Photo by Bill Roseberry

Cassius Havis

After turning in the best season of his high school cross country career this fall, Cassius Havis is already excited for 2018.

“I want to get first-team all-conference, make it to state and get first team all-regional,” the Alton sophomore said.

Havis was the Redbirds’ top runner for most of the season, getting 6 top-10 finishes and finishing under 16 minutes three times. The strong sophomore season earned Havis this year’s Riverbend AdVantage News Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year award.

Last year, Havis was part of an Alton boys cross country team that won the Alton Invitational and qualified for sectionals. His highest finish was 13th at the Alton Invitational and his best time was a 16:57 at the Madison County meet.

Alton coach Vernon Curvey said he was amazed by the way Havis improved from his freshman year.

“He was performing great,” Curvey said. “As a sophomore, he has done really well. He has improved throughout the season, put in a great summer and we’ll just see how he does again next year.”

Havis’ sophomore season got off to a good start, placing 25th with a 15:55.3 at the Granite City Invitational on Sept. 2. He broke 16 minutes for the first time and earned a medal.

“It gave me a huge boost,” Havis said. “It’s the first time I broke 16. Placing up there was pretty good.”

Havis also finished third in the Alton Invitational, fifth in the Belleville West Invitational, had sixth-place finishes in the Madison County meet, Class 3A Belleville West Regional and Edwardsville Invitational and came in eighth in the Southwestern Conference meet.

A year ago, Havis didn’t get any top-10 finishes.

“It was pretty fun,” Havis said. “Last year, I was nowhere near getting top 10 in any races at all. It gave me a huge boost getting in the top 10 almost every time and getting a medal.”

Havis ran a personal-best time of 15:50 at the Peoria High Invitational at Detweiller Park. He finished 75th in the race after placing 198th last year.

“That was a pretty good course,” Havis said. “There was a lot of good competition up there. It pushed me a lot.”

Havis earned second-team all-conference honors with his eighth-place finish Oct. 13 at the SWC meet. A year ago, he came up five places short of getting all-conference honors.

“I had no idea I was going to do it this year,” Havis said. “I was going for third team. When second team happened, I was happy and so excited.”

Havis qualified for sectionals after placing sixth with a 15:56 in the Belleville West Regional, coming up one place short of getting a medal.

“Our regional was pretty hard and there were a lot of good people there, but I’ll take a top 10 any day, especially in our regional,” Havis said.

Havis’ season ended with a 65th-place finish at the Class 3A Granite City Sectional on Oct. 28. Havis and senior Kelvin Cummings were the Redbirds’ lone sectional qualifiers.

Havis credits Cummings for his outstanding sophomore season.

“Kelvin is a great teammate,” he said. “He pushed me a lot. Without him, I probably wouldn’t be doing any of this. He got me up during the summer to run with him.”

Havis started competing in cross country when he was in seventh grade at Alton Middle School.

“Back in middle school, I tried basketball and it wasn’t working out,” he said. “I tried out running and now I love it.”

Havis also competes in track. Last spring, he competed in the 3,200-meter relay at the Class 3A state meet.

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ALTON – Even the hot temperatures couldn't slow down Andrew O'Keefe and the Granite City boys cross country team on Wednesday at the Alton Invitational at Gordon Moore Park.

O'Keefe won the individual title with a time of 16 minutes, 34 seconds and helped the Warriors win the 12-team meet with 57 points. Last year, Granite City finished second to Alton in the boys meet.

In the girls race, five area runners earned medals. The top runner was Marquette Catholic sophomore Riley Vickrey, who finished fifth with a 22:37. Her teammate, Madelyn Smith, was sixth with a 23:08. Morgan Rauscher and Kellie Mans of Alton were seventh and 12th, respectively, and Granite City's Chessy Nikonowicz finished 13th with a 24:50.

Staunton won the girls title with 41 points, followed by Collinsville with 67 and Alton with 68. Lydia Roller of Staunton won the individual championship with a 20:13.

All runners competed in temperatures in the mid-90s in this year's Alton Invitational.

O'Keefe, who competed at state in each of the last two years, captured his third championship of the season and his second in a week. He came out on top in the Collinsville Invitational on Sept. 13. The junior started his season on Sept. 2 with a first-place finish at the Granite City Invitational.

O'Keefe won the Alton boys race by 24 seconds and earned his third medal at the Alton meet in his high school cross country career. He finished second in each of the last two years.

Two other Granite City runners also earned medals – Jeremiah Perry and Tony Harold. Perry placed seventh with an 18:22 and Harold came in ninth with an 18:30. Perry and Harold placed at the Alton meet for the first time.

Senior Tyler Tindall, the Warriors' captain, came up three places short of a medal as he finished 18th with an 18:58.

The Warriors won the meet by 18 points over Collinsville. The Kahoks finished with 75 points, followed by Civic Memorial with 109.

CM earned a plaque by having four runners place in the top 25. Leading the way was senior Cohl Callies, who finished 15th with an 18:39. Mark Eldridge was 19th with a 19:07, Parker Borth placed 22nd with a 19:24 and and Colton Hyman was 24th with a 19:29.

Alton placed eighth with 140 points and had a pair of medalists – Kelvin Cummings and Cassius Havis. Cummings finished second with a 16:58 and Havis came in third with a 17:08. Last year, Cummings and Havis were sixth and 13th, respectively.

Havis, a sophomore, picked up his fourth medal. Last week, he was the Redbirds' top finisher at the Edwardsville Invitational, placing sixth with a 17:06.

Cummings, a senior, also picked up his fourth medal in '17.

Vickrey, who won the Alton girls title last year with a 22:06, earned her fourth medal of the season with her fifth-place finish. She also received medals at the First to the Finish, Carrollton and Carlinville meets.

Smith, a freshman, picked up her third medal of the season. She placed fourth at the Carrollton Invitational and finished 13th at the Carlinville Early Meet.

Rauscher finished with a 23:17 and Mans ran a 24:47. The performances from Rauscher and Mans helped Alton earn a third-place plaque.

A year ago, the Redbirds came up one place short of a plaque as they finished fourth and Rauscher came one place shy of a medal as she came in 16th.

Nikonowicz received her third medal of the season with her 13th-place finish at Alton. Her best finish this season was 10th at the Collinsville Invitational last week.

ALTON INVITATIONAL

Sept. 20 at Gordon Moore Park

GIRLS DIVISION

Team standings – Staunton Bulldogs 41, Collinsville Kahoks 67, Alton Redbirds 68, Belleville East Lancers 116, Jersey Panthers 119, McCluer North Stars 134, Civic Memorial Eagles 167, Granite City Warriors 171.

Individual results – 1. Lydia Roller, Staunton, 20:13; 2. Seleiya Wilson, Belleville East, 20:36; 3. Maggie Fitzgerald, Collinsville, 22:30.24; 4. McKenna Laing, Collinsville, 22:30, 74; 5. Riley Vickrey, Marquette, 22:37; 6. Madelyn Smith, Marquette, 23:08; 7. Morgan Rauscher, Alton, 23:17; 8. Tristian Folkner, McCluer North, 23:34; 9. Cheyenne Finley, Centralia, 23:40; 10. Paige Scroggins, Staunton, 23:59; 11. Dana Jarden, Staunton, 24:01; 12. Kellie Mans, Alton, 24:47; 13. Chessy Nikonowicz, Granite City, 24:50; 14. Morgan Cook, Jersey, 24:51; 15. Erica Pickerill, Staunton, 24:52.

Other area individual results

Alton – 17. Lily Crader, 25:07; 20. Ainsley Redman, 25:31; 26. Jessica Markel, 26:02; 38. Emma Voumard, 28:15.

Civic Memorial – 19. Addie Callies, 25:28; 22. Ryan Allison, 25:46; 29. Kati Wells, 28:34; Madelyn Ehlers 29:30.

Granite City – 27. Emily Johnson, 26:13; 49; Claire Sykes, 29:56; 50. Kendra Kirkover, 30:00.

BOYS DIVISION

Team standings – Granite City Warriors 57, Collinsville Kahoks 75, Civic Memorial Eagles 109, Centralia Orphans 118, Belleville East Lancers 125, Jersey Panthers 126, McCluer North Stars 139, Alton Redbirds 140, Cahokia Comanches 289, Staunton Bulldogs 290, Marquette Explorers 302.

Individual results – 1. Andrew O'Keefe, Granite City, 16:34; 2. Kelvin Cummings, Alton, 16:58; 3. Cassius Havis, Alton, 17:08; 4. Benny Hernandez, Collinsville, 17:41; 5. Crede Cornell, Centralia, 17:54; 6. Zachariah Panek, Belleville East, 18:09; 7. Jeremiah Perry, Granite City, 18:22; 8. Sylvon Mosley-Mull, McCluer North, 18:30; 9. Tony Harold, Granite City, 18:30; 10. Cetris Ivy, McCluer North, 18:30; 11. Christian Cazier, Jersey, 18:32; 12. Jared Brothers, Centralia, 18:34; 13. Austin Roberts, Collinsville, 18:35; 14. Cory Fleeman, Centralia, 18:36; 15. Cohl Callies, Civic Memorial, 18:39.

Other area individual results

Granite City – 18. Tyler Tindall, 18:58; 22. Jack Blomme, 19:24; 36. Aiden Simpson, 20:00; 49. Logan Gilmore, 20:55.

Civic Memorial – 19. Mark Eldridge, 19:07; 21. Parker Borth, 19:19; 24. Colton Hyman, 19:29; 30. Will Davis, 19:40; 50. Julian Pizzo, 20:56.

Alton – 42. Zakree Wilson, 20:31; 54. Daniel Rojo, 21:18; 56. Alexander Beers, 21:30; 58. Isaiah Campbell, 21:33.

Marquette – 40. Cole DeClue, 20:18; 72. Seth Cox, 22:41; 87. Nick Hamm, 25:09; 88. Skylar Cribbett, 25:52.