2018 Boys All Area

Fiker Rosen is your 2018 Boys Tri-State Runner of the Year!

2018 Tri-State Cross Country Coaches Boys All-Area Team

Runner of the Year - Fiker Rosen, Fr., QHS -

Most kids don't come into any high school sport shouldering major expectations of what's to come the next four years. It's safe to say that Fiker Rosen doesn't fit into that category. After winning the Class 2A IESA State Cross Country title while competing for Quincy Blessed Sacrament the last two years, expectations were high for the Quincy High School Freshman. Add in the fact that he broke the course record of Illinois cross country legend Jorge Torres last Fall in Bloomington, and it's safe to say that the prospects of what could be in the Fall of 2018 were sky high at Quincy High School when they started their season.

"I don't know of any athlete that has come out of Jr. High with as much hype as Fiker did. He handled the pressure and expectation masterfully," said Quincy High School head Coach Matt McClelland. Learning to handle the pressure meant that Rosen was going to have to learn to race against older, more experienced cross country runners. This is where the guidance of McClelland may have been Rosen's most valuable asset. McClelland raced Rosen often throughout 2018 and didn't shy away from big name competition. He started off by winning the WB6 opener meet and proceeded to dominate on the course throughout the Fall. "If you break down the overall season, throw out the best and worst race. Look at the average of the whole. When you do that for Fiker, he was dominating. He won half of the races he entered and only finished outside the top 5 twice all season" said McClelland. His wins included the QND Running Raider, QHS Tom Oakley Invite, Liberty Invitational, and the WB6 Conference Championship. Even at the smaller local meets, Rosen was beating the likes of fellow Illinois 1A Freshman phenomenon Miles Sheppard of West Hancock (7th in IL Class 1A) and Nathan Frazee of Clark County Missouri (5th in MO 1A). When Rosen didn't win, it wasn't because he didn't race well, but because he raced top tier competition from the always deep Illinois 3A level.

Rosen raced to a runner-up finish at the Edwardsville 3A Regional and placed 5th at the Quincy High School Sectional meet running 15:34 to earn his 1st trip to the IHSA Class 3A State Meet as an individual. At the State meet, Rosen ran to a 124th place finish running 15:31. It's safe to say this was not the result Rosen was expecting to put forward. McClelland points out that, "the way the state race played out was definitely not in the plan. Two weeks after the race Fiker and I sat down and had a long talk about training and racing. The look in his eye and the passion in his voice told me he was a renewed man on a mission. His mission is to bounce back and prove the naysayers wrong."

As a whole, Rosen put together one of the best Freshman campaigns of any athlete ever to run in the Tri-State area and shouldered major expectations from others while doing so. For his efforts on the course in the Fall of 2018, Fiker Rosen has been named this year's Tri-State Cross Country Coaches Boys Runner of the Year.

First Team All- Area - (Alphabetical Order)

Noah Fleer, Sr., QHS - A linchpin for the Blue Devils the last three seasons, Fleer helped lead QHS back to the Sectional Championships in 2018. A 5th place finish at QND started his season strong and that continued throughout. He was 3rd at the Liberty Invitational and earned All-Conference placing 7th at the WB6 meet. Fleer was 12th at the 3A Edwardsville Regional and placed 54th at the QHS Sectional. QHS will look to replace the leadership of Fleer in the 2019 season.

Nathan Frazee, Jr., Clark County - Frazee re-asserted himself in 2018 after an up and down 2017 campaign. With Invitational wins at Bowling Green, Macomb, and Centralia along with top 3 finishes at QND and QHS Frazee boosted his season's resume before the post-season arrived. Frazee won the conference championship before winning the Bowling Green District Meet. He capped his Junior season with a 5th place finish at the Missouri State Championships, earning him his 3rd consecutive All-State performance.

Brett Griesbaum, Sr., Palmyra - The Panther Senior saved his best for last when it came to his XC career. Griesbaum lead Palmyra throughout 2018 where he ended up earning program bests throughout. He placed 11th at the Conference Meet in Shelbina before earning an 4th place finish at the Bowling Green District meet to qualify for the Missouri State Meet, which was a program best. At the State Meet, he earned the programs best State Meet finish when he placed 51st overall.

Corbyn Harper, Jr., Clark County - Harper earns his 2nd straight 1st team All-Area nomination in 2018. Harper earned 8th place finishes at both the QHS Tom Oakley and Bowling Green Invitational's. He also earned a pair of 3rd place finishes at the Conference Meet in Shelbina and the Bowling Green District meet where he helped Clark County earn their 3rd straight State Meet qualification. Corbyn finished his season with a 33rd place finish at the Missouri State Championships.

Nathan Haxel, Sr., QND - The Raider Senior earned his 1st team nod with consistent results late in the 2018 season. Haxel finished 7th at the QHS Tom Oakley Invitational along with 5th place finishes at the Macomb Invitational and Liberty Invitational. Haxel lead QND throughout the post-season with a 5th place finish at the West Central Conference Meet and a 15th place finish at the Liberty Regional before finishing his Senior campaign with a 62nd place finish at the IHSA Elmwood Sectional.

Stan Melkumian, So., Macomb - The Bomber Sophomore made big improvements from his Freshman year to earn himself a spot on the All-Area 1st team. Dropping over a minute on his times from his Freshman campaign allowed Melkumian to earn a 3rd place finish at the WCC Conference meet before helping his team qualify for the Elmwood Sectional with a 14th place finish at the Macomb Regional. Stan finished the season with a 58th place finish at Elmwood.

Nick Seaver, So., Rushville - The Rocket Sophomore put together a strong enough resume to earn his first All-Area 1st team nomination. Seaver earned top 10 finishes at the Dick Tucker Invitation early in the season and continued strong running throughout 2018. A 10th place Conference finish at Farmington running 16:55 propelled him into the post season where he was 10th again at the Macomb Regional before ending his season with a 51st place finish at the IHSA Class 1A Elmwood Sectional.

Dakota Shepler, Sr., Macomb - A consistent runner in Macomb's top 3 since his Freshman season, Shepler's consistency didn't change again this season. He was 5th at the Macomb Invitational and earned a 4th place finish at the WCC Conference Championships. He improved his time on the Macomb course at the Regional meet running 17:04 placing 15th overall. To end his career, Shepler placed 58th at the Elmwood Sectional running 17:07.

Miles Sheppard, Fr., West Hancock - Sheppard put up a Freshman campaign that put him in serious consideration for Runner of the Year. If it wasn't for head to head losses to Rosen throughout the season, his name would be at the top of the list. However, don't think that he wasn't successful. With several wins and top 5 finishes throughout 2018, Miles set himself up to peak perfectly in the post season. He won his 1st regional championship in Macomb, before narrowly losing the Elmwood Sectional title on a finishing kick. His crowning achievement was his 7th place finish at the IHSA Class 1A State meet where he ran 15:11. That time was good for top freshman honors in 1A, the 2nd best freshman time ever in Class 1A history, along with the 2nd best finish ever by a Freshman in 1A!

Cannen Wolf, Fr., Liberty - The Liberty Freshman continued to get better as the season progressed. He started the season placing 15th at the QND Invitational before progressing late into the year. Wolf had top 5 finishes at the Liberty and QHS Invitational's and was the West Central Conference Runner-up. He ran strong throughout the post season placing 7th at the Liberty Regional and 39th at the Elmwood Sectional running 16:42. Wolf ran sub 17 minutes on several occasions throughout 2018, including a 16:24 personal best at the SJO Spartan Classic.

All-Area Honorable Mention -

Bowling Green- Colton Hearn, Fr., Evan Meyer, So.

Clark County- Isaac King, Sr.

Illini West- Eli Newton, So.

Liberty- Mason Tate, Sr.

Macomb- Noah Ramos, So., Kerem Tasdan, Jr.

Marion County- Matt Wellman, Sr.

Palmyra- Spencer Locke, Jr.

Pittsfield- JJ Petty, Fr., Bryan Piper, Jr.

QHS- Jacob Spooner, Sr., Ayden Triplett, Fr.,

QND- Sam Schlegl, Jr.