The "Run-Down": Mark Morris @ Home

 

On the debut of our new home course, our opponents were more than just the Monarchs from Mark Morris. Considering both boys and girls, they are the toughest opponents in the league we will face this year. But we also faced the same opponent from the Run-A-Ree, extreme heat. Temps in the mid 80's with high humidity took its toll on those that did not hydrate well. We faced a new opponent, and that was a full race on our uneven terrain. This contributed to a few ankle casualties that will cause us to re-think the course for the Panthers. These three opponent were more than we were prepared to handle.

 

The boys started out the day with our Junior duo of Sean Eustis and Isaac Stinchfield still showing that they are far and away the premier individuals in the league. While they were comfortably hanging with the pack of Mark Morris boys the first half of the race, the struggle was evident in the face of the other guys. They darted off into the lead as they entered the woods loop. They returned with a sizable lead and rounded the last loop in style with Sean establishing a course record of 17:13 and Isaac 3 seconds behind. Both had more in their gas tank if more resources were needed. Next across the line for the Panthers was another Junior Geer McGee, trying to chase down the Mark Morris pack, and senior Noah Collins not far behind. Both increased their stock in the district with times less than one minute slower than last week's race in more favorable conditions, which was rare from both teams. Apparently tackling the heat was managed much better by the older team members as junior Darian Tierney and senior Nathan Milojevic also ran solid times, considering the circumstances.

 

On the girl's side, our seniors also seemed to out-perform the rest of the panther pack with Kayla Lockard, Kendall Utter, and Katie Ladwig snatching up decent places for themselves of 4th, 5th and 14th. Kayla's time of 23:14 was just a mere 20 seconds from her Saxon Invite time, Kendall moved up the ranks in the district on coach's adjusted time scale and Katie moved up the ladder on the team. Other noteworthy performances include those from junior Kalli Light, freshman Karina Miller and sophomore Sydney Hickey (who definitely bettered her performance from last week considering all factors, and finished with a fabulous heroic kick).

 

The team scores on each side were a bit further behind Mark Morris than projected. The numbers were 25-35 for the boys (probably the closest score in league any team has posted against them in several years) and 21-36 for the girls.

 

As for our three opponents, we probably won't see the extreme heat again this year, we definitely won't have to deal with that uneven of terrain this year and we will not see the Monarchs for another month, which gives us just enough time to keep improving to give them a much better "run for their money." Regardless, the next time we face any of them, we will be much more prepared.

 

As we collided head on with this week's challenges, and prepare for those to come, we must be determined to do the right thing and give our very best effort as we develop character in our running, and all aspects of our life!

 

Coach Terry L. Howard

 

Here are the line scores:

 

Boys

 

Mile 1

Mile 2

5000 M

 

Sean

1st

5:30

11:14

17:13

 

Isaac

2nd

5:32

11:14

17:16

PR Black

Geer

9th

5:41

12:10

19:07

*

Noah

12th

5:43

12:15

19:29

*

Nicolas

15th

6:01

12:45

20:01

 

Darian

17th

6:02

13:00

20:32

*

Rusty

19th

6:10

13:15

20:47

 

Nathan

23rd

6:22

13:40

21:17

*

Blake

26th

6:00

13:20

21:18

 

Jacob B

27th

6:57

14:50

23:05

 

Brendon

28th

6:59

15:10

23:59

 

Jacob S

29th

6:59

15:40

25:01

 

Dakota

30th

6:57

16:00

25:33

 

 

of 32

 

 

 

 

Girls

 

 

 

 

 

Kayla

4th

6:59

14:50

23:14

PR Black

Kendall

5th

6:53

15:01

23:36

 

Hannah

6th

7:19

15:37

24:30

*

Kalli

10th

7:46

16:30

25:46

*

Karina

11th

7:59

17:08

26:35

*

Sydney H

12th

8:25

17:52

27:36

*

Katie

14th

8:44

18:47

29:18

 

Megan

15th

8:22

18:38

29:30

 

Kari

16th

8:24

 

29:43

 

Serene

17th

8:27

18:51

29:46

 

Kaitlyn

18th

8:24

19:10

30:22

 

Sydney N

19th

8:27

19:02

30:23

 

Brooke

20th

8:22

19:48

30:49

 

 

of 21

 

 

*Bonus Point