Prediction rings true for MHS cross country
Sports reporter
Before the first meet of the year Thursday for the Marion High School cross country team, head coach Rex Ostmeyer expected results.
His two best runners returned for their junior seasons, and he knew his younger athletes would produce as well.
All eight runners who ran at Abilene last year, improved their times Thursday.
Sophomore Tacy Taylor ran her first-ever cross country race, taking home a 21st place medal.
Ostmeyer praised his athletes' off-season training, and their attitude.
"I've stressed a positive attitude all summer," he said. "I told them to find something they like about each course."
Sophomore Danielle Cope must have found something she liked, finishing 13th with a time of 14 minutes. More than 80 girls competed in the race.
"She had a great finish," Ostmeyer said. "She did really well especially for just coming off an injury."
Taylor was the second girl to finish for MHS and took home a medal with a time of 14:22.
"She is so mentally tough," Ostmeyer said. "She was still disappointed with herself."
Juniors Katie Hett and Emily Svoboda both bested their times from a year ago as well: Hett by 40 seconds and Svoboda by 13.
"We have some really motivated kids in this group," Ostmeyer said.
The boys' team took home two medals as well.
Junior Daniel Goentzel paced the Warriors with a 3.1-mile time of 18:02 and a 17th place finish.
Junior Luke Bowers was next with a time of 18:39 and a 25th place finish.
Last season Bowers and Goentzel finish every meet first and second respectively.
But that doesn't mean Bowers has slipped. In fact he bested his Abilene time from a year ago by 1:30. He just knows Goentzel had the drive to improve.
"He ran very well," Ostmeyer said. "He also has worked incredibly hard."
Sophomore Justin Heidebrecht, who failed to break 20 minutes in any race last year, finished with a time of 19:20.
"He beat his personal goal by 10 seconds," Ostmeyer said. "And I know he can do better than that."
In fact he wasn't surprised everyone beat their times. Junior Matt Kirkpatrick ran almost three minutes faster this year with a time of 21:22.
"And he was still upset," Ostmeyer said with a laugh.
Junior Ben Leppke was next with a time of 21:14, again faster than his time of last year by 16 seconds.
Ostmeyer loved seeing many of his runners place in the top-30, especially in a race that featured 4A powerhouses Abilene, El Dorado, and Wamego.
"These are tough schools," he said. "I'm talking teams that finish in the top-10 in state."
Ostmeyer likes his runners to focus on improving at each course from year to year, and so far they have done that.
The Warriors have a meet Thursday at Hesston, a very competitive course where each runner improved their times from Abilene last year.
The meet will feature schools from 1-6A, but will be broken into two groups and runners only will compete against their grade.
Ostmeyer looks for his team to give a solid performance.
"It is a very well run meet," he said. "We should do well."
