Cope, Moore lead way for MHS at league meet
Sports reporter
Danielle Cope turned in another solid performance Thursday, and newcomer Gavin Moore was the top boys' finisher for Marion High School at the Mid-Central Activities Association League meet.
During a perfect day for a race at Marion County Lake, Cope and Moore were the only two Warriors to medal.
Cope's two-mile time of 12 minutes, 19 seconds was a personal record, and gave her a fourth-place medal.
"She was awesome," coach Rex Ostmeyer said of the junior. "It was at home, a league race, she was very, very motivated."
Moore, a senior who joined the team just one week earlier at Chapman and ran the 3.1-mile course in 19:25, turned in an 11th-place finish Thursday after a time of 17:59.
"He is so competitive, and he wants to win," Ostmeyer said. "That may have hurt him at Chapman."
But Ostmeyer said after another week of practice, and the first race behind him, Moore settled in.
"He lives at the lake, it's his backyard," Ostmeyer said. "He was motivated enough to get it done."
Sophomore Tacy Taylor was the second girls' finisher at 22nd with a time of 13:23.
"I challenged her to run 13:30," Ostmeyer said. "It was one heck of a time, by far her personal record."
Juniors Katie Hett (30th, 13:54), Emily Svoboda (48, 15:53), and Elisa Gayle (51, 16:42), were the final girls' team racers in a field of about 70.
Juniors Daniel Goentzel and Luke Bowers failed to earn a medal for the first time this season, finishing 18th and 26th respectively.
Justin Heidebrecht, who finished right behind Bowers in 27th, ran the first race of his two-year career under 19 minutes.
He finished with a time of 18:56 after sprinting the home stretch.
"I was out on the dam and I said, 'You can go now,' and he took off," Ostmeyer said.
Juniors Matt Kirkpatrick (55th, 21:01), and Ben Leppke (63rd, 22:48) were the final varsity MHS runners.
Senior Kerim Geldimuradov and junior Bryce Nelson finished the junior varsity race with times of 22:48 and 23:24 respectively.
"Kerim and Ben ran very well," Ostmeyer said of the first-year runners.
With the regular season and legue meet over, the Warriors will run Saturday in the regional race at Wichita.
The top three teams will qualify for state, as well as the top-10 individuals not a part of the three advancing teams.
