Rocket runners hold their own on the course

By Todd Rohde~CORRESPONDENT

                  It has been a pretty good all-around season for the Richmond-Burton cross country program so far this year. The boys’ team has used their experience and leadership to hang around the top half of meets all year, while the girls’ team with a little more youth has been able to hold their own as well by putting worth worthy efforts.

                  This same scenario was evident Sept. 29, as the two teams participated in the competitive multi-team meet that featured several area schools. The Rockets were just one of 16 teams to take part in the 39th annual Patricia Harland Invite hosted by Antioch High School at Fox River Park in Silver Lake, Wis.

                  The Richmond boys were fifth overall with a score of 169 despite not having one of their top athletes in James Kaht who is nursing a foot injury. Crystal Lake Central took home top honors at the meet by coming in first with 45, as Jacobs was the runner-up in second at 68.

                  In the girls’ competition, the Lady Rockets came away with 11th place with a mark of 343 on the day. Jacobs was the team to beat in the top spot at 36, as Marengo was 10 points behind them and came in second with 46

                  The event featured a 5K or three-mile run through the park that included both flat and hilly terraine. It was separated into three different races for both genders including a varsity (mostly juniors and seniors) race, junior varsity (primarily freshmen and sophomores) and open (mixed) field. The places of the top five runners for each school were added together to come up with the overall team scores.

                  Crystal Lake senior Alex Baker paced the field of 112 runners in the varsity race by coming in first with a time of 15:32.60. Marengo senior Katie Adams easily took home the medalist honors in the varsity girls’ race by crossing the finish line first with a time of 17:41:34 out of 108 runners.

                  The top finisher for the Rocket boys on the day was senior Aaron Spivey coming in 16th place with a time of 16:48.56. Also helping out with the scoring for the Rockets included senior D.J. Wolfram in 25th at 17:05.56’ junior Ryan Garrett in 36th with 17:33.24, junior Ben Gardner in 45th at 17:54.34 and senior Mike Bland in 53nd with 18:03.49.

                  In the varsity girls’ competition, Richmond sophomore Meagan Spohr was the best finisher by coming in 29th place with 20:56.48. Others’ contributing to the scoring for the Rockets included senior Skylar Bayer in 65th at 22:55.40, sophomore Eden Manuel in 72nd with 22:47.57, senior Carli Briggs in 101st at 25:15.96 and senior Amanda Patsis in 107th with 26:29.54.


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