Post by rainman on Oct 11, 2009 6:59:38 GMT -5
Bears, Huskies win Times invite
FAIRMONT — If nothing else, the Fairmont Senior boys’ cross country team sticks together.
They’re close friends off the course, with one runner likening the group to a second set of brothers. Sometimes, even a ho-hum weekday practice can become a bonding experience.
“Every practice we try to get our top five to run for at least 20-30 minutes together,” Fairmont Senior’s Dayton McVicker said. “It helps out (in races) because if you see someone with you, you know you can stay with them.”
Turns out — in this case, at least — the team that runs together wins together.
It paid off in the 22nd annual
Times Invitational Saturday at Apple Valley Golf Course. McVicker and Patrick Stanton took the top two spots of the varsity race, and the Polar Bears dashed past Grafton for the team title.
Fairmont Senior, ranked No. 1 in the runwv.com Class AAA power rankings, scored a meet-best 46 points. The Bearcats finished second (64), followed by Hampshire (87) and Doddridge County (93). North Marion placed seventh (183) and East Fairmont 10th (249).
In the girls’ race, North Marion used a balanced effort to post 65 points and upend second-place Hampshire (111). Fairmont Senior had a pair of top 10 finishers in Chelsea Clark and Alyssa Scherich and finished fifth (120); rival East was sixth overall (157).
Despite the soggy remnants from rain overnight, it wasn’t enough to slow the Polar Bears.
All told, Fairmont Senior’s boys’ squad had five runners finish in the top 20. McVicker nabbed his third win with a time of 17:16, while Stanton was just off the pace in second at 17:23.
For Stanton, No. 10 in Class AAA, the race brought a new approach that paid huge dividends. Usually the type to pace himself and make a final push late, he followed McVicker’s lead Saturday and slammed the pedal from the start.
“We sent him out with Dayton today because he goes out a little stronger,” Fairmont Senior coach Chris Neptune said. “Dayton’s a front-runner. He’s always better in the races where he just goes after it. When he sits back, he doesn’t do as well. Patrick traditionally has been a guy who sits back and runs more of what people call a smart race.
“When you’re in shape like our team, especially our top two guys, they can take going out faster and not worry about dying at the end. Hopefully, it’s something we’re going to stick with the rest of the year.”
Given Stanton’s great practice runs, his performance didn’t come as a surprise.
“We run together in practice, and he beats me in most workouts. He should be up with me every race,” McVicker said. “Today, we raced off each other. It worked perfectly; it couldn’t have been better.”
Gannon Flowers finished 11th (18:37) for the Polar Bears, while Jordyn Work was 17th (18:49) and Jacob Richards was 20th (19:19).
Richards, normally the team’s No. 6 runner, took the place of regular Joe Vozniak for Saturday’s race.
“I asked him before (the race) that we needed him to get in the top 20, but in the back of my head I was thinking ‘It’s OK if he gets 30th.’” Neptune said of Richards. “He had a great race.”
Ronnie Cosco paced East in 16th place (18:49), while Andrew Stanley was 32nd (19:50) for North. The Bees’ Earnest Scott added a top 40 finish (19:58).
The North girls’ continued a strong season as well, placing three in the top 10 and six of the top 30.
Freshman Emma Harrison keyed the parade of Huskies’ runners at the tail-end of the top 10. Jordan McDonald was ninth (21:29) and Devan Elliott 10th (21:39).
At the start of the season, North coach Josh Mason wasn’t sure what he had. But in time, his team has developed into arguably one of the deepest in Class AAA.
“Coming in, we thought it would be Jordan, a big gap and then the rest of them,” he said. “But they’ve just really closed that gap. That’s what it takes to be successful in this sport; you’ve got to be consistent and have a good pack.
“At the beginning of the season we were a little surprised, but they’ve just progressed each day. Hard work has really paid off with this group.”
Clark was the area’s top finisher with a second-place run of 20:29, just six seconds behind race winner and twotime defending state champ Letitia Propst of Elkins (20:23). Propst also won last season’s Times Invitational.
On Saturday, a different story was unfolding. Clark led nearly the entire race before Propst kicked it into gear and took control in the final halfmile.
“Letitia always has a strong finish,” Fairmont Senior coach Eric Moffa said. “Chelsea knew that, so she was trying to get some separation, but when it came down to it, she couldn’t hold onto the lead. I think it’s just going to encourage Chelsea to work even harder over the next few weeks.”
Fairmont Senior also received a strong effort from Scherich, who finished third (20:50). Other area girls’ runners included East’s Amber Trickett (25th, 23:11) and Michaela Luckey (26th, 23:12), North’s Brittany Reynolds (29th, 23:23) and East’s Debra Smith (34th, 23:42).
FAIRMONT — If nothing else, the Fairmont Senior boys’ cross country team sticks together.
They’re close friends off the course, with one runner likening the group to a second set of brothers. Sometimes, even a ho-hum weekday practice can become a bonding experience.
“Every practice we try to get our top five to run for at least 20-30 minutes together,” Fairmont Senior’s Dayton McVicker said. “It helps out (in races) because if you see someone with you, you know you can stay with them.”
Turns out — in this case, at least — the team that runs together wins together.
It paid off in the 22nd annual
Times Invitational Saturday at Apple Valley Golf Course. McVicker and Patrick Stanton took the top two spots of the varsity race, and the Polar Bears dashed past Grafton for the team title.
Fairmont Senior, ranked No. 1 in the runwv.com Class AAA power rankings, scored a meet-best 46 points. The Bearcats finished second (64), followed by Hampshire (87) and Doddridge County (93). North Marion placed seventh (183) and East Fairmont 10th (249).
In the girls’ race, North Marion used a balanced effort to post 65 points and upend second-place Hampshire (111). Fairmont Senior had a pair of top 10 finishers in Chelsea Clark and Alyssa Scherich and finished fifth (120); rival East was sixth overall (157).
Despite the soggy remnants from rain overnight, it wasn’t enough to slow the Polar Bears.
All told, Fairmont Senior’s boys’ squad had five runners finish in the top 20. McVicker nabbed his third win with a time of 17:16, while Stanton was just off the pace in second at 17:23.
For Stanton, No. 10 in Class AAA, the race brought a new approach that paid huge dividends. Usually the type to pace himself and make a final push late, he followed McVicker’s lead Saturday and slammed the pedal from the start.
“We sent him out with Dayton today because he goes out a little stronger,” Fairmont Senior coach Chris Neptune said. “Dayton’s a front-runner. He’s always better in the races where he just goes after it. When he sits back, he doesn’t do as well. Patrick traditionally has been a guy who sits back and runs more of what people call a smart race.
“When you’re in shape like our team, especially our top two guys, they can take going out faster and not worry about dying at the end. Hopefully, it’s something we’re going to stick with the rest of the year.”
Given Stanton’s great practice runs, his performance didn’t come as a surprise.
“We run together in practice, and he beats me in most workouts. He should be up with me every race,” McVicker said. “Today, we raced off each other. It worked perfectly; it couldn’t have been better.”
Gannon Flowers finished 11th (18:37) for the Polar Bears, while Jordyn Work was 17th (18:49) and Jacob Richards was 20th (19:19).
Richards, normally the team’s No. 6 runner, took the place of regular Joe Vozniak for Saturday’s race.
“I asked him before (the race) that we needed him to get in the top 20, but in the back of my head I was thinking ‘It’s OK if he gets 30th.’” Neptune said of Richards. “He had a great race.”
Ronnie Cosco paced East in 16th place (18:49), while Andrew Stanley was 32nd (19:50) for North. The Bees’ Earnest Scott added a top 40 finish (19:58).
The North girls’ continued a strong season as well, placing three in the top 10 and six of the top 30.
Freshman Emma Harrison keyed the parade of Huskies’ runners at the tail-end of the top 10. Jordan McDonald was ninth (21:29) and Devan Elliott 10th (21:39).
At the start of the season, North coach Josh Mason wasn’t sure what he had. But in time, his team has developed into arguably one of the deepest in Class AAA.
“Coming in, we thought it would be Jordan, a big gap and then the rest of them,” he said. “But they’ve just really closed that gap. That’s what it takes to be successful in this sport; you’ve got to be consistent and have a good pack.
“At the beginning of the season we were a little surprised, but they’ve just progressed each day. Hard work has really paid off with this group.”
Clark was the area’s top finisher with a second-place run of 20:29, just six seconds behind race winner and twotime defending state champ Letitia Propst of Elkins (20:23). Propst also won last season’s Times Invitational.
On Saturday, a different story was unfolding. Clark led nearly the entire race before Propst kicked it into gear and took control in the final halfmile.
“Letitia always has a strong finish,” Fairmont Senior coach Eric Moffa said. “Chelsea knew that, so she was trying to get some separation, but when it came down to it, she couldn’t hold onto the lead. I think it’s just going to encourage Chelsea to work even harder over the next few weeks.”
Fairmont Senior also received a strong effort from Scherich, who finished third (20:50). Other area girls’ runners included East’s Amber Trickett (25th, 23:11) and Michaela Luckey (26th, 23:12), North’s Brittany Reynolds (29th, 23:23) and East’s Debra Smith (34th, 23:42).
