Jay Puffpaff is coach of a St. Louis cross country team that won its first boys’ TVC West title in five years. The boys also won the all-county meet and the Scottie Classic.
“It’s been pretty good so far,” said Puffpaff, who hopes that his team will do well in the regional and have a strong presentation at the state final. “The guys have come a long way. Last year we finished fifth in the conference and ninth in the regional. We’ve improved a lot. We still have another step to go.”
Connor Pilmore has been the top runner for the Sharks. “He’s a kid who has worked extremely hard to get to where he is this year,” Puffpaff said. “A couple of years ago as a sophomore, he didn’t even break 19 minutes for us. Since then, he’s really bought into running and put all the work in the off-season. This last summer, he put in over 1,000 miles to put himself in a position to be extremely successful.”
Pilmore’s best time prior to the regionals was 16:56. “He has ran consistently as our No. 1,” Puffpaff said. “Colin Shaw has closed the gap up. [Pilmore] has consistently been No. 1 all year.”
Puffpaff has been impressed with the toughness that Pilmore shows as a runner, “and that comes from all the hard work and miles he put in during the off-season.”
Pilmore, a senior, is in his third season. He did not run as a freshman but was contacted by the coach to try out for the team.
At the end of his sophomore year, he was running 18:56. “I was just a mediocre runner, nothing special,” he said. “This year, myself and the team have made great improvements. We have two guys under 17 minutes. Our third, fourth, and fifth guys all broke 18 minutes.”
“I’d like to be under 16:30 at the state meet,” he said. “I have to run well at regionals and keep my training up and have a good race at state. I really want to be all-state.”
Pilmore noted that his first mile is usually solid. “I hold it pretty well for the second mile,” he said. “The third mile, I tend to slow down a little bit. That’s where I need to improve if I’m going to get that 16:30 time and make all-state.
“Our team is doing great. We won our conference for the first time in many years.”