<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2I3N9R_0vkxMSUX00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2I3N9R_0vkxMSUX00" width="780" height="520" ><figcaption>Northwest sophomore Rose Nicholls finished fifth in 21:09.41 at the Bowles-Wright Invitational at Larry G. Crites Memorial Park in Festus on Sept. 21. Russell Korando photo</figcaption></figure>Not only do the courses change from week to week for cross country runners, but the conditions do as well.Despite starting the meet at 9 a.m., unseasonably high temperatures and humidity greeted the runners at the Festus Bowles-Wright Invitational at Larry G. Crites Memorial Park Sept. 21. By the time they completed the five-kilometer (3.1-mile) course, they were all bathed in sweat.A week after finishing seventh in 20:13.10 in more temperate conditions at the Stan Nelson Invitational, Northwest sophomore Rose Nicholls moved up in finish (fifth) but added almost a minute in time (21:09.41) because the hilly course in Festus is tougher than the Lions’ home layout in House Springs, and because of the weather.Times were slower across the board. None of the 58 finishers in the girls race came close to breaking 20 minutes.“It makes it harder to breathe, so much harder,” said Nicholls, a Class 5 state qualifier in 2023. “This is probably one of my least-favorite courses. Those hills are absolutely brutal. There’s a steep, muddy hill between the second and third mile. It feels like it’s straight up. And it’s pure mud and dirt. You’re trying so hard to get up. I felt like I was walking up it.”Lafayette, a Class 5 school, and Class 4 Festus waged a spirited battle for the girls team title, with the Lancers edging the hosts 61-63. Five Lafayette runners finished in the top 18. Sophomore Alexis Sandberg was the Lancers’ top runner, four seconds behind Nicholls. Lutheran-St. Charles senior Madalyn Mahoney won in 20:20.33.Nicholls was Northwest’s only girls competitor. The Lions hadn’t run at Crites Park in 10 years.“My coaches told me to stay up with the top girl, but she can do hills better than I can,” said Nicholls, who set her personal record of 19:40 at the district meet last year.The Lions will run at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia Saturday. Gans Creek, one of the fastest courses in Missouri, is the site of the state championships Nov. 8-9.“I want to go for the 19s and break my PR,” she said.The Fox girls had two runners at Bowles-Wright, sophomore Kayley Greene (52nd, 28:04.48) and freshman Audrey Freeman (54th, 28:22.51).The Northwest boys had never competed in the Bowles-Wright meet, normally traveling to Cape Girardeau the same weekend for the Cape Tigers Invitational. The Lion boys found Crites Park no less challenging, finishing seventh with 217 points. Kirkwood, paced by individual champ Graham Stevener (16:06) outran Festus 37-55 for the team championship.During the track and field season last spring, Northwest’s Michael Kershaw met his goal of running the 3,200-meters in under 10 minutes. The senior is firmly established as the Lions’ top runner this fall and he was their first finisher at Festus, placing ninth in 17:24.07.“He wants to see (times in the) 15s by the end of the year,” Northwest boys head coach Ken Campbell said. “He ran 16:17 last year at districts and he really believes he can (do it) when we do goal workouts. That’s on our list.“This is a tougher course (at Crites Park) than we’ve been on in a while. It’s a little soft (and) pretty hilly. Everybody’s times were off. Even the winner was off by about 45 seconds (compared to) last week at the Stan Nelson meet.“We don’t look at the times so much as how the kids race. This was our best race of the season so far.”Northwest’s other boys finishers at Bowles-Wright were junior Jackson Judge (45th, 19:04.17), freshman Jeremiah Brown (46th, 19:04.48), junior Tyler Brown (67th, 19:41.55), junior Carston Wilson (73rd, 20:00.26) and senior Evan Porter (82nd, 20:18.59).“Jackson Judge got tough and was our No. 2 today,” Campbell said. “The goal was to get out fast and then see how tough we are. Michael was in the top five or six early on (and) couldn’t hold it, but still finished ninth. I think it was a great race for him, and I think we grew today as a team.”The Fox boys placed 12th with 285 points. Sophomore Ryan Redman (31st, 18:20.77) was the first Warrior to finish, followed by senior Jude Lesko (54th, 19:20.40), senior Ben Hilton (66th, 19:40.66), junior Charles Lesko (71st, 19:55.32), senior Nathan Tolcou (94th, 20:45.49), senior Max Powell (100th, 21:10.56) and senior Ben Davis (116th, 22:37.03).</div></body>

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CROSS COUNTRY: Northwest’s Nicholls setting pace for county girls

Not only do the courses change from week to week for cross country runners, but the conditions do as well. Despite starting the meet at 9 a.m., unseasonably high temperatures and humidity greeted the runners at the Festus Bowles-Wright Invitational at Larry G. Crites Memorial Park Sept. 21. By the time they completed the five-kilometer (3.1-mile) course, they were all bathed in sweat.