What a difference a week and getting your top runner back on the course makes, as the Du Quoin boys cross country team improved from a fourth-place finish at the SIRR Mississippi Division Preview to a second-place finish Tuesday at the Benton Mr. A Classic.
"We were a little short-handed last week, so it was nice to get (Landen) Swiney back," said Du Quoin Coach Eric Kirkpatrick. "It was also senior Reece Tilley's first race, too. He's been battling a lower leg injury and hasn't run in about three weeks.
"He ran a ton of miles over the summer and was running in our top five all summer, so I'm hoping he gets up to speed rather quick."
Swiney opened his season strong, finishing behind Benton freshman Gavin Genisio but outdistancing Benton senior Reece Johnson -- last year's Southern Illinoisan Runner of the Year -- by 28 seconds to finish second.
"Benton is strong with their three runners out in front with Genisio, Johnson and another freshman Mason Tieffel, so we were real happy Landen sneaked in there and finished second among that group," Kirkpatrick said. "Benton's boys program is unbelievable."
The Indians (38) finished second behind Benton by 17 points, but ahead of West Frankfort (72) and Sparta (91).
Genisio took the lead early, and Swiney was never able to make up the deficit. He finished with a time of 15:59.31.
"Genisio had control the whole race," Kirkpatrick said. "That kid looks like a beast and a state champion in waiting."
The Indians nailed down second place by placing their next seven runners in the top 20. Senior Jonathan Gomes and junior Nathan Smith finished sixth and seventh, respectively, with times of 17:13.53 and 17:25.09.
"We're pretty happy with the way they bunch up," Kirkpatrick said. "Jon had trouble last year when it was this hot, but today he had a really good race moving up this week from our No. 3 runner to No. 2 switching with Nathan even though Nathan also ran a good race. It was a good job by our top three runners."
Rounding out the top 20 finishers were sophomore Tavion Garrison, 11th (19:40.19); senior Daniel Gomes, 12th (20:00.05); junior Hunter Douglas 16th (20:32.13); Tilley 18th (21:06.84); and freshman Conor Gross 20th (21:34.39).
"Tavion ran real well today," Kirkpatrick said. "We've been trying to get him to pack up a little bit with Jon and Nathan. He didn't get that done time wise today, but he did a lot better and we're hoping to get him up in that pack before the season is over."
• The boys travel to Sparta next Tuesday before returning home for the Du Quoin Invitational on Thursday.
