Not only did Nathan Purcell achieve feats no Salem Community High School cross country runner had previously accomplished, but he helped lift the Wildcats program to unprecedented heights.

Purcell posted the highest finish by a Salem runner at the Class AA state meet during his junior season in 1997 when he finished seventh with a time of 14:36, as the Wildcats’ 13th place finish was their best as a team.

During his senior season in 1998 Purcell won individual regional and sectional championships followed by a ninth place finish at the state meet with a time of 14:44. That year the Wildcats climbed four more spots in the team standings with a ninth place finish.
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When it came to participating in Class AA state meets, Chris Owen was a fixture during his four years in high school.

The 1997 Salem Community High School graduate qualified for state all four years in track and field as an individual, but he also was a part of four state-qualifying cross country teams.

Owen qualified for state in the 3200 meters in each of those years. As a freshman he advanced to state with a second place finish at the sectional meet with a time of 9:50.84 and was 12th in his heat at the state prelims at 10:04.06.
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The 1998 Salem Wildcats cross country team earned the distinction of the best season in the program’s history at the time of their induction into the Salem High School Hall of Fame.

Salem won six invitational meets with first place finishes at Murphysboro, Granite City, Mt. Vernon, Peoria Notre Dame, Springfield and Metamora. Salem’s depth showed when it finished second at the Herrin Invitational without using its top seven runners. The Wildcats other regular season meet was a seventh place finish at the Crete Monee Invitational.
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The 1983 SCHS cross country team won the North Egypt Conference championship, took 24th place in the state meet and compiled an overall record of 172 wins and 41 losses. Tidwell, and Russell Woodward.

Coached by Jim Corrona, the 1983 team won invitational meet titles at Herrin, Benton, Mt. Vernon and Harrisburg. The squad was regional champion and took second place in the sectional to earn its trip to the state meet at Peoria.Tidwell, and Russell Woodward.

Dennis Squibb was the individual winner of the conference race. Other team members were Donnie Cato, Chris Daniels, David Doherty, Paul Gierten, Terry Goodin, Jeff Mills, Brian Prince, Tim Sullens, Dennis Tidwell, and Russell Woodward.

Over the years Salem Community High School has developed a long, rich tradition in boys cross country. Much of that tradition began with the 1982 team.

Coach Jim Corrona’s boys produced many firsts for the program that season.

One of the season’s biggest highlights was the club’s first North Egypt Conference championship. In fact that title began a string of consecutive NEC championships that now reads 20 years.

The Wildcats had the top three runners and five of the top nine to win the race.
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Over the years, Salem Community High School has developed a reputation for producing great distance runners. A lot of that tradition began with 1973 graduate Mark Daniels.

Daniels set a lot of distance standards for Wildcats track and cross country, some of which still stands.

Daniels still holds the school track record in both 1600 meter at 4:16.6 and the 3200 meters at 9:21.6.

He was a state qualifier in both of those events. During his junior season, Daniels was fifth at the state meet in the 3200 meters when he set his school record time of 9:21.6. As a senior, Daniels finished eighth at the state meet in the 1600 meters with a time of 4:23.
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