Warriors earn 10 medals at lake meet years ago
Sports reporter
Marion High School took home 10 medals, and every runner finished with a 2004 personal best time Thursday at Marion County Lake.
MHS sophomore Danielle Cope beat her personal record by more than one minute, as she took fifth place in the girls' two-mile race with a time of 13:03. Around 60 girls competed in the race.
"I told Danielle I wanted a top five finish before the race and she looked at me like I was crazy," said MHS coach Rex Ostmeyer. "But she was pretty excited to say the least."
Sophomore Luke Bowers finished the boys' varsity race in seventh, with a 3.1-mile time of 17:56.
"Obviously our times were better, and they should be at home," Ostmeyer said.
But he was still impressed with the improvement the team has shown with each race.
"I think we are just starting to figure it out," he said. "People are going into the race with a plan."
That showed in Thursday's race, as 10 Marion runners on junior varsity and varsity took home medals. Right behind Cope in the girls' varsity race, Alissa Vogel finished 11th, Katie Hett 15th, and Anika Wegner 18th, all securing medals.
Elisa Gayle and Emily Svoboda finished sixth and seventh in the junior varsity race respectively.
Bowers was accompanied in the medal ceremony by Daniel Goentzel, who finished 18th.
In the boys' junior varsity race, Keith Jones took 11th place and Matt Kirkpatrick also grabbed a medal with a 14th-place finish.
The girls finished in third place as a team, and the boys ended up with a fourth-place finish.
Andover Central took first in the girls' race, and Council Grove captured the title on the boys' side.
Ostmeyer said he likes the improvement he is seeing each week, and will try to have the runners focus on running a more complete race.
He noted there is more to cross country than just showing up and running. The athletes must learn how to get off to a good start, how to pace themselves, and how to finish strong.
The coach said most of the runners did that Thursday. He also noted along with the improved times, all of the help from faculty and staff at MHS helped make the event successful.
Marion will travel Thursday to Council Grove for a 4 p.m. start.
Results from Marion Lake
Boys' team (medalist in bold)
Luke Bowers V 17:56 (7), Daniel Goentzel V 18:25 (15), Ben Leppke V 19:28 (22), Jordan Timm V 20:23 (27), Justin Heidebrecht V 20:33 (32), Keith Jones JV 20:29 (11), Matt Kirkpatrick JV 21:12 (14), Logan Richmond JV 22:05 (22).
Girls' team (medalist in bold)
Danielle Cope V 13:03 (5), Alissa Vogel V 13:23 (11), Katie Hett V 13:53 (16), Anika Wegner V 13:57 (18), Laura Holt V 14:48 (28), Sabine Teichert V 14:51 (29), Chelsea Arnhold V 14:56 (31), Briana Vogel V 15:09 (33), Sasha Mikheyeva V 15:10 (34), Elisa Gayle JV 15:54 (6), Emily Svoboda JV 16:06 (7).
Accidentally omitted in the Sept. 22 issue was the mention of Keith Jones' medal at Bluestem.
