Get The Latest News!

Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.

SWANSEA - The Edwardsville boys cross country team had four finishers in the overall top ten as the Tigers and all of the other Southwestern Conference teams, except East St. Louis, competed in an informal meet in Swansea on the course that will be used for the Southwestern Conference meet on Oct.3.

Ryan Watts, Geo Patrylak, Drew Stover, and Ryan Luitjohan all finished in the top ten in a meet that was run in heats over the three-mile plus course, with no team scores kept. and it turned out to be a very successful meet for Edwardsville.

"I was pleased by the performance of both the boys and girls teams," said Tiger head coach George Patrylak. "The boys finished one, two, five, and six, and I think, overall, everyone ran their course personal records today. It was a great day for the boys and the girls."

Article continues after sponsor message

Watts had a time of 15:34 to lead the Tigers, while Patrylak came in at 15:56, Stover had a time of 16:13, and Luitjohan's time was 16:20. The Tigers' other top runners were Jack Draper at 17:00, Jacob Grandone at 17:06, Oliver Ferdinand at 17:25, and both Owen Gruben and Brandon Battle, who came in at 17:31 each.

The Tigers were able to take both their varsity and JV teams to the meet, and Patrylak singled out three runners who had big improvement to their times on the course. Derek Markus had a time of 26:06, which was an improvement of 4:08 over his previous best, while Max Wiemers chopped off 2:06 of his previous best, coming in at 20:41, and Nathanial Hunt came in at 19:05, bettering his previous time by 1:21.

"Obviously, we ran our entire team," Patrylak said. "It's been two-and-a-half weeks since we raced there, and we saw a lot of improvement in that time. It was a good day."

The Tigers will have a pair of conference dual meets coming up, against Collinsville on Tuesday, and O'Fallon on Sept. 26, in preparation for the SWC meet.

Colin Feeney also contributed to this story.

More like this:

Mar 19, 2024 - Grizzlies Ink Five From Pioneer League

Nov 29, 2023 - Tigers Forward Lainey McFarlin Off To Sensational Start, Is A Johnston Law Firm Female Athlete Of Month

Feb 1, 2024 - Osborn Enjoys Another Successful Swim Season, Is A Johnston Law Firm Male Athlete of Month

Sep 19, 2023 - Three Runners Place In Top Five, Edwardsville Wins 57th Invite Meet, Alton Boys In Top 10

Feb 25, 2024 - Tigers' Osborn 12th In 100 Back At State Swim Meet, Other Edwardsville Boys Post Top-Notch Performances In Prelims