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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Coach Paul StahlHead Cross Country and Assistant Track Coach at Pleasant Hill High School Archives
November 2019
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