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
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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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