Cross Country Running Strong
Posted On: September 14, 2020 Posted By: Stuart Chowning
The varsity girls started the day in a big way. Emilie Zengel ran a very smart, consistent race, getting out strong and pushing to stay in that top pack, securing 3rd place overall and the first Camel to cross the line. Kaitlyn Strange demonstrated how solid core work and summer running can push you faster and maintained top 10 status the entire race, finishing in 7th place. Junior Kylie Little had a great start back to the season after a slow start last year. She was Kaitlyn’s partner in crime throughout the race, finishing on her heels in 8th place. Sophomore Kennedy Johnson debuted in her first high school cross country meet in the Lady Camels 4-spot, finishing 14th. Noel Slone rounded out the scoring Camels in 15th, much stronger than this time last year and showing she is intent on closing out her Senior year strong. Her edging out the St. Henry 5 runner is one reason the ladies came away with a win. Grace Moloney (18th) threw in a surge to pass a Highland runner that pushed their points back to give her team more of an advantage. Sophie Loesch (20) and Abi Bauer (22) also pushed to finish before Highlands’ 5th runner, putting all 7 ladies through the finish line before the scoring Bluebirds. Our top 5 being in the top 15 edged the Lady Camels past tough competitors St. Henry for first place. The girls proved to themselves that despite many obstacles this summer, they are a formidable competitor and will fight to stay in the top of the region!
In JV action, our Lady Camels learned quite a bit this week. Destine Fury kept a consistent pace the entire race and finished with a great kick in 7th place. Alicen Grizzell was the next Camel to cross the line, learning about pacing and overcoming mental obstacles to complete her first high school race. Haley Deegan ran conservatively and consistently, showing she has the grit to push herself. As she gets used to the high school cross country distance, she will see those times melt! Freshman Tricia Verst completed her first high school race and achieved her goal of not stopping thanks to running buddy Sydney McKinney motivating her to finish.
In the Varsity boys race, Noah Slone led the Camels with a great start in the top pack. He fought through a den of Cougars and finished 5th overall. Adam Ruschman was the 2nd Camel across the line, finishing in 23rd. One of our goals this week was to try to pack in tight, and our next few runners did just that. Colin Grothaus was 27th, coming in strong the second half of the race, followed immediately by Aiden Bauer in 28th. Ethan Schwalbach finished in 31st and in his highest placement on the varsity squad ever as the scoring 5th runner. Brady Baker, Corey Robinson, Kyle Weinberg, and Josh Yang packed finished in a huge pack, and Morgan Reynolds proved to himself that he has what it takes to hit his goals this season. While the team score may not reflect the effort, we did face strong competition. a 2:05 1-5 split is not going to carry to our regional goal. While our 2-5 runners had a great pack, that pack MUST close the gap with our 1 runner. 17 places between them is just too much real estate to give up. Our goals over the next few weeks will be to work on tightening those spots and reining them in.
In the JV race, the boys had a strong pack with a 1;25 1-5 split. Unfortunately, the pack was a little too far back in the race. If that pack can move up in the race together, they will leave little room for other teams. Jackson Stewart, Oscar Bankemper, and Braden Neiser started out the race with a conservative pace and chipped away at the course throughout, gaining ground and passing runners who started too hard. They finished 15th, 16th, and 17th. Close behind was Zach Demoss in 19th. Charlie Alford finished in 21st, and Garrett Eglian was 23rd, followed by Brandon Robinson in 28th. All Camels finishing within 13 spots of each other is a great start to the season, and overall we were pleased with where we are so far in the beginning of the season. As we learn about the race distance and set goals, we will see great improvement each week!
Posted In
Cross CountryPosted By
Connect with Stuart at stuart.chowning@gmail.com
