EHS wins conference
Squad sets pace against Panthers
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| Ken Aubuchon photo Edwardsville senior Andrew Jossleyn finished second at the Southwestern Conference meet. |
"O'Fallon has been running really well and that's been our main focus today," EHS coach George Patrylak said. "It wasn't so much individual places, but trying to break up their top three and see if we could get five ahead of their No. 4. They're running really well and going to be one of the top teams at sectional."
O'Fallon's Dan Dunbar and Joshua Eichmeier placed first and third, but the Tigers had three in the top seven and five in the top 16.Andrew Josselyn (second, 15:39), Devon Dudding (fifth, 15:45), Eric Johannigmeier (seventh, 15:51), Charlie Vance (13th, 16:33) and Jarrod Goodhue (16th, 16:45) scored for the Tigers, who won with 43 points.
The rest of O'Fallon's scorers finished placed ninth, 18th and 20th as the Panthers placed second with 51.
Granite City (87), Belleville West (110), Collinsville (116), Belleville East (151), Alton (152) and East St. Louis (195) rounded out the field.
"We thought we had a little bit to prove after Saturday's debacle (at Centralia)," Patrylak said. "They came out and ran really well."
Josselyn has been coming on strong recently and raced to the conference's runner-up spot individually after not knowing if he wanted to run this season.
"Early in the season when I wasn't sure if we were going to have Andrew or not," Patrylak said. "I told people he was going to be a key part. I don't think some people realized how critical Andrew is. He's running now and training with a fire and a passion I have not seen from many runners in the past. He's focused, he feels he has something to prove. He's been a leader for us this year and I know he's not satisfied. He wasn't sure if he wanted to run this year. Obviously he's made the right choice, now he's talking about hopefully getting to run in college."
Johannigmeier, a senior, and Dudding, a sophomore, continued their strong campaigns.
"Eric and Devon continue to do well," Patrylak said. "Eric was a freshman who was close to being a walker, so for him to get to where he is is great. Devon is running tired right now. He's kind of in some uncharted water because he was banged up by this point in the season last year. He's still trying to gain some confidence."
Another key for the Tigers was getting Vance back in the lineup.
"This was our first day having Charlie Vance back, he's been having some hip problems. He's definitely in a lot of pain," Patrylak said. "On top of that Jarrod Goodhue did a great job getting out. His goal was to beat O'Fallon's No. 4. In the front, O'Fallon was right with us if not beating us and 4-5 pulled through."
Gil Flores (22nd, 17:02) and Jake Nelson (23rd, 17:04) gave the Tigers strong performances as the sixth and seventh runners.
" Gil and Jake had really good races too to finish ahead of O'Fallon's No. 6 runner," Patrylak said. "Hopefully they're starting to pull it together."
Patrylak said the Tigers will keep a close eye on O'Fallon again in the postseason.
"At regionals there will be a lot of good individuals," Patrylak said. "It'll probably be very similar to this, toe-to-toe, blow-to-blow with O'Fallon and just a handful of points (separating the two teams). I know they'll be ready. We had the hardest work out of the year Tuesday, from here out we're going shorter and faster in the weekends and get ready to go for the next three weekends."
The Tigers will compete in the Wood River Regional Saturday and if they should advance, the Centralia Sectional next weekend.
E-mail:jcavato@yourjournal.com
