Published: September 04, 2008 09:33 am      

Rams second at Murphysboro Invite

Staff Report

MURPHYSBORO — Three top-10 finishes helped the Running Rams finish second Wednesday in their cross country season opener at Murphysboro.

Mt. Vernon was led by Campbell Walters, who completed the Murphysboro Invite course in second place at 16 minutes, 41 seconds.

Jared Wilemon finished sixth at 18:04, while fellow Ram Micah Arcuri was ninth at 18:36.

The Rams finished with a team score of 52, six points off the pace of meet winner Salem. Centralia (76) placed third at the meet.

“We were able to get some kids in to their first high school cross country meet and they ran well,” said Rams coach Clint Turner. “Campbell was able to run with some good competition and see where his conditioning compares to others in Southern Illinois.

“We do not like finishing second and especially to our Route 37 rival, so we are going to have to keep working and will need to improve to compete later in the season.”

Carbondale’s Lucas Cherry was the overall winner in the varsity boys race, finishing the course in 16:18.

Mt. Vernon’s Adam Hurst was 12th at 18:47, while Victor Durham (19:44) was 23rd, Joe Capps (20:14) finished 28th and Perry Borah (22:08) ran 37th.

The Rams also finished second in the junior varsity team standings, behind Notre Dame High School of Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Mt. Vernon’s Dustin Ferguson (18:57) finished fourth in the JV race, while teammate Aaron Dunn (19:36) was 13th, Trace Turner (19:44) finished 16th, Mark Schmidt (21:40) ran 27th, Michael Jones (22:13) placed 36th and Brandon George (22:32) finished 40th.

The Rams travel to the Granite City Invite on Saturday, Edwardsville on Wednesday and will host the Mt. Vernon Invite on Saturday, Sept. 13.