XC scorch the trails at Marathon Invite
Times were slashed and multiple personal records were set at Nine Mile Recreation Area as the Colby girls and Colby/Abbotsford boys competed in the Marathon Invite on Thursday, Sept. 2.
In just their second meet of the year, every runner improved their times from Pittsville’s meet, some by seconds, others by entire minutes.
That improvement allowed the girls to defeat Marathon for third place, 72 to 73 points. Tomahawk won the invite with a team score of 39. Assumption claimed second as a team with 59 points.
Willow Oehmichen was the first to cross the finish line for the Colby girls, taking twelfth overall in 21:58. Senior Daisy Feiten came immediately after, finishing 13th in 22:00. Mercedes Sarkkinen was the third Hornet through, in a new PR of 22:18 for 17th. Trinity Severson was 20th in 22:47. Sarkkinen was nearly a minute faster from Pittsville, and Severson chopped off over two minutes from that race.
Senior Ella Halopka was the fifth and final scoring runner for Colby. Her strong start to 2021 continued as she improved by 1:30 to finish 36th in 24:23.
Reagan Schraufnagel was a minute and a half faster, taking 38th in 24:27. Casey Reynolds ran her race a minute faster than Pittsville, taking 47th in 24:48.
Pearl Feiten had the second largest margin of improvement of any runner last week. Feiten ran 24:52 to finish 49th overall, a full 3:20 faster than Pittsville.
Payton Roth was 52nd in 25:09. Freshman Veronica Matteer blazed through Nine Mile in 27:29 for 77th place. That result was 3:55 faster from Pittsville, the biggest improvement of the day.
Elizabeth Winters cut her Pittsville time by almost three minutes with a time of 27:35 for 80th place. She had extra motivation to run as hard as she could.
“It was for my grandma. I lost her on Tuesday,” Winters revealed. “This race feels really good, because I feel like I did something for her. I felt like she was right there with me today.”
Jenelle Ertl set a new PR when she crossed the finish line in 28:21, over a minute faster from Pittsville. Gianna Mundt was 1:30 faster in 30:31 for 96th. Allie Robida set a new PR by 1:22 to finish in 32:30 for 101st.
Much like the girls, every boy saw marked improvement at the Marathon Invite. The boys team was without Max Adams, but still placed eight out of 14 teams, with a final score of 172.
“We were more prepared. It was difficult getting ready at Pittsville because we rushed the race because of the storm,” Abby senior Matt Mateer said. “Today we had time to get mentally ready, and that really affected everyone’s times.”
Marathon won the invite with a team score 84, holding back Auburndale, who took second with 89 points. Tomahawk finished third with 94.
Senior Talon Severson led the way for the Colby/Abbotsford boys. Severson began the race in the back of the lead pack, but the runner they call ‘Big Boots’ proved his nickname is fitting.
Like a big boot, Severson is hard and durable, and he drew on his reserves of stamina to pick runners off one by one to finish ninth overall. Severson’s time of 18:44 was a minute faster from Pittsville, and new a PR by 20 seconds.
“I was telling myself I just gotta catch one more guy!” Severson said.
Abbotsford’s Matt Mateer came next, completing the 3.1 mile race in 19:47, just twenty seconds shy of a new PR.
Colby’s Richard Streveler was 43rd in 20:43, nearly a minute faster from Pittsville. Carter Roth was roughly two minutes faster than Pittsville, placing 55th overall in 21:45.
Braylon Schoezel also cut two minutes off his time, notching a new PR with a time of 21:59 for 60th. Braxton Smith was 1:50 faster from Pittsville, taking 63rd in 21:55. Noah Kulas showed his improvement, placing 79th in 23.38. That time was a new PR by 2:20.
Josiah Bridger had the most improvement of the boys, placing 80th in 23:41, a three minute difference from Pittsville. Parker Johnson rounded things out for Colby/Abby, placing 82nd in 24:08.
The cross-country teams will no doubt be looking forward to this weekend when they compete at their home invitational on Saturday, Sept. 11.
The Colby Invite will start at 10 a.m. with the boys race, followed by the girls race at 10:45 a.m.
