Lady Green, Lady Bearcats advance to state cross country meet

By Jim Metcalfe, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Tuesday, November 3, 2009 (4 months, 1 week ago)
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TIFFIN/TROY — One team was sweating bullets.
The other made a statement.
The first, the Ottoville Lady Big Green cross country team, left out a collective sigh of relief — and unbelief —  when they finished second at the Division III Tiffin Regional meet on a windy and soft Hedges-Boyer Park course.
“I’m happy for the girls to get there as a team. The times were very slow because of the soft course and the wind but they were slower for everybody,” veteran Ottoville coach Bob Kaple said. “We’ve had to battle through injuries and the girls still aren’t yet completely back but they are closer than they were. It gives us another week to get a bit more healthy and get a little more conditioning for those who’ve had to deal with those injuries.”
The times were slower for everyone but junior harrier Shayla Siefker clocked the same time (19:37.61) in blowing away the field Saturday as she did at last weekend’s Ottawa District meet.
“I wanted this one a lot. Coach always tells me to run my race and get off to a good start; that was what I was working on all week,” Siefker, a now-3-time state qualifier, noted. “I was hoping to get my personal best but all that matters is I won. I try not to let the nerves or the conditions get to me. The only thing better than going as an individual is going as a team, especially for the seniors. We’re just so close as a team and we’re the best of friends; we really push each other.”
After waiting for what seemed an eternity, with Liberty Center locked into first, the Lady Green found out they were second, with Bloomdale Elmwood third and Old Fort fourth.
Those who ran: Siefker, junior Brianna Rodriguez (17th), senior Molly Maag (24th), junior Brooke Bendele (31st), senior Melissa Turnwald (79th), junior Kari Beining (89th) and junior Emilee Byrne (108th); were stunned. They kept repeating “I can’t believe it” or “this is so cool” and hugging each other, almost near tears of joy.
Maag, in particular, who struggled with injuries as she pondered whether she would get the chance for her third trip to state, was relieved.
“After going through an injury, it is awesome to get runners up and make it to state,” she exclaimed. “I could not ask for a better team; I’m excited for state and hope for the best. It’s a great way to finish out my senior year.”
The other senior, Turnwald, agreed.
“I couldn’t ask for a better senior year; we have a lot of fun together and like to keep things light. I couldn’t ask for a better senior partner in Molly; we’ve been best friends since grade school,” she added. “It was nice to see us second because of all the injuries this season. I can’t wait to run at state with all the girls.”
With every performer back from last season’s team that finished sixth at the State Meet at Scioto Downs, the team will at least have the chance to repeat — or better — that feat.
“You never know what will happen at the state meet. We just hope we go down there, run our best and see what happens,” Kaple noted. “Going in, we were on the bubble; we knew it would be close whether we could get down to state. Shayla was dominant today, despite the conditions; our No. 2-4 runners stayed close enough to the front to get the job done.”
His boys, however, finished 12th as a team.
“I actually had them 13th or 14th coming in; we did better than I thought. You just have some very strong boys teams here and we can’t really stay with them right now,” Kaple continued. “I have been coaching for 42 years now and this was the 20th time the boys made it this far; that is in itself a great accomplishment.”
Senior Drew Bendele (41st) was the top boys finisher, followed by sophomore Jason Turnwald (64th), junior Tyler Turnwald (71st), freshman Ryan Honigford (90th), sophomore Seth Bendele (100th), senior Tyler Looser (107th) and junior Andy Foster (115th).
The chilly weather is not a detriment to his troops.
“Both teams actually like the cooler weather; when it’s hot and humid, we tend to struggle,” he added. “In my years, when I talk to the kids before a race, my whole goal is to relax them. I want to give them as little as possible to think about when they race. I find that helps them race better.
“The wind doesn’t seem to be as tough as many think; when you race 34-wide like today, you have a lot of people helping block the wind.”
Other locals who ran but did not advance were Columbus Grove freshman Jake Graham, 20th in the boys race; and Kalida sophomore Deanna Kahle, 74th in the girls.
The girls race kicks things off, beginning 11:05 a.m. Saturday at Scioto Downs, south of Columbus.
The Division II girls race, which will include Van Wert, who finished second Saturday, starts at 11:50 a.m.
The Lady Cougars had the following placers: Lauren Taylor (1st), Erica Davis (26th), Jacey Eikenbary (33rd), Erika Smith (37th), Katie Bono (46th), Madison Riethman (49th) and Sydney Riethman (54th).
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TROY — The Spencerville girls team used last year’s disappointment of finishing fifth at the Troy Regional to run a strong race and finish second to only perennial power Minster Saturday.
“That was what we focused on all season. We train to try and be peaking, running our best, at this time of year,” veteran Bearcat coach Brian McMichael explained. “We missed out on state by 9 or 10 points last year, so that was one of our goals coming into this year; break through and get to state. We set a tone today right away; the girls really, really ran well today. The stronger the competition, the better you have to race; we answered that challenge today.”
As they have been most of the year, seniors and repeat state qualifiers Lyndie Brown (6th) and Ashley Gilroy (10th) paced the Lady Bearcats. along with repeat regional qualifiers sophomores Kelli Ley (19th), junior Claire McConnell (40th) and sophomore Alexa Brown (48th). Sophomore Cortney Miller (55th) and senior Kari Wisher (106th) filled it out.
“We seem to be closing the gap with Minster; Lyndie and Ashley finished ahead of their top runner and Kelli was right behind her. If our 4th and 5th can keep improving, we could make it interesting at state,” McMichael said.
The Bearcat boys had a solo performer advance to Columbus: senior Jonathan Rex in seventh place.
“Johnathan ran a very good and smart race; he stayed right there with the top guys. He ran 20 seconds better than last week in the same conditions as last week,” McMichael added. “With a strong field, you really gave to run well to stay with them and run smart.”
Bearcat classmate Nathan Rex grabbed 29th while junior Kevin Lenhart was 95th.
Crestview’s Garret Gleckler ended up 32nd.
The Division III state boys race commences at 1:20 p.m. Saturday.