Published: October 01, 2008 09:47 am      

Rams, Lady Rams win at Marion meet

Staff Report

MARION — Both the Rams and Lady Rams won in their first visit to the new cross country course at Marion on Tuesday.

The Rams got a second-place finish from Campbell Walters to win the boys team race, while the Lady Rams got a 1-2 finish from Margo Richardson and Stephanie Modert.

“This is where our conference meet will be run,” said Lady Rams coach Connie Harre-Blair. “The sports complex which has been developed is a very beautiful site.”

The Rams placed five runners in the top 10 to pick up a victory in a four-way meet at the Harry Crisp Sportsplex.

Campbell Walters battled Carbondale's Lucas Cherry from Carbondale out of the gate with Walters coming in second with a time of 16:41.

Caleb Cross was third after a time of 17:51. Jared Wilemon was fourth in a time of 17:54, while Dustin Ferguson placed fifth with a time of 18:13.

Adam Hurst closed out the Rams' impressive top 10 performance with an eighth place showing and a time of 18:41.

The Rams totaled 22 points to win the four-way meet. Carbondale was second with 53 points, Centralia third at 62 points and Marion pulled in fourth with 114 points.

"We have had a lot of kids ill over the past two weeks and we're not 100 percent yet, but we are getting better with each week," said Mt. Vernon coach Clint Turner.

"It was great to see the freshman, Dustin Ferguson, step up solid as a varsity runner and keep an eye on Perry Borah, who was the Rams' seventh man.

"He is getting in shape and hopefully will be a factor for later in the year. He could be a big factor for the team in the post season push for the state meet. Everyone ran great."

Micah Arcuri was 13th with a time of 19:01. Perry Borah placed 14th with a time of 19:07. Victor Durham finished 17th with a time of 19:18, while Aaron Dunn was 19th with a time of 19:28 and Trace Turner took 20th in a time of 20:07.

Joe Capps was 23rd after posting a time of 20:34. Michael Jones took 32nd with a time of 22:08, while Mark Schmidt (22:26) placed 34th and Brandon George took 36th with a time of 22:57.

For the Lady Rams, Richardson finished with a time of 19:42, with Modert coming in second at 20:57.

Davianne Kirk (fifth, 22:43), Toni Huff (seventh, 23:01) and Jenna Wilemon (10th, 23:21) also ran in the top 10 for Mt. Vernon.

Jessica Cooper (25:02) finished 19th for the Lady Rams, while Jessica Cooper (25:02) ran 21st.

Mt. Vernon’s girls finished with a team score of 25, ahead of second-place Carbondale (50). Centralia was third at 66, while Marion recorded no team score.

Both the Rams and Lady Rams will run Saturday at the Peoria Invitational, which is held on the state meet course at Detweiller Park.

The girls race will begin at 10:30 a.m., with the boys running 45 minutes later.