This past weekend was the Class 3 District 7 championships at Warrensburg High School. In the race, the top 15 individuals and top two teams would qualify to the state meet. Our boys entered the meet ranked second but would be challenged by Clinton and Pembroke Hill for the final qualifying spot.
Clinton’s strategy was simple: have all five guys start off in the top 15 positions and see how long they could hold on. Going into the mile mark, the Roosters trailed Clinton and Warrensburg. At that time, Landon Fatino had established himself as the individual to beat. Tobin Wise and David Rivera were battling Clinton’s number 1 and 2 runners and were also trying to hang on to top 15 positions. Our pack of Rustin, Caden, Dakota, and Colin had a tight grouping but trailed Clinton’s number 4 man. Rustin and Dakota led the charge in the second mile managing to pass their 4th man. In the final mile, Tobin and David began to fade losing sight of Clinton’s number 1 and trailing behind their number 2. Landon’s 30 second lead over the field helped our cause but we still needed our 4 through 7 men to make a huge move to make up for the fading 2 and 3 runners. Rustin Branstetter was the first to close the gap catching Clinton’s #3 man and eventually passing David in the final stretch. Dakota and Caden both found a much needed burst of energy and were seen sprinting side-by-side against Clinton’s third and fourth man. Colin tried to kick as hard as he could with Clinton’s number 5 runner and ended up puking across the finish line for his efforts. When all was said and done, the results were tallied. Landon’s impressive performance earned him his first individual district championship taking the race by 39 seconds. Tobin held on to 13th earning second team all-district honors. Warrensburg ran away with the team title placing 5 guys in the top 17. The Roosters bested Clinton 74-90 earning second place. They will travel to state as a team for the 4th time in the last 5 years. The Chicks had three individuals running in the district race which featured perennial powerhouse schools in Warrensburg and Notre Dame de Sion. Aubrey Scott started the race just behind the qualifying pack and worked her way up through the field as she has done this year. However, after making it up to fifteenth she began to fade. With half a mile to go Aubrey was in 16th place and on the outside of the qualifying group. With just .1 miles to go Aubrey threw everything she had into her final sprint and passed the runner in front of her to punch her ticket to the state meet. Megan Swinney and Kat Hoffman ran together through the entirety of the race. They started off near the back of the race but passed over 20 runners in the final mile and a half. Kat Hoffman completed her first district race in a personal best time of 23:53 placing 24th overall. Swinney ended her high school cross country career equaling her best time by running 24:05 and placing 29th overall. The Roosters team and Aubrey will compete this weekend in the Class 3 State Championships held for the first time ever at Gans Creek Park in Columbia, MO. Results Varsity Boys 1 Landon Fatino 16:45.3 13 Tobin Wise 18:24.4 18 Rustin Branstetter 18:38.2 19 David Rivera 18:43.3 23 Dakota Middleton 19:00.6 25 Caden Walker 19:03.8 31 Colin Paris 19:29.5 1 Warrensburg High School 49 2 Pleasant Hill High School 74 3 Clinton High School 90 4 Pembroke Hill School 121 5 Harrisonville High School 128 6 Marshall High School 167 7 Center High School 183 8 St. Michael the Archangel High School 184 9 Oak Grove High School 198 10 Odessa High School 243 11 Kauffman School 301 Varsity Girls 15 Aubrey Scott 22:32.6 24 Kat Hoffman 23:53.8 29 Megan Swinney 24:05.4 Alternate Race 2 Mavrick Crider 20:09.3 3 Carson Case 20:09.5
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This past Wednesday the Roosters and Chicks competed at the MRVC Conference championships hosted in Richmond, Missouri. The MRVC meet consists of teams from Oak Grove, Harrisonville, Odessa, Excelsior Springs, Warrensburg and Pleasant Hill. Schools from the east (Holden, Lexington, Knob Noster, Richmond, and Lafayette County) compete in the same race but are separated electronically by chip and not included in our west results.
The course at Richmond is a two-lap course with uneven ground and rough footing in places. It is most known for two large and steep hills near the 1 mile and 2.5-mile mark that challenge athletes of all ability levels. Temperatures were fantastic for racing but the athletes competing in the MRVC race had to deal with a very strong wind blowing from west to east. The chicks got things started with an early race time of 2pm. Going into the conference meet, the Chicks were ranked a distant third behind Warrensburg and Excelsior Springs. We knew that Warrensburg was out of our reach with the shear talent that they have so we set our sights on giving Excelsior a run for their money. We had faced Excelsior Springs two or three times already this year and lost each time. However, we knew if we could break up their pack between their 3 and 6 runners that our girls would have a chance. Unfortunate injuries limited our roster size to 5 girls, the minimum amount needed to score as a team. Even with five girls, Stephanie Conway was running with a knee brace from an injury that happened at the Excelsior course. Our girls got off to a conservative start and could be seen near the back of the race in the first half mile. As the race progressed, our girls began to move up and pass groups of runners, including those from Ex Springs. Aubrey Scott positioned herself in the top 10 and moved ahead of Excelsior’s number one runner. Right before the large hill after the 2-mile mark, Megan Swinney and Kat Hoffman had established their position slightly behind Excelsior’s #2 but ahead of their number three. This meant that our girls had a lead through three runners and needed our number 4 and 5 girls to finish ahead of Excelsior’s number 5 for the win. Going up the last hill, Stephanie Conway grimaced in pain followed closely by senior Jasmine Brown. To my excitement, both girls were ahead of Excelsior’s #4 runner practically sealing the deal if they held their placed. Once notified of their team’s position, the girls continued their charge and finished strong. As expected, Warrensburg cruised to victory with a score of 17 points (just 2 points away from a perfect score). Pleasant Hill Chicks scored 59 points to earn second place compared with Excelsior Springs who finished third with 67 points. Odessa was the fourth team scoring 97 points. The boys attempted to use a similar strategy of starting near the back of the race and using left over energy to move up in the second half of the race. Unfortunately, our boys were unable to make significant gains needed to threaten a talented team from Warrensburg. Landon Fatino led the Roosters with a second-place individual finish. Tobin Wise, back from injury, David Rivera, and Rustin Branstetter all finished close together in the 11, 12, and 13 spots in the race. Caden Walker, Colin Paris, and Dakota Middleton formed a second pack that finished together in 19th, 21st, and 22nd. The Roosters earned an MRVC plaque as the second-place team falling to Warrensburg 28-57. The third-place team was Harrisonville with a score of 81. Second place is a noteworthy accomplishment, but the boys wanted to finish closer to the talented Warrensburg team. They have set a goal of getting revenge at next week’s district championship on Warrensburg’s home course. Our remaining athletes competed in the Richmond Invite following the MRVC Championship races. This year’s JV boys team has been one of the most talented and deep teams in my coaching tenure. They utilized pack running and looked impressive competing against varsity teams from non-conference schools. The pack of runners from Pleasant Hill finished 32nd, 35th, 37th, 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st forming a sea of purple between 20:26 and 20:56. Our JV Boys placed 6th out of the 13 teams in the varsity invites and beat all other conference schools making them the MRVC JV Conference Champions. Our final four athletes competed in the Richmond JV race. Johnathan Rivera had an impressive run placing in the top 10 and earning a medal. Freshmen Brenden Bunch closely followed earning a medal for his 14th place finish. Behind them, both Jackson Crouse and Michael Maasen concluded their seasons with massive personal records. Jackson ran 27:36 which took off almost 2 minutes from his previous best. Michael completed his first hilly 5k and bested last weeks’ time by 38 seconds. On Saturday, November 2nd, our runners will take to Warrensburg, MO for the Class 3 District 7 races. Athletes that place in the top 15 positions will advance to the state meet in Columbia, MO. For the team to qualify, the Roosters will need to place in the top 2 team positions. We will not be running a full girls squad to allow injured athletes an opportunity to recover without causing further damage to their body but hope to have our individuals qualify out of the tough female district. Results MRVC Championship Girls 6 Aubrey Scott 22:41.3 *All Conference 13 Katherine Hoffman 25:08.1 14 Megan Swinney 25:12.9 19 Stephanie Conway 27:22.1 21 Jasmine Brown 27:26.8 1 Warrensburg 17 2 Pleasant Hill 59 3 Excelsior Springs 67 4 Odessa 97 MRVC Championship Boys 2 Landon Fatino 16:57.2 *All Conference 11 Tobin Wise 19:15.7 12 David Rivera 19:20.8 13 Rustin Branstetter 19:23.8 19 Caden Walker 20:08.1 21 Colin Paris 20:25.2 22 Dakota Middleton 20:33.4 1 Warrensburg 28 2 Pleasant Hill 57 3 Harrisonville 81 4 Excelsior Springs 103 5 Odessa 106 6 Oak Grove 114 Richmond Varsity Boys 32 Carson Case 20:26.1 35 Mavrick Crider 20:28.8 37 Keagon Madison 20:36.8 38 Kolton Kincaid 20:37.8 39 Jackson Hunt 20:42.0 40 Wesley Tibai 20:46.4 41 Parker Elkins 20:56.4 1 Smithville 42 2 Lawson 73 3 West Platte 88 4 Marshall 128 5 Van Horn 157 6 Pleasant Hill 169 7 Kingsville 178 8 Hardin-Central 214 9 Polo 238 10 Maysville 250 11 Lexington 253 12 Harrisonville 291 13 Oak Grove 326 Richmond JV Boys 9 Johnathan Rivera 21:28.4 14 Brenden Bunch 22:57.1 32 Jackson Crouse 27:36.5 36 Michael Maasen 32:50.8 Weather conditions at the Warrensburg Invite were nearly perfect with temperatures in the mid 60s on a clear and sunny afternoon. At this point in the season, our athletes have begun to back off the volume and increase intensity in preparation for the conference and district meets. We were hoping for fast times and good performances which many of our athletes accomplished.
The JV boys got things started in a field of 100 runners with 10 complete teams. At first, the boys started near the middle of the pack and then established positions at the front of the race led by Senior Wesley Tibai. As the athletes moved to the halfway point, the Roosters packed four runners in the top 20. Parker Elkins led the charge in the second mile followed closely by Jackson Hunt and Mavrick Crider. Keagon Madison, Johnathan Rivera, and Brenden Bunch were working hard in the 5-6-7 positions on the team to pass dozens of athletes in the last mile. When all was said and done, the top seven scoring Roosters placed 4th, 5th, 13th, 21st, 26th, 29th, and 32nd. Unfortunately, times were irrelevant as the leading pace car took a wrong turn forcing athletes to run an estimated 3.3-3.4 miles instead of the standard 3.1 mile distance. However, the Roosters JV brought home a big win against perennial powerhouses like Grain Valley, Bolivar, Warrensburg, and Pembroke Hill. Jackson Crouse and Michael Maasen battled the clock in their second to last races of the season. Jackson Crouse ran almost a minute faster on the longer version of the course than his previous 5k personal best! Michael Maasen showed his strength and improvement from injury by completing the (longer than) 5k distance for the first time. The Warrensburg officials corrected the course marking and ensured that varsity races would be run at the proper distance. The varsity boys race was incredibly crowded making it difficult for athletes to move up in the early stages. David Rivera sprinted to the front in a duel with Warrensburg’s top runners but ended up paying the price for his early pace. He faded throughout the race but still managed a personal record time for his efforts. Caden Walker, Rustin Branstetter, and Dakota Middleton worked together passing other teams en masse during the 3rd mile. Caden Walker broke through the 19 minute barrier for the first time in his career followed closely by Rustin and Dakota. Colin Paris and Carson Case rounded out the top 5, both earning personal best times. Kolton Kincaid rounded out the top 7 runners placing just ahead of Warrensburg’s #6 and 7 runners. The Roosters rested our top 2 runners who were attending a leadership conference but still managed to place 6th in the 25 team field. Conference rivals Warrensburg proved that they are the team to beat at the MRVC. We have a game plan that can bring us success but will need each athlete to step it up and do their part in order to win. The girls race featured Aubrey Scott, Megan Swinney, and Kat Hoffman. Aubrey utilized a controlled start and big moves past the mile and 2 mile mark to work her way through the pack. She placed 22nd overall and was the 11th finisher to cross the line from our district. Her time of 21:57 was a season best. Senior Megan Swinney had a fast first mile which made for a challenging finish. However, the hope of a personal record drove her to keep fighting. Behind Megan, freshmen Kat Hoffman was hanging on as best as she could with specific instructions to keep up with Megan. Near the 3 mile mark both ladies were side-by-side sprinting to the finish in an effort to break 24 minutes for the first time. Kat ended up with the better kick running 24:00.60 followed by Megan in a time of 24:04. Both times were personal records. The team travels to Richmond next Wednesday for the MRVC Conference championships. Following that, we return to Warrensburg to take on the Class 3 District 7 Meet. At that competition, the top 2 teams and top 15 athletes will stamp their tickets for a trip to the state meet. Results JV Boys - 3.3-3.4 Miles 4 Jackson Hunt 21:40.3 5 Parker Elkins 21:43.2 13 Mavrick Crider 22:21.9 21 Wesley Tibai 22:36.2 26 Keagon Madison 22:51.3 29 Johnathan Rivera 23:09.0 32 Brenden Bunch 23:13.7 87 Jackson Crouse 29:21.0 93 Michael Maasen 33:28.7 1 Pleasant Hill High School 58 2 Stockton High School 63 3 Grain Valley High School 72 4 Lexington High School 111 5 Bolivar High School 126 6 Pembroke Hill School 134 7 Nevada High School 153 8 Oak Grove High School 196 9 Harrisonville High School 213 10 St. Michael the Archangel High School 279 Varsity Boys - 3.1 Miles 26 David Rivera 18:32.4 43 Caden Walker 18:58.0 46 Rustin Branstetter 19:04.4 49 Dakota Middleton 19:08.6 67 Colin Paris 19:32.0 78 Carson Case 19:51.1 110 Kolton Kincaid 20:51.3 1 Grain Valley High School 56 2 Warrensburg High School 95 3 Stockton High School 150 4 Lexington High School 180 5 Bolivar High School 188 6 Pleasant Hill High School 211 7 Harrisonville High School 249 8 Pembroke Hill School 260 9 Excelsior Springs High School 264 10 William Chrisman High School 344 Varsity Girls - 3.1 miles 22 Aubrey Scott 21:57.7 56 Kat Hoffman 24:00.6 58 Megan Swinney 24:04.4 The Roosters and Chicks were on short rest this week at the Excelsior Springs Invitational. The course is one of the most difficult routes we run on all year long. Changes this year had athletes circle back and forth along three fairways which included over 300 feet of elevation gain. For comparison, the state course at Gans Creek has 80 feet of elevation over the same distance. The Chicks squad were the first to test out the hills. Aubrey Scott pressed to the front of the pack early in the race and held on to a top 10 spot in a field containing a large number of conference and district competitors. Megan Swinney was back in the line up and used her fitness to maintain a medal position throughout the race. Freshmen Kat Hoffman narrowly missed the varsity medals for the second meet in a row but showed grit and determination to move up in the second half of the race. Lastly, Jasmine Brown looked fantastic in her second 5k breaking her personal best by over one minute. The varsity boys had another successful outing. Landon Fatino went through a fast mile in 5:04 and held on for a 2nd place finish in a field of 156 runners. Behind him, the Roosters pack grouped up and continued to challenge each other trading positions multiple times in the last mile and a half. Caden Walker, Rustin Branstetter, David Rivera and Dakota Middleton made up the remaining 5 scorers placing 21st, 25th, 26th, and 36th. All of those athletes earned medals. The boys placed 2nd overall out of the 22 complete teams. They lost to Maryville 90 - 97 which was a significant improvement from earlier in the year. At Ray-Pec, Maryville won the meet besting Pleasant Hill 72 - 46. The squad continues to work hard on improving their grouping and pack running which will bode well as we approach the conference and district championships. The last race of the day was the JV boys. They witnessed firsthand the difficulty of the course while watching the varsity races but showed no fear as they approached the hills. Colin Paris and Kolton Kincaid established positions at the front of the race. Keagon Madison and Jackson Hunt started off in the middle of the pack and used their fantastic finishing speed to move up in the top 20 spots. Johnathan Rivera, Wesley Tibai, and Brenden Bunch conquered the hills while running respectable 5k times. The Roosters JV placed 3rd out of 7 teams and were first among non-Class 4 schools. 65 degrees, sunny, hilly, decent footing Results Varsity Girls 9 Aubrey Scott 23:10 32 Megan Swinney 25:04 48 Kat Hoffman 26:37 54 Jasmine Brown 27:24 Varsity Boys 2 Landon Fatino 17:32 21 Caden Walker 19:28 25 Rustin Branstetter 19:34 26 David Rivera 19:35 36 Dakota Middleton 19:49 50 Carson Case 20:29 78 Mavrick Crider 21:22 1 Maryville High School 90 2 Pleasant Hill High School 97 3 Christ Preparatory Academy 114 4 West Platte High School 168 5 Oak Grove High School 195 6 Harrisonville High School 210 7 Lexington High School 215 8 Excelsior Springs High School 229 9 Marshall High School 257 10 Knob Noster High School 274 JV Boys 13 Colin Paris 20:44 15 Kolton Kincaid 20:46 17 Keagon Madison 21:03 19 Jackson Hunt 21:03 28 Johnathan Rivera 21:39 31 Wesley Tibai 21:58 37 Brenden Bunch 22:24 49 Parker Elkins 22:57 1 Central (St. Joseph) High School 17 2 Blue Springs South High School 48 3 Pleasant Hill High School 82 4 Christ Preparatory Academy 91 5 Cameron High School 152 6 Harrisonville High School 170 7 Oak Grove High School 181 2-Mile Time Trial 1 Jackson Crouse 19:20 2 Michael Maasen 21:58 The Roosters and Chicks avoided the heavy rain forecasted for Saturday at the Grain Valley Invitational. Due to rain early in the week, several parts of the course were underwater. The staff at Grain Valley did a great job preparing the course by adding bridges and hay to certain spots on the course. However, the mud and puddles were unavoidable.
Due to a conflicting band competition and injury, the Roosters varsity squad was missing their #2, #3, and #5 runners. The theme that has been consistently repeated this year is the need for the #4-10 runners to move up in the pack to help lower the team score. On Saturday, the runners did just that. Landon Fatino continued his successful season by winning the small school division. Freshmen Rustin Branstetter had an outstanding performance placing 6th. Caden Walker also moved up to a medal position by placing 14th overall. Seniors Dakota Middleton and Colin Paris rounded out the top 5 scoring athletes placing 16th and 23rd, respectively. Sophomores Jackson Hunt and Johnathan Rivera were the 6th and 7th runners for the Roosters placing 24th and 29th in the field of 95 runners. The Roosters squad placed four runners in the top 16 positions which helped them score a total of 58 points. This bested district rivals Pembroke Hill by 35 points and earned Pleasant Hill 1st place out of 11 complete schools. The Chicks squad had three girls compete in the varsity race. Junior Aubrey Scott looked strong throughout the course and placed 4th overall in a time of 22:57. Freshmen Stephanie Conway powered up the hills and set a new personal best despite the mud running a time of 24:04. This helped her earn her first high school medal placing 6th overall. Kat Hoffman moved up over 8 places in the last mile of the course chasing a medal but narrowly missed doing so placing 17th in the field of 49 runners. We have short rest between this meet and our next competition at Excelsior Springs on Tuesday. That meet will be good preparation for the MRVC Conference Meet. Our girls squad will be back to full strength and will look to best conference competitors Excelsior Springs on their home turf. Conditions: 65 degrees, cloudy, hilly, muddy Results Varsity Boys (5k) 1 Fatino Landon 17:28.3 6 Branstetter Rustin 19:12.8 14 Walker Caden 19:54.7 16 Middleton Dakota 20:04.7 23 Paris Colin 20:28.9 24 Hunt Jackson 20:30.8 29 Rivera Johnathan 20:41.3 34 Crider Mavrick 20:59.7 39 Madison Keagon 21:20.4 50 Kincaid Kolton 21:41.2 61 Bunch Brenden 22:31.8 64 Elkins Parker 22:38.7 1 Pleasant Hill High School 58 2 Pembroke Hill School 93 3 Oak Grove High School 115 4 Lexington High School 129 5 Kingsville High School 145 6 Odessa High School 146 7 Knob Noster High School 154 8 Cameron High School 161 9 Hardin-Central High School 226 10 St. Paul Lutheran High School 229 11 Lone Jack High School 253 Varsity Girls (5k) 4 Scott Aubrey 22:57.6 6 Conway Stephanie 24:05.0 17 Hoffman Katherine 25:22.8 JV Boys (2 miles) 32 Jackson Crouse 19:55 JV Girls (2 miles) 20 Jasmine Brown 18:33 This weekend our team traveled to Gans Creek Park to compete on the newly established state course. The 5k featured wide straightaways, rolling hills, and short grass. The athletes run two loops from the starting line and a final loop which features the most difficult hills on the course. It should be noted that the hills in the final loop pale in comparison to that of the Jefferson City course.
The combination of both the rain and the collegiate invitational on Friday night tore up a lot of the grass making conditions incredibly muddy. This created issues for athletes that did not run in spikes. Furthermore, the repeating theme of quickly rising temperatures once again was true. Our varsity girls started the day with temperatures in the low 70s. By the time JV boys rolled around, temperatures were approaching mid 80s with the heat index over 90. Due to the length in travel, our Varsity girls had the least amount of time to prepare. They rushed off the bus, battled through the restroom lines, and made it to the starting line with 15 minutes to warm up. The girls did not know what to expect and neither did we as coaches. Aubrey Scott led the pack using a strategy of starting off comfortably and making up ground in the second half. Following the 1k post, Aubrey passed 52 runners to place 58th overall in a time of 22:29. Senior Megan Swinney knocked over 30 seconds off her personal best time to finish in 24:17. Once again, our pack of freshmen girls worked together and placed between 148th and 159th place. All three girls broke 25:20. Senior Jasmine Brown finished her first 5k in a time of 28:24. The girls recorded a team score for the first time this season and placed 22nd out of the 24 teams. We were just two places behind MRVC challengers, Excelsior Springs. We will look to close the gap and outperform Excelsior at their home invitational next week and then again at the MRVC Championships on the 23rd. The varsity boys were once again shorthanded missing two of the top six runners due to injury and family events. With that, several of our JV athletes had the opportunity to step up and fill their shoes. At the 1K mark, Landon Fatino and Tobin Wise both established themselves in the top 20 runners. Other athletes like Dakota Middleton and Carson Case had aggressive starts faster than their personal best pace. Tobin, Rustin, Dakota, and many of the boys faded in the final half of the race. Fatino surged up the hill in the last mile and moved up in 2nd place behind Kolin Overstreet, the returning state champion from class 2. Fatino fought hard but was eventually outkicked by the Forest Park Gold Division Champion. Fatino placed 3rd in a talented field of 263 runners. Carson Case set a personal record on the course breaking 20 minutes for the first time. The JV boys were the last race of the day. The combination of mud, humidity, and heat made conditions challenging. Parker Elkins and Wesley Tibai led the JV group placing 61st and 74th out of the 215 runners. Jackson Hunt and Brenden Bunch were together for most of the race with Jackson leading Brenden to an impressive PR given the conditions. Brenden’s new best is 22:51. Homecoming week will likely cause some disruptions to training. We will need to focus and prepare for hillier courses later in the season as we begin to compete against MRVC schools. Warrensburg is the favorite to win the conference on both sides but we believe that our boys have the opportunity to challenge them for the title. Results Varsity Girls 58 Aubrey Scott 22:29.0 130 Megan Swinney 24:17.5 148 Stephanie Conway 24:54.0 151 Katherine Hoffman 24:57.7 159 Avery Lawrence 25:14.8 196 Jasmine Brown 28:24.6 Varsity Boys 3 Landon Fatino 16:41.5 76 Tobin Wise 18:36.6 135 Rustin Branstetter 19:21.4 170 Carson Case 19:55.0 178 Caden Walker 20:01.7 190 Dakota Middleton 20:15.6 202 Mavrick Crider 20:43.0 213 Colin Paris 21:00.7 JV Boys 61 Parker Elkins 21:18.7 74 Wesley Tibai 21:46.5 96 Jackson Hunt 22:18.4 120 Brenden Bunch 22:51.3 215 Jackson Crouse 33:20.5 The Roosters and Chicks cross country team traveled to MSSU to compete in the Southern Stampede. The course is well known for producing fast times and we went in with the mindset of achieving just that.
After the collegiate races finished up in the morning, the Chicks took to the starting line against teams in the small school division. Just prior to the race, the clouds began to clear and temperatures quickly rose. Aubrey Scott led the group through the halfway point in 40th place but faded in the last half to a 52nd place finish. Behind her, our trio of freshmen pushed each other beyond anything we have seen this season. Kat Hoffman stunned us coaches, and even herself, by shaving 2 minutes and 20 seconds off her 5k best! Stephanie Conway closely followed with a 1 minute and 39 second personal best. Avery Lawrence finished her first 5k in 25:08 which was 17 seconds faster per mile for a longer distance than her opening 2.1 mile at the beginning of the year. As the girls were finishing up a cold front blew in dropping temperatures and blocking the sun. This helped create ideal racing conditions for the Rooster squad. The boys competed up a division in the large school race which featured 380 runners from 44 complete teams. The front of the race was stacked with talented runners making this meet much more competitive than our state competition. Landon Fatino charged through the one-kilometer mark, just under school record pace. At the mile, conditions were still so crowded that Coach Yoder was only able to spot 6 of the 9 Roosters that passed. Fatino continued to maintain record setting pace through 4 kilometers. He faded slightly up the hill between 4k and 3 miles requiring a miraculous kick to out due Matt Haffner’s time from the mid 2000s. Landon moved his legs as fast as he could and cross the line in 16:14, just 3 seconds off Haffner’s record mark. Fatino’s run places him 2nd all time in school history. He has a few more opportunities this year to run flatter courses that could produce a record mark though it is clear that Haffner’s record will be in jeopardy Landon’s senior year. Behind Fatino, the rest of the Rooster squad battled through the masses to produce a number of personal bests. Tobin Wise showed his health is improving by setting a 10+ second PR in 17:26. Freshmen Rustin Branstetter and Mavrick Crider looked impressive finishing in 18:50 and 19:02, respectively. Caden Walker stated that his knee pain is starting to feel better and his run proved that as he took off nearly 50 second from last year’s time. Colin Paris and Jackson Hunt both sprinted down the final straightaway to break the 20 minute barrier. Just behind them, Johnathan Rivera looked outstanding shaving off 1 minute and 30 second from his best time set last week. For some reason unbeknownst to me, the JV races were competed over 3 kilometers (just under 2 miles) instead of 5 kilometers. Two Roosters took to the line and competed well over that distance. Brenden Bunch placed 139th in the field of 250+ runners in a time of 12:28. That pace, if ran over 5 kilometers, would equate to a nearly 3 minute PR for 5k. Jackson Crouse continued his steady improvement covering the 3k distance at an average pace of 9:49 per mile. A handful of athletes were missing from this meet due to conflict with a band competition. We will return at full strength next week in Columbia, MO for the Gans Creek Classic. That meet will be a preview of the new state course and set the tone for our chances to advance out of Class 3 District 7. Warrensburg, Pembroke Hill, and Clinton look to be the early teams to beat on the boys side. The girls have a tall order to qualify individually with Pembroke Hill, Warrensburg, and Sion taking up many of the 15 individual spots. In the coming weeks we will need to change our mindset from running fast times on race tracks like Joplin and prepare for tougher running on the hills of Grain Valley and Excelsior Springs. Results: Girls Varisty 52 Aubrey Scott 22:41 99 Katherine Hoffman 24:40 101 Stephanie Conway 24:43 104 Avery Lawrence 25:08 Boys Varsity 35 Landon Fatino 16:14 144 Tobin Wise 17:26 289 Rustin Branstetter 18:50 307 Mavrick Crider 19:02 308 Caden Walker 19:02 342 Colin Paris 19:55 345 Jackson Hunt 19:57 356 Johnathan Rivera 20:17 361 Parker Elkins 20:30 JV Boys (3 kilometers) 139 Brenden Bunch 12:28 275 Jakcson Crouse 18:18 Huge thank you to Coach Ortiz for this write-up. I was unable to attend the meet due to a conflict with marriage prep courses.
This past weekend marked the first official 5K for the Roosters and Chicks cross country team at the Ray-Pec Invite. This course was familiar terrain for the veteran runners but a brand new experience for the first year runners. The weather was beautiful in the morning but quickly warmed up as the day went on. The meet consisted of 36 teams and 1,300 runners from all over the metro and the state of Missouri. The teams, however, were split into small schools and large schools and Pleasant Hill was in the mix of small schools. The varsity boys were up first and the roster of the top seven saw a lot of change from the Belton Invite. The top four saw no change from last week with Landon Fatino, Tobin Wise, David Rivera and Rustin Branstetter. Carson Case, Keagon Madison and Caden Walker were added to round out the rest of the seven man roster. Landon had a strong start running 5:11 in his first mile and kept up with the front pack throughout that first mile. He went on to have a finish of 17:04 making him 12th overall (big and small schools) and first in the small schools division. Tobin and David kept close to each other throughout the course with Tobin finishing 8th with a time of 18:34 and David finishing 10th with a time of 18:36. These three earned medals finishing in the top 20, however, we were close to having a fourth runner medal. Rustin ran a great race and finished 21st. He was one second behind the 20th place finisher! Carson, Keagon and Caden had their first taste of a varsity race this season. Carson had a 20:20 finish with Keagon coming in shortly after with a 20:29 finish. Caden rounded out our varsity boys with a finishing time of 20:58. As a team our boys finished 3rd in the small schools group. The varsity girls race included Aubrey Scott, Megan Swinney and freshman Stephanie Conway. Aubrey and Megan showed their experience in this race. Aubrey stayed with a pack throughout the course and can even be seen fighting for a spot in a pack in a picture posted by one of the parents! Luckily, she fought through because she earned a medal and a spot on the podium with a 20th place finish and a time of 23:12. Megan set a goal for herself to beat her PR of 24:50 but came up just short with a finish time of 24:58. Although she did not beat her PR, this is a great sign that she will be able to break it again and again during the season since we have just started the year. Stephanie saw a true test in her first 5K and ran focused through the whole race and had a 26:22 finish time. The JV boys had a large group of runners and all of them finished in the top 20! These finishes led the Rooster to a 1st place in the JV boys small schools division! The JV race only medaled the top 10 but we were able to get three boys on the podium. Those boys included Dakota Middleton finishing 3rd with a time of 20:22, Mavrick Crider finishing in 5th with a time of 20:57 and Colin Paris finishing in 7th with a time of 21:05. We were close to having another medalist in the race. Wesley Tibai finished in 11th place only four seconds behind the 10th place runner! Parker Elkins, Jackson Hunt and Johnathan Rivera rounded out the last of our boys with 14th, 15th and 18th place finishes, respectively. The boys C team race included two rookies: Jackson Crouse and Brenden Bunch. Both were very nervous but very focused before the start of the race. Brenden ran very strong and kept up with a pack throughout the race and finished his first 5K in 23:04. His time earned him a medal and a spot on on the podium as the first place runner in the small schools division! Jackson showed a strong finish and had a great kick which helped him get a finish under a half hour at 29:45. We had one lone runner in the C team race: Kat Hoffman. Kat had nerves like everyone else but once she was running, she relaxed and settled in. She kept with a pack during the first mile but kept passing runners in front of her as the race went on. She finished with a great kick and passed five girls on the last straightaway! This earned her a third place finish in the small schools division and finished with a time of 27:00! Saturday morning started out with a lot of nerves and anxiousness but ended in a lot of relief and smiles. The trail was a good test for everyone as it was muddy throughout the back half. I even witnessed a coach bringing a spike to the finish line that a runner lost in a mud pit covered in mud! The chip was also on the shoe! Overall we had a great day for the first 5K of the year. Coach Stahl and I have already seen amazing support for each other both in practice and at meets. It was very apparent when everyone was around the course during every race cheering each other on! The beginner runners now have an understanding what goes into a 5K and we will continue to work hard in practice to help them improve their times. Results (* Denotes Medalist) Varsity Boys *1 Landon Fatino Pleasant Hill 17:04.7 *8 Tobin Wise Pleasant Hill 18:34.2 *10 David Rivera Pleasant Hill 18:36.8 21 Rustin Branstetter Pleasant Hill 19:31.7 32 Carson Case Pleasant Hill 20:20.7 39 Keagon Madison Pleasant Hill 20:29.8 43 Caden Walker Pleasant Hill 20:58.5 1 Maryville High School 46 2 Smithville High School 70 3 Pleasant Hill High School 72 4 Lawson HS 83 5 West Platte High School 101 6 Clinton High School 116 7 Cameron High School 184 8 Lathrop High School 234 Varsity Girls *20 Aubrey Scott Pleasant Hill 23:12.9 35 Megan Swinney Pleasant Hill 24:58.2 45 Stephanie Conway Pleasant Hill 26:22.0 JV Boys *3 Dakota Middleton Pleasant Hill 20:22.5 *5 Mavrick Crider Pleasant Hill 20:57.2 *7 Colin Paris Pleasant Hill 21:05.4 11 Wesley Tibai Pleasant Hill 21:34.2 14 Parker Elkins Pleasant Hill 21:43.6 15 Jackson Hunt Pleasant Hill 21:51.7 18 Johnathan Rivera Pleasant Hill 21:53.0 1 Pleasant Hill High School 38 2 Lawson HS 45 3 Smithville High School 77 4 Clinton High School 90 5 Cameron High School 103 C Team Boys *1 Brenden Bunch Pleasant Hill 23:04.7 6 Jackson Crouse Pleasant Hill 29:45.2 C Team Girls *3 Katherine Hoffman Pleasant Hill 27:00.5 This weekend the Roosters and Chicks competed at Belton in the Cass County Invitational. The race was approximately 2.05 miles and was run on rough and uneven terrain. Weather for the boys’ varsity race was near perfect for this time of year but as the sun began to rise so too did the temperatures.
The top seven boys for the Rooster squad was nearly identical to last week but included senior Kolton Kincaid. Kincaid’s addition to the top 5 runners helped bridge the gap between us and conference rivals, Warrensburg. Landon Fatino continued to impress passing though the mile in 5:03 and crossing 2 miles in 10:12. He finished 3rd overall behind a pair of talented runners from Ray-Pec. Tobin Wise and David Rivera once again had strong runs with both passing through the mile under 5:20. Their pace faded in the second half of the race but they both held on for top 15 finishes. Kolton Kincaid and Rustin Branstetter rounded out the Rooster finishers both placing in the top 25. Going in, we knew Ray-Pec had the fire power to run away with the meet. Our goal was to match up against Warrensburg and earn a second-place finish. In the last half mile, I knew team scores with be close with their entire squad fitting between our 3rd and 5th runner. When the dust settled, we had accomplished half of our goal. Pleasant Hill narrowly took down Warrensburg 78-80. However, my new dark horse team of the year snuck ahead of both squads by placing 4 runners ahead of Warrensburg’s number two. Grandivew High School has shown consistent improvement in the last two years and are now a team to be taken seriously in the Class 3 district scene. Next up in the day was our varsity Chicks. Aubrey Scott led the way passing through the mile in 6:34. She held on to Warrensburg and Ray-Pec’s talented squads for as long as she could before fading to 12th place. Senior Megan Swinney continued her theme of the season which is shattering last year’s times. Her 15:52 finish time was over a full minute faster than last year’s effort and placed her 20th overall. Stephanie Conway and Jasmine Brown both showed off their strength and determination by moving up the pack in the last half mile. Both newcomers will be tested next week as the race distance increases to 5k. The boy’s JV race was a display of depth from our large neighbors to the west. Ray-Pec put 11 runners in the top 13 places. Behind their pack, our JV athletes displayed great teamwork and pack running. Caden Walker showed improvement from last week’s performance leading the Roosters with a 17th place finish in 13:13. Returning lettermen Keagon Madison and Dakota Middleton closely followed. Newcomer and senior Wesley Tibai competed in his first cross country race of the year. He looked strong throughout the course and is a promising prospect to join the previously mentioned athletes in the hunt for a varsity spot. Jackson Hunt, Johnathan Rivera, and Parker Elkins were exciting to watch in the last mile as the pack of three runners continually passed opposing squads en masse. Freshmen Brenden Bunch showed solid improvement from last week by covering the 2.05-mile distance faster than his 2-mile time from last week. Closing out the Rooster’s finishers was junior Jackson Crouse who impressed with a gutsy performance in his first cross country race. Jackson passed through the mile in 8:45 which set a personal record by 8 seconds from our first mile time trial at the beginning of the season. However, this time he kept on running for another 1.05 miles to finish in 19:07. Last up were the JV girls who had to battle through the hottest part of the day. Freshmen Avery Lawrence and Kat Hoffman worked together and had strong finishes placing in the top 15. Avery, who fought with knee pain throughout the race was only one position from medaling! Senior Sarah Watson ran a brave race by navigating the rough terrain coming off an ankle injury. She kept her stride throughout the whole race and finished with a sprint. Today our boys showed that they have the potential to repeat as MRVC West Conference champions. However, both our girls’ and boys’ squads will need to maximize their recovery and heal from the aches and pains of our first few weeks to be successful. Next week we travel to Raymore-Peculiar to compete in our first 5k of the season. Results: Varsity Boys 3 Landon Fatino 10:48 13 Tobin Wise 11:32 15 David Rivera 11:38 22 Rustin Branstetter 12:08 25 Kolton Kincaid 12:36 30 Carson Case 12:57 32 Mavrick Crider 13:04 1 RayPec 19 2 Grandview 67 3 Pleasant Hill 78 4 Warrensburg 80 5 Harrisonville 131 6 Van Horn 168 Varsity Girls 12 Aubrey Scott 14:39 20 Megan Swinney 15:52 24 Stephanie Conway 16:25 26 Jasmine Brown 17:25 JV Boys 17 Caden Walker 13:13 19 Keagon Madison 13:19 22 Dakota Middleton 13:21 23 Wesley Tibai 13:23 29 Jackson Hunt 13:58 30 Johnathan Rivera 14:07 32 Parker Elkins 14:17 46 Brenden Bunch 15:06 68 Jackson Crouse 19:07 RayPec 17 Grandview 57 Pleasant Hill 72 Ruskin 108 JV Girls 11 Avery Lawrence 17:35 15 Katherine Hoffman 18:09 27 Sarah Watson 22:09 The 2019 cross country competition season officially opened this weekend at Warrensburg High School. The time trial featured athletes from Pleasant Hill, Warrensburg, Clinton, Knob Noster, and Smith-Cotton. Heavy rain the night before made our first timed race a true cross-country experience. There were sections of mud, puddles lining straightaways, and damp conditions throughout.
Landon Fatino, now a junior, won the boy’s two-mile race in a time of 11:00. Tobin Wise battled through an unfortunately timed sickness to earn the second Rooster position and 5th place overall. Senior David Rivera looked impressive in his cross-country debut and proved that he will be a valuable addition to the squad. Rounding out the top 7 Roosters were Frosh Rustin Branstetter, Junior Carson Case, Frosh Mavrick Crider, and Senior Dakota Middleton. I was very excited to see our top two freshmen crack into the top 7 positions on our roster. Both of those young men worked incredibly hard preparing for this season by attending our summer workouts and it showed in their placing. Not only that, but both runners ran nearly even splits showing off their fitness and intelligent pacing in their first high school race. Unofficial team scores put Warrensburg at 34 points, the Roosters at 45 points, and Clinton at 69 points. We had a quality start to the season but will need our runners in the number 4 and 5 spots to step it up in order to repeat as MRVC Conference and District champions. Junior Aubrey Scott led the Chick’s finishers with a time of 15:01. She was followed closely by senior Megan Swinney who finished in 15:36. Megan’s time was a 1 minute and 5 second improvement over the same distance last year. Freshman Stephanie Conway outperformed her efforts in practice for a surprise finish in 15:46. I believe that she will become more consistent with her training and show large improvements this season. Freshmen Avery Lawrence and Kat Hoffman rounded of Chick’s team with finishes of 17:04 and 17:23. We have a young pack of girls that have outstanding leaders in Megan and Aubrey. I see this girls squad continuing to show improvement throughout the season and am excited about the future of the program with such a close knit group of freshmen athletes. Results: Conditions - Partly Cloudy, Wet and Muddy, 60-70 degrees, humid Landon Fatino 11:00 Tobin Wise 11:44 David Rivera 11:57 Rustin Branstetter 12:34 Carson Case 12:49 Mavrick Crider 12:58 Dakota Middleton 13:01 Caden Walker 13:06 Parker Elkins 13:20 Colin Paris 13:30 Jackson Hunt 14:25 Johnathan Rivera 14:57 Brenden Bunch 15:17 Aubrey Scott 15:01 Megan Swinney 15:36 Stephanie Conway 15:45 Avery Lawrence 17:04 Kat Hoffman 17:23 |
Coach Paul StahlHead Cross Country and Assistant Track Coach at Pleasant Hill High School Archives
November 2019
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