Lovin it at the lake: Warriors earn six medals
Sports reporter
It's not that Marion High School cross country team hasn't had any success this year. It's just something about running at the county lake.
Six runners earned medals Thursday at the Marion meet and for the second week in a row three finished in the top-10.
As a team the girls finished tied for fourth and the boys third at the meet which featured more than 70 runners on both sides.
Danielle Cope was the high finisher for both teams with a second-place finish and a two-mile time of 12 minutes, 49 seconds.
Head coach Rex Ostmeyer said he saw something different in the junior who usually hangs around the middle of the pack before making a run in the end.
"She got out of the gate for the first time to the lead," he said. "She led until about 200 yards left in the race. She was real motivated."
The first sub-13 minute finish for Danielle also was the 10th-best time ever for a MHS runner.
Not far behind Cope were the final two MHS girls to earn medals. Sophomore Tacy Taylor finished 14th with a time of 13:35, and senior Katie Hett was 16th, just two seconds behind Taylor.
"They ran well and competed hard," Ostmeyer said.
Emily Svoboda and Elisa Gayle had their best races of the year with times of 16:30 and 17:38, respectively.
The boys' team claimed three medals as well, including two in the top-five.
For the first time this season junior Daniel Goentzel wasn't the top MHS finisher, but still came in a respectable fifth-place after a 3.1-mile time of 18:21.
Junior Luke Bowers regained the form that made him the boys' top runner last season, with a time of 18:18 and a third place finish.
"He just had more left in the tank," Ostmeyer said of Bowers. "They were side-by-side with 300 yards to go."
Justin Heidebrecht earned the final medal for MHS when he finished 14th with at time of 19:53.
The sophomore, has shown vast improvement from one year ago.
"He's coming a long way," Ostmeyer said. "He's got good form, some speed in the end, and a lot of energy. He could be really good in the future."
Matt Kirkpatrick (21:05), Ben Leppke (23:00), Kerim Geldimuradov (25:05), and Bryce Nelson (25:30) also ran for third-place MHS.
Ostmeyer was happy with his team's performance, but still wants to see improvement each week.
"I would love it if somebody stepped up and pushed Danielle," he said.
MHS will be at Council Grove 4:30 p.m. Thursday for its next meet.
