Oh Happe day
Howell North senior rips field at McNair
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| Roy Sykes photo Francis Howell North senior Nick Happe finished first in the boys large school race at the First Capitol Invitational Friday at McNair Park. Happe finished first with a time of 15 minutes, 46.51 seconds. |
Happe's since-graduated teammates would be so proud.
The Howell North senior on Friday showed the crowd at McNair Park in St. Charles how far he has come by earning an impressive first-place finish in the Class 4 race at the First Capitol Cross Country Meet. He finished the course in 15 minutes, 46.51 seconds with a margin of 17.34 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.It was a confusing ordeal for Happe, who had some nerves and disappointment to overcome. He was hoping to race against one of his friends from Chaminade, who pulled out due to illness.
"I was a little disappointed he wasn't going to be here to help me but there was still great competition here today though," said Happe, who earned a third-place finish at the First Capitol meet last year. "I just got a little nervous because I don't know who I was going to pace off."
The course itself had several changes from last year that Happe wasn't entirely familiar with which led to a few uncertain moments.
"I thought I ran the wrong way in one point of the race," he said. "I'm still not sure if I went the right way. I came up to a 'V'. I asked where to go and one guy pointed one way and one guy said the other."
Happe, at that point well ahead of a pack of four St. Louis University High runners, just kept going.
"My goal was to sit with the pack through about a mile-and-a-half and pick it up until I hit the second set of woods," he said. "If people were dropping, I'd keep pushing. If they were sticking with me, maybe settle back in with the pack again and make a (move) later on."
He ended up beating his mark from last year's meet by almost 40 seconds.
"Schwab and Shipley are gone and Happe was the last of the link," said Howell North coach Bob Doak of a trio that finished 3rd, 17th and 24th respectively last season at state. "It's satisfying to have those kinds of runners. Some coaches never get one and I've had probably five or six real good ones since I've been here.
"That's what I coach for."
With just four runners participating in the varsity race, Howell North did not place in the team standings. Reigning Class 4 champion SLUH showed that it has the depth to repeat its title. The Junior Billikens had seven runners finish in the top 15.
Fort Zumwalt South senior Tyler Mullen came in at sixth, just ahead of teammate Eric Schulte in ninth and Fort Zumwalt North junior Jacob Benton in eighth.
"I wasn't feeling the best but I went out there, got focused after a mile, had a strong finish and a pretty good day," said Mullen, who finished in 16:23.05. "I felt I was strong through the (first) mile then I fell back a hair. SLUH had a pack ahead of me and with 1/2 mile left I started to pick it up a little and caught some guys."
Zumwalt South, Zumwalt North and Francis Howell finished fifth, sixth and seventh in the team standings. Howell got its top finish from senior Nick Dunn, who came in 12th with 16:40.54.
Haberstroh continues to climb ranks
Lutheran sophomore Emily Haberstroh is brimming with confidence.
After turning heads last year with a fifth place finish in Class 2, she's off to an even better start this year as a sophomore. While Haberstroh couldn't quite keep pace with three Class 3 girls in front of her, she finished fourth after an eighth-place finish at the First Capitol meet last year.
"I knew I couldn't really beat them, so I was just trying to drag them and get closer," said Haberstroh, who finished in 19:55.07. "I tried not to lead, just to stay up in the pack. We got to the last half-mile and I kicked it in."
"Fourth overall in a race with kids from bigger schools in it is amazing," Lutheran assistant coach Chris Mizel said. "Her workouts all summer long have shown she was going to run faster. It was a good effort for her. Those were some all-state girls ahead of her."
St. Charles West freshman Abbey Lauer (21:16.05) helped her team finish third overall in the Blue Division (Classes 1, 2 and 3) behind of Festus and Ste. Genevieve. Lutheran finished sixth.
The Blue and White (Class 4) Divisions were ran at the same time on the girls' side, so after Fort Zumwalt South junior Rikki Watts crossed the finish line she had to wait a while to find out how she fared in comparison to her field. Her time of 20:00.66 put her just ahead of three tailing runners for first place in the white division.
"I think she's taking up where she left off last year," Zumwalt South coach Greg Hallam said. "I think we're still a ways from her potential."
Read Wednesday's Journal for coverage of the boys blue division.
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