Warriors stay consistent at Chapman
Sports reporter
The final tuneup Thursday for the Marion High School Warrior cross country team proved the consistency of a team that has shown improvement the past year.
Daniel Goentzel led the boys' team for the fifth time in six races, with a sixth-place finish and 3.1-mile time of 17:58.
Head coach Rex Ostmeyer said it may have been Daniel's best race to date.
"He really exploded at the end to hold off a couple of guys who were trying to pass him," he said.
Luke Bowers was next behind Goentzel with an 11th-place finish and a time of 18:21.
Justin Heidebrecht was the final medal winner for the boys with a 16th-place finish in the freshman-sophomore race and a time of 19:35.
Ostmeyer has seen a vast improvement in Heidebrecht's running and thinks he could benefit from a fast pace.
"That is something we are going to work on this week," he said.
Senior Gavin Moore, who ran a race for the first time since joining the team this past week, finished with a time of 19:25 in the junior-senior race.
"I think he got caught up in the moment at the start of the race," Ostmeyer said. "He's a competitor and wants to do well and he will do better Thursday."
Matt Kirkpatrick (20:33), Ben Leppke (21:57), Kerim Geldimuradov (24:50), and Bryce Nelson (25:42) were the final boys' team finishers.
Danielle Cope once again paced the girls' squad with a junior-senior two-mile race time of 13:32 and a seventh-place medal.
Katie Hett grabbed a junior-senior 14th-place medal with a time of 14:24.
"I was proud of Katie," Ostmeyer said. "She ran a tough second mile."
Tacy Taylor was the lone MHS girls' runner in the freshman-sophomore race, coming in 13th with a time of 14:17.
Ostmeyer thinks Taylor is having a solid first season as a cross country runner.
"She is doing a great job and has been solid all year long," he said.
Emily Svoboda (16:56) and Elisa Gayle (17:05) ran their second-best, and best races of the year respectively.
"Both girls ran well," Ostmeyer said.
The sixth race of the season was the final one before MHS plays host to regionals Thursday at the Marion County Lake.
Typically Warrior runners do much better on their home course, something they proved true early this season when they claimed six medals including three in the top-10.
