It was a great day for running at the Kearney Cross Country Invitational. There were 39 schools and 774 runners in attendance. Last year there were a little over 600 runners. The races started with Freshmen Boys and Girls running simultaneously, but with separate results. They would be followed by Varsity Girls, Varsity Boys, JV Girls, and finally JV Boys.
Representing Excelsior Springs in the Freshmen 4k races were Lane Rogers for the boys and April Stodgel, Kim Parkin, and Autumn Summers for the girls. Lane, April, and Kim all earned medals. April and Kim finished in the top 10 and were recognized at the awards ceremony for their accomplishments. April had fallen down shortly after the start, and for her to finish as well as she did showed that she had the strength to pick herself up and continue despite any pain it may have caused. For Kim this was her first medal. All three also recorded their best per mile times of the season. If they had continued at that pace for another kilometer, they may have set personal records. In the Varsity Girls race, Dani Pair, Micaela Lynch, and Katelen Moerschel found their way through the crowd as quick as they could. Dani and Micaela have been battling injuries but insisted on competing. They were hanging together throughout most of the race while Katelen fell back a short distance. Dani finished slightly ahead of Micaela with a personal record and a medal. Micaela also earned a medal with her best time of the season, but it wasn't quite enough to beat her personal record from this same course a year ago. Although Katelen didn't earn a medal, she set a personal record and was able to beat the 23 minute barrier for the first time in her 2-year career. Christian Carter and Ben Hartwig ran for the Varsity Boys. Once again, Christian proved his worthiness to go to State this year by finishing in the top 10 for his ninth consecutive meet. In addition, he earned his ninth consecutive medal of the season. This was the first time he didn't finish in the top five, but it was the largest group of boys that he has run against all season. It should be noted that of the six who placed ahead of him, only three were Class 3 runners. The rest were Class 4. He has competed against the Class 3 runners in meets prior to Kearney this season. Ali Stodgel was slated to run for the JV Girls, but due to an accident in gym class, she was unable to compete. For the JV Boys, Bailey Dolata, Seth Edwards, Brent Shelor, and Logan Stock competed. All four earned medals as they finished in the upper 50% of all boys running. Brent stepped up his game and was able to get under 20 minutes for the first time ever. This would also be his first personal record of the season. His last PR was this same race last year. He picked a good time to start peaking. Logan Stock also reached a personal record and was able to surpass the 20:30 milestone. Seth only missed his PR by six seconds. Bailey had a side stitch throughout the race which slowed him down due to the pain it was giving him when he breathed. All in all, it was a great day. Of the 13 runners, 10 earned medals, four set personal records, one had season best time, 12 recorded course best times or ran the course for their first time, and three placed in the top 10. Excelsior Springs didn't have any teams for this event.
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AuthorAs the Head Coach of the Excelsior Springs High School Cross Country boys and girls teams, I take pride in watching the athletes improve during a season and from one season to the next. It's rewarding to see them accomplish so much. My goal is to have both teams qualify for and advance to state during the same season. Archives
September 2016
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