Spartans successful at Kickapoo

Spartans successful at Kickapoo

Tue, 09/10/2013 - 3:50pm | Nora Maberry-Daniels

The St. Joseph-Ogden girls cross country team placed first at the Kickapoo Classic on Sept. 3.

“I am happy with the first place team finish. It’s always nice to be able to defend a title and keep the traveling trophy at home for another year,”  SJO head coach Kristin Allen said. “Unity finished second by only a few points so our girls know that they need to continue to work hard because Unity is going to be competitive.”

Tolono Unity placed second, followed by Urbana Uni High in third. St. Thomas More placed fourth.
Senior Alyssa Pridemore placed third overall and first on the Spartans team with a time of 20:13. Freshman Keely Smith placed sixth overall and second for the Spartans with a time of 20:26. Junior Abby Fisher placed eighth overall and third for the Spartans with a time of 21:15.

“As a team we need to continue to have our top five finish closer together, we also need to improve on our depth with number six and seven,” Allen said. “I have no doubt that this team of girls will meet that challenge.”

Sophomore Abby Gawthorp placed 11th overall with a time of 21:43. Sophomore Emma Melchior placed 15th with a time of 22:08. Junior Jessica Kassuelke came in 17th with a time of 22:11. Junior Elizabeth Paap placed 56th with a time of 25:51. Freshman Alyssa Reeves placed 58th with a time of 26:14.65. Sophomore Kambry Orcutt placed 62nd with a time of 26:49.
Junior Katie Kurtz placed 66th with a time of 27:47.18. Senior Michele Hill placed 72nd with a time of 29:47. Senior Anna Runck placed 74th with a time of 30:53.

The SJO boys team was also successful at the meet.

“It’s always good to get the first one under your belt.” said boys head coach Jason Retz. “I thought we did a good job of getting out and competing.  I was glad to see us work as a group through the first half of the race.”

The team placed second overall with a score of 49. Unity placed first with a score of 46. Uni High placed third with a score of 73.
Senior Braydon Crozier finished first for SJO and fifth overall with a time of 16:23. Junior Nick Poff came in second for SJO and seventh overall with a time of 16:52.  Sophomore Brennan Guido came in 10th overall and third for SJO with a time of 16:58.
Senior Clayton Nigg came in fourth for SJO and 15th overall with a time of 17:27. Senior Corey Thompsen came in 16th overall and fifth for SJO with a time of 17:32.

“We all need to work on racing,” Retz said.  “It sounds easy — go run hard.  It’s not that simple.”
Sophomore Austin Earp placed 19th overall with a time of 17:39. Sophomore Matthew Knipfer placed 23rd overall with a time of 17:55. Sophomore Nate Phillips placed 36th with a time of 18:55. Senior Nate Knipfer placed 41st with a time of 19:18. Sophomore Ross Smetzer placed 45th with a time of 19:26. Freshman Justin Phillips placed 50th with a time of 19:54.  Sophomore Sean Barber placed 52nd with a time of 19:57. Senior Ty Waller placed 53rd with a time of 19:58. Senior Jacob Zagorski placed 59th with a time of 20:20. Freshman Cole Rosnett     placed 62nd with a time of 20:34.  Senior Zach Pridemore placed 89th with a time of 24:03. Senior Justen Paden placed 100th with a time of 26:06. Freshman Robert Fisher placed 101st with a time of 27:05.

Retz hopes the race will help his team improve.

“Experience and learning how we all race well will help build success for the future,” he said.