ARCHIVE

Young runners fare well at Abilene meet

Sports reporter

Coach Rex Ostmeyer wasn't sure what was going to happen Thursday at Abilene Country Club.

It was his first meet as head cross country coach at Marion High School, and for 12 of his 19 runners, it was their first meet as well.

"I was pleased," Ostmeyer said after three of his girls and one boy took home medals. "Everyone ran the whole time, which hasn't always been the case in practice."

More than 50 girls from 10 schools competed in the race.

Danielle Cope led the girls' squad with a two-mile time of 14:39, good enough for 16th place. Alissa Vogel finished next with a time of 15:04, and a 19th place finish.

Katie Hett, the final medalist for MHS, finished 30th with a time of 15:42.

"I wanted to find out where we're at with the level of conditioning," Ostmeyer said of the race. "The girls are pretty close."

On the boys' side, a 3.1-mile race, the only medalist was Luke Bowers. He finished in 22nd with a time of 20:09.

Ostmeyer said Bowers did a great job, considering it was the first race ever for the former football player and current track athlete.

However, more than half of the team was running a race for the first time, which Ostmeyer made clear is much different than running in practice.

He said he would need to push the boys much harder in practice because they run one mile more than the girls do at the meets.

"We're going to have to put our heels up and dig," Ostmeyer said.

This is especially true for the meet at Hesston that features 49 teams, 36 at the 1-3A level.

"Hesston is pretty flat," Ostmeyer said. "We should have much better times."

Abilene had three big hills on its track, one that Ostmeyer said could have been 40-feet high.

Even though Hesston's course is much flatter, the competition will be tough. Teams from all over the state will be there, although runners only compete within their grade level.

Ostmeyer said the team met some smaller, short term goals at Abilene, and hope to get better as the season goes along.

Hesston will be a good gauge to see how the team compares to the rest of the state.

"It's the biggest meet by far other than state in Kansas," Ostmeyer said.

Quantcast