Alex Singleton finished 29th in 21:10.69 to pace the Eagles. Kyrston Scifres led the Shells by taking 31st in 21:22.55. Roxana teammate Shalyn Edwards was 40th in 21:57.83. Singleton and Scifres are seniors. Edwards is a junior.

“It was a good race for me on a tough course,” Singleton said. “I’m feeling strong and I need to keep working at it.”

Scrifes is also aiming for improvement. “I’ve had a pretty good year, but I’m not happy with the way I ran today,” she said Saturday. “This is a tough course and we might have had too much of practice yesterday.”

She added, “My goal is to go to state and at least finish in the top 50 places.”

Roxana coach Scott Edwards said, “Kyrston’s traditionally a slow starter and she had a decent race today. She has run well and the big thing for her is to stay healthy.”

Edwardsville coach George Patrylak said the Invite, which has been around since 1966, continues to grow and features quality competitors from throughout the St. Louis area.

“It’s amazing that this meet is 50 years old,” he added. “When you think of some of the history of it, there have been some great runners here.”