There is something strange about the top runners on the Gillespie boys cross country team: none of them thought they’d be this good this fast, and most couldn’t even fathom running three miles at a time.
A group that is two years removed from finishing last in the South Central Conference cross country meet is now a back-to-back conference champion, with eyes set on even larger prizes.
The next journey began with Gillespie's third-place finish in the Class 1A Shelbyville Regional on Saturday. The Miners advanced to the Toledo Cumberland Sectional on Saturday at 11 a.m. The girls race is first at 10 a.m. If Gillespie can finish in the top-six teams at sectionals, the Miners will head to the Class 1A state meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Gillespie coach Jay Weber put together a ragtag group of first-time long-distance runners and gave them the confidence they needed.
The Miners are led by junior Chaz Oberkfell, whose time of 14 minutes, 20.8 seconds in the 30 th annual East Alton-Wood River Invitational on Oct. 12 has him ranked No. 1 in the state’s Class 1A rankings. Fellow juniors Marshall Garwood, Hank Fletcher and Carter Sies give Oberkfell more company at sectionals this season after the Miners’ top runner was the team’s sole qualifier out of regionals last year.
Oberkfell finished third overall at the Shelbyville Regional in 15:13.57.
Oberkfell’s journey
Oberkfell took a surprising path to get to being a state contender. It all began with a sibling rivalry.
“I ran my P.E. mile, and my brother (Collyn Oberkfell) was in my P.E. class, and I had to just beat him because I had to prove that I could beat him,” Oberkfell recalled. “I don't even think he went all out in the P.E. mile, but I full-sprinted. I went as hard as I could, and I beat Collyn.
“I went to their cross country banquet, because (of) my brothers, and (Weber) met me, he walks out and goes, ‘That P.E. mile was the worst mistake of your life.’”
Oberkfell also remembered saying something most running coaches wouldn’t want to hear.
“I told him I thought running was dumb,” Oberkfell admitted. “I just wasn't really big into running.”
But Weber saw potential.
“It's really interesting,” Weber said. “Freshman year in the fall, that kid would’ve told you distance running was stupid and he would never do it in his entire life.”
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During the 2023 track and field season, Weber approached Oberkfell — whose older brothers Collyn and Cadyn were on the team and a part of the eventual 4x800-meter relay state qualifying team — and suggested to his freshman that he stretch out his sprints to a little longer distance races. Eventually, Oberkfell qualified for the Class 1A state meet in the 1,600-meter run as a freshman. But when Weber approached Oberkfell about the upcoming cross country season, Oberkfell made Weber a deal.
“I told him if he'd bring me honey buns to practice, I'd run,” Oberkfell said. “Weber would bring honey buns. Then I started doing it, it was fun. Running with all them just made it enjoyable.”
Competitive genes run in the family
Oberkfell doesn't just share a unique name with a former third baseman for the 1982 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals . He and Ken Oberkfell also share DNA.
His grandpa, who spent 16 seasons in Major League Baseball with six teams , played with the Cardinals from 1977 to 1984. He was 7-for-24 with an RBI and two stolen bases as St. Louis beat Milwaukee in seven games to win the 1982 championship.
But shockingly, Ken Oberkfell had to bribe his own grandson to claim he rooted for the Cardinals.
"I'm a Cubs fan," Oberkfell said. "He'd give us like a dollar if we'd say we were Cardinals fans. I'd get my dollar."
Now retired, the elder Oberkfell — born in Highland — currently lives in Gillespie.
"He still only watches sports," Oberkfell said of his grandpa's viewing habits. "That's all he watches."
There is a little bit of a friendly competition with his grandpa, Oberkfell said.
"I'm trying to beat him in (Alton) Telegraph articles," Oberkfell said with a laugh. "My goal is one day, whenever I look up Oberkfell, I just want to see my name instead of his."
Oberkfell also gets some of his athletic genes from his mom, Anne Mitchell, who ran track and field when she was at Edwardsville High.
Teammates surge
Garwood has the second-best time on the team, according to athletic.net . All of the top-six Gillespie runners hit their season best in the East Alton-Wood River Invitational. Garwood's time of 16:04.1 is the best of the three teammates — including Fletcher and Sies — who are all sub-17 minutes.
"This year is kind of the year their goal is to try to get to state, then we look at it as we're returning everyone (in 2025)," Weber said. "We know the work we put in, and these guys want to take their shot at being right up at the top of state next year and being able to compete at the state meets."
Garwood started running in eighth grade, and he too claims he was reluctant.
"I did some running eighth grade year for track and I didn't really want to do track, but (Weber) convinced me to do it," Garwood said. "Once I got done with track season, I was totally ready for cross country. I was really pumped up about it.
"Eighth grade year looking back, I definitely did not think I'd be here by now. Thought I'd probably have passed out on the track by now."
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Garwood went from not having much competitiveness in his personality to getting a thrill to pass other runners.
"The practices are great. I want to come out to practice," Garwood said. "I love running with (Oberkfell). Like the encouragement I get from him is like really strong.
"I was not competitive at all. When I go out there and race, I really want to beat everyone I can."
Sies has a similar story. He gave up baseball his freshman year to run in the fall and spring.
"I think it was worth it," Sies said. "I think it's just like the community in cross country and the friends with it."
Weber doesn't care how much running experience kids have when they come out for the team. As long as they'll put in the work, so will he.
"What Carter and Marshall represent — probably more than anyone I've ever coached in my life — is they are just super kids," Weber said. "I mean, these are straight-A, they're going to be valedictorian students. These are guys who are part of everything. These are the nicest, most responsible, solid kids you'll ever see.
"They had no running ability. But I've always kind of had this mantra that if you give me the right kid, you can make him a distance runner, because distance running is all about the work you'll put in. What's happened over the last couple of years is, these guys spent most of the summer putting in 50-mile weeks and just putting in the work. When you start doing that, you start to see gains."
Fletcher ran track throughout junior high as a hurdler. Again, distance running was not seemingly in the cards.
"It took some time because I'm not a fan of the heat (and) running in the heat in summer is pretty rough," Fletcher admitted. "The first time, I was kind of nervous because the mile, I felt like that was a lot. Three miles is a lot more."
If Gillespie makes it to the state meet as a team, the runners will also have something to return.
"We had no reason to believe freshman year," Weber said. "I think Carter and Marshall were running 22, 23, something like that. We didn't have Chaz on the team yet. Hank was running like 20ish. And no reason to believe.
I go to the state meet every year, no matter what, and that year I brought back a whole bag of leaves from Detweiller. And I told those guys, 'Hey, there's something special here.' But crazy a sixth-place team in the SCC conference is going to think there's something special. But I told them all to grab a leaf and keep it safe because it was going to be their job to get back to Detweiller and return it to its to its home."
The Miners have sophomore Lucca Kapp and freshman Nolan Hostettler in its top-six as well.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com , Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Oberkfell, Gillespie soar up the cross country charts
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