September 5^th, 2007

FSK, South Carroll, Westminster @ Century

Weather – It was 90 degrees and very humid at the start of the race. There were only a couple clouds in the air, and it seemed hotter then the 90 it said it was.

Course – The course was a full 5K mostly on grass, with a couple trails. It was relatively flat, with a few slight hills. The “toughest” hill in my opinion was at the ½ mile mark on a trail along some trees. The course does two loops, with the two loops having some of the same parts. I was told that the course record for boys was approximately 18 flat coming into the meet.

Coach Toughts – Coach Rob Pennington of South Carroll said this was a great meet to get those first race jitters out of the way. This was a great chance for his team to get some race experience – his varsity boys only had 2 guys with varsity experience.

Girls Race – The girl’s varsity race wasn’t extremely crowded on the line. FSK didn’t have a complete team with only 1 girl on the starting line, and SC only put 6 on the starting line. South Carroll was holding three of their varsity girls out of the race – 2006 MVAL Piedmont Champion Emily Powell, their #1 freshman from 2006 in Catherine Robinson and Jessica Johnson who Coach Pennington says has been running very well. Century, despite the loss of some girls from their 3^rd place state team from a year ago has many more girls fighting for varsity then they had a year ago.

The first part of the course went around the track, and Ali Thompson of Westminster led early taking the lead through the first ¾ of a mile. Rachel Sykes took the lead at this point and quickly started to put some distance between herself and the rest of the field. She came through the mile in 6:10. At the mile, Ali Thompson was a few strides back of Sykes, followed by freshman Erin Slifer from South Carroll by 3 or 4 seconds. Allison Eaton of Westminster followed close behind her. Freshman Maura Linde and Kirsten McGovern of Century were 5^th and 6^th at the mile.

Kirsten McGovern made the best move in the 2^nd half of the race. While Sykes was opening up a 30 second lead at the halfway point, Kirsten was closing closer to the top 3 in the race. With a mile to go, she was right with Erin Slifer from SC in 2^nd and 3^rd. Ali Thompson from Westminster had to drop out of the race despite a great start (not an injury). Kirsten would outkick Erin over the last ¼ mile to take 2^nd, but a great first race for the freshman from South Carroll taking 3^rd. Westminster’s Alison Eaton and Jenna Brown finished close together in 4^th and 5^th, but a great Century pack that kept their 3, 4 and 5 runners finishing in the top 11 gave them the win.

Final Scores Century 38 SC 40 Westminster 48 FSK Incomplete Rachel Sykes – Talking with Rachel after her victory she was very excited about her team’s goals for the season. They hope with the move to 1a they can challenge the best teams in not only 1a but also compete for a county title. She looks forward to some of her other teammates joining her in the coming meets. She seemed very relaxed especially the second half of the race where she was comfortably in front.

Boys Race – Arthur Leathers of FSK grabbed the early lead with Jake Zamostny of South Carroll and Avior Zynda of Century close behind. Jordan White of FSK came off the track closely following in 4^th place. The Westminster pack was all bunched together in the huge pack that followed.

At the ¾ mile mark, Leathers had opened up a 10 meter lead. Jordan White had caught Jake Zamostny as they ran together. Avior Zynda was about 10 meters behind them.

Mile splits were a bit quick, Arthur Leathers came through in 5:09, White and Zamostny came through at 5:16, Zynda at 5:27, and Zach Holz and Jesse Henderson of FSK were 5^th and 6^th with a 5:30 first mile. The entire Westmister pack was still tightly together at the mile, within 3 seconds of each other, just needing to move up some to challenge FSK.

The rest of the race seemed to stay to form for the most part. Leathers lead did not grow any greater then 10 seconds. At the halfway mark, Holz was 22 seconds behind White and Zamostny. FSK #5 runner, freshman Alex Haufler, was running with Westminster’s top 5.

By 2 miles, the top 3 had separated themselves from the rest of the field, and Holz was running completely by himself in 4^th.

Leathers finished comfortably winning by 6 seconds. Jordan White put in an early kick, and despite a great a last ditch effort from Zamostny he was able to edge him at the line for 2^nd place. FSK’s 4^th and 5^th runners stayed close to Westminster’s #3 runner to give them the team victory.

Final Scores

FSK 22

Westminster 43

SC 70

Century 79

The only runner I noticed not running for the varsity teams was South Carroll’s #2 runner Doug Findeison who Coach Pennington was holding out till next week. Arthur Leathers – Arthur put in a great summer logging over 500 miles preparing for the season. He feels really good not only about how he can do individually but about his teams chances for the season. He is real proud of where freshman Alex Haufler is to start the season. Arthur said he felt very relaxed during the race and feels he is in better shape to start the season then last year where he finished 2^nd at the state championships to end the season.