Cross country earns first and second in SMS Quad
Cross country competed in its first meet of the season on Thursday, Sept. 1
September 3, 2016
At the first cross country meet of the season, the boys team placed first, and the girls team took second in the Shawnee Mission South Quad on Thursday, Sept. 1. Both teams raced two miles on the Johnson County Community College field.
Led by junior Britton Nelson with a time of 12:08.78, the girls team came 12 points shy of Shawnee Mission South. Meanwhile, the boys scored 25 points and four runners placed in the top five, including sophomore Greg Haynes who claimed second. Amongst Shawnee Mission South, the team also competed against Olathe South and Olathe Northwest.
Since Aug. 15, the teams have been running at least six days a week, and Nelson considered herself well-prepared for the first meet of the season. According to Nelson, the team completed a two-mile run to prepare for the first meet.
“It was my second cross country season, so I know what it’s like,” Nelson said. “We’ve been running almost ever since track stopped; we started up at the beginning of the summer, and we’ve been going hard ever since.”
Before the race, Haynes said he was nervous, but “felt more confident and was ready to race” when he got up to the starting line. Haynes finished the race in 10:36.10.
“[During the race] I was thinking, ‘Am I going to be able to pull this out?’ because [junior] Gavin [Overbeck] had such a far lead, and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to pull it out,” Haynes said. “I held my position and went for the opportunity, and I took off.”
After watching both teams race, coach Mark Chipman noticed their desire to improve.
“Just the fact that they want to get better [is a strength],” Chipman said. “Just the fact they’re out there working hard every day, helping each other. That’s a strength.”
According to Nelson, the team has a strong bond which encourages the support of one another.
“I think we love the people [on the team], so that brings us together,” Nelson said. “Because it’s not just about running — it’s about our relationships, too. We are all very happy for each other and excited to be here.”
The next cross country meet is Saturday, Sept. 10 at Paola.
The boys that placed in the top 15 include:
Sophomore Greg Haynes placed second with 10:36.10
Junior Tyler Coad placed placed third with 10:44.95
Junior Gavin Overbeck placed fourth with 10:45.76
Senior Jakob Coacher placed fifth with 10:47.65
Junior Justin Grega placed 11th with 11:05.23
Freshman Nick Schmidt placed 12th with 11:07.30
Junior Mitch Dervin placed 13th with 11:09.97
Senior Braden Shaw placed 14th with 11:12.16
Senior Max Jones placed 15th with 11:14.63
The girls that placed in the top 15 include:
Junior Britton Nelson placed first with 12:08.78
Sophomore Delaney Kemp placed fifth with 13:15.66
Junior Bella Hadden placed 11th with 13:39.35
Freshman Annie Hoog placed 14th with 13:49.88
Freshman Morgan Koca placed 15th with 13:51.15
Tom McClain • Sep 3, 2016 at 10:33 pm
In the future, could you guys include an actual list of individual placings? The pik thing is cool, but it doesn’t really give a curious fan, such as myself, that much information 🙁 Great writing though!