Sports Briefs – Oct. 10

Cadets win Gateway Classic

Crown the CBC Cadets champions of the Gateway City Soccer Classic for the third time.

The eighth-annual Classic featured 62 teams from 12 states – Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Colorado, California, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Indiana. The tournament schedule included six traditional eight-team brackets, a round-robin bracket and 10 showcase matches.

CBC played in the “A Bracket” and won all of its three games. The Cadets finished with a 3-1 victory over Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas, Nev.

In their first two games, CBC needed double overtime to win both matches. The Cadets scored a 3-2 win over Cherry Creek (Colo.) 3-2 and picked up a 2-1 win over St. John the Baptist (N.Y.).

CBC previously won the championship in 2008 and 2009.

Coach Terry Michler said the results revealed much about his squad.

“(It shows) that we can play with teams around the country and do well,” Michler said. “It makes a real powerful statement to be the first team to win three championships in the six years that we have been in it. No one can say that. It is a credit to our players that they have the ability, pride and determination to represent the strong CBC soccer tradition.”

The expectations entering the tourney were to see how well CBC matched up with teams it doesn’t face during the season.

“(It’s about) tough competition and different playing styles,” Michler said. “We wanted to see how we would do with three tough games in three days. The field was very good with some great individual talent, especially Cherry Creek.”

In the championship match, the Cadets scored the first three goals. CBC senior Craig McLaurine scored the first goal on a penalty kick and the third goal. He is the Cadets’ leading scorer this season. The second game was scored by L.J. Adewumni.

The Gaels finally touched CBC goalkeeper Nathan Griffin with a late goal.

“Bishop Gorman has a huge high school athletic reputation and tradition of excellence,” Michler said. “They beat two good teams to get to the finals. All the teams we played were good and they all could have won it, especially Cherry Creek.”

The two overtime games tested CBC.

“It was a team effort. There were a lot of changes in strategy and lineups and alignments,” Michler said. “Nate Griffin was very good in goal and Craig McLaurine and L.J. Adewumni had big goals and A.J. Palazzolo was his usual steady self and controlled the defense. We have injuries and we needed everyone to pitch in and help out and they did.”

 

High school girls golf

Once again the Missouri teams prevailed in the 12th annual River Challenge played at Clinton Hills Golf Course in Belleville, Ill.

The Missouri teams shot a total of 1,061 to win by nine strokes. The victory squared the series at six for both sides of the river.

Playing the event for Missouri were Incarnate Word Academy, Lafayette, Nerinx Hall, St. Joseph’s, Ursuline, Villa Duchesne and Westminster Christian Academy. The Illinois teams were Belleville East, Columbia, Edwardsville, Massac County, O’Fallon and Okawville.

To get the results, the top two individual scores from each team were used for the state scores. There was an extra Missouri team this year so the highest score was not used. The teams were chosen from the order of their finish in the Angel Classic.

Winning the team title was the Westminster Christian Academy Wildcats, the defending Missouri Class 1 kingpins. Westminster shot a total of 329. That was a whopping 26 strokes better than Massac County.

In addition, the Wildcats had the top three scores. Junior Jordan Wolf was the medalist with an even-par 71. Senior Brooke Cusumano, the defending state champion, was second with a 77. Senior Ciara Younger finished with an 82.

“We feel honored to help keep the River Challenge Trophy on the west side of the Mississippi again for the third year in a row,” Westminster coach Steve Bradley said. “We’ve had a great time in this tournament for the past several seasons.”

Westminster has been on an incredible run.

“The Wildcats have not lost in the past two years, knock on wood,” Bradley said. “We have won the Angel Classic two years in a row and the Missouri-Illinois River Challenge two years in a row, the Class 1 District 12 times in a row, the Metro Conference in 2011, and we were the sectional and state champs in 2011. It’s been a great ride, and we hope it keeps working for the rest of this season.

“I had been following some of the Illinois schools (Massac County and Edwardsville) and the Missouri schools (Lafayette, Villa Duchesne) and I told the girls that the only way we could go back to back was to bring your A-plus game. The girls responded with outstanding performances.

“In the past, we only dreamed about playing well in the Angel Classic and even qualifying for this tournament because this tournament is huge. You take six top St. Louis area schools and six top Illinois schools and you have a tournament that rivals a state championship tournament. When you do well in this tournament you have accomplished something big.

 

High school boys cross country

Marquette junior Noah Kauppila won the 21-team Parkway West Invitational with a time of 15 minutes, 58.2 seconds.

The race was held at the new course at Living Word United Methodist Church in Wildwood.

Marquette’s Adam Roderique finished second in 16:05.7. Coming in eighth was Jordan West, of Lafayette, at 16:47.20. He was followed by Austin Del Rosso, of De Smet, at 16:48; and Derek Legenzoff, of Lafayette, at 16:48.70. Finishing 13th was Parkway South’s Brian Hernan at 16:57.50. Coming in 15th was Kevin Koboldt, of Parkway West, at 17:02.

The team scores were: St. Louis University High 94, Rock Bridge 106, Lafayette 112, Marquette 146, Parkway West 150, De Smet 180, Fox 182, Fort Zumwalt West 188, Webster Groves 191, Francis Howell 266, Fort Zumwalt East 282, Kirkwood 317, Francis Howell North 379, Seckman 407, Pattonville 430, Summit 433, Washington 453, Fort Zumwalt North 458, Francis Howell Central 492, Lutheran St. Charles 515, and Hazelwood Central 582.

 

Triathlon champ

USA Triathlon National Team member and St. Louis native Sarah Haskins recently won the 2012 Buffalo ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup in the elite women’s division.

Haskins, who lives and trains in Colorado Springs, Colo., made a move late in the bike to secure her first national title since 2006 in two hours, three minutes, five seconds.

Haskins, a Parkway South graduate, did not make the 2012 USA Olympic team earlier this spring, so this victory was important to her.

“It’s special, for sure. Having not made London, it’s nice to be able to walk away with a win,” said Haskins, who was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team and just missed qualifying for the 2012 Games.

She was to finish her 2012 season in the Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon in Dallas, which took place after presstime.

Haskins competed in her first triathlon in St. Louis in June 2003 upon college graduation from the University of Tulsa and became a professional triathlete less than a year later in May 2004.

While in college, Haskins competed in cross country and track at Tulsa. She has a degree in elementary education and a minor in mathematics.

Haskins swam on the Parkway Swim Club for nine years and ran cross country and track in high school for the Patriots. She was a Missouri high school state champion in cross country and swimming.

 

Amateur golf

Skip Berkmeyer, of Wildwood, led the Missouri team in the recent 2012 USGA Men’s State Team Championship conducted at the par-71, 6,963-yard Galloway National Golf Club in New Jersey.

Berkmeyer shot a 220 on rounds of 73, 73 and 74. The team finished with a 443.