Tigers cross country finishes fourth at Glenwood

GLENWOOD—The Red Oak cross country teams hit the ground running for the 2013 season. Both the boys and girls varsity teams had their successes.

The boys finished fourth, while the girls took sixth at Saturday’s coed cross country meet in Glenwood.

The boys team missed out on the top three by 36 points as 3A schools Thomas Jefferson, Harlan and Glenwood placed ahead. Jefferson won with a team score of 32 points.

“All the goals I laid out at the beginning of the season, we’re on track to meet them,” Red Oak cross country coach Curt Adams said.

Two Red Oak runners medaled, placing in the top 15. Josh Sunberg finished seventh, the only runner for Red Oak to place in the top 10. Sunberg finished with a time of 18:44.30.

Gavin French was the other top 15 finisher for Red Oak, placing 12th with a time of 18:55.65. French was edged out at the finish line by less than a second by Thomas Jefferson’s Zach LaComb.

All seven of Red Oak’s runners placed in the top 40 and all ran sub-22 minute times.

Logan LeRette was the first non-medalist for Red Oak as he took 21st with a time of 19:47.96.

“We have to get Logan in there. He had a tough last mile, although I liked the way he made sure that guy didn’t pass him,” Adams said. “I know Logan can get in [the top 15] too.”

In his first race for varsity, Weston Rolenc took 32nd with a time of 20:58.67, finishing ahead of Abraham Lincoln’s Nathan Leinen. Travis Schon took 34th with a time of 21:00.08. Jared Sherman took 36th with 21:07.02 and Ryan Dyson finished 38th with a time of 21:18.40.

Girls varsity

Red Oak had one medalist for girls varsity, but missed out on having two. Paige Vannausdle scored the medal for Red Oak as she ran a time of 17:20.78.

“She really has benefitted from having the girls out there,” Adams said about Vannausdle.

It was one of Vannausdle’s best finishes for the varsity team.

Nikki Graber just missed out on medaling in her debut for Red Oak cross country.

“That’s her first race. That’s her first 5K,” Adams said about Graber.

Graber finished 16th with a time of 17:28.46.

She missed out on the top 15 by less than two seconds as Atlantic’s Savannah Sorensen took 15th.

“I think she learned a lot,” Adams said about Graber. “At the starting line, I looked at her eyes and she kind of had that look of ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen’ and she responded really well.”

Graber did have to fend off Abraham Lincoln’s Maddie Kinney to take 16th.

“Nikki is just going to get stronger, she’ll learn how to race,” Adams said. “Her learning curve, she is going to improve a lot.”

Red Oak had two other runners place in the top 40. Ashley Brower took 30th with a time of 18:37.40, while veteran Ellen Fellers finished 33rd with a time of 18:51.99.

“I think it makes it easier. [Ellen] has people around her, she has people to push her, all the focus isn’t on her,” Adams said. “I think it helps her. She can just run her race and I think it showed today.”

Chloey Taylor missed out on the top 40 as she finished 41st with a time of 19:49.05.

Jordyn Cornelison and Sydney Straw were 49th and 51st, respectively. Cornelison ran a time of 20:53.80, while Straw ran a time of 21:37.14.

Red Oak’s next meet will be Saturday at Iowa Western when they take part in the Abraham Lincoln meet. Schools like Harlan, St. Albert, Glenwood and Denison-Schleswig will all take part.

Red Oak Junior

varsity results

The Red Oak boys junior varsity team finished fifth with a team score of 135 points.

Rob Vial was the top JV boys finishers as he placed 25th with a time of 22:29.52. Justin Bernard wasn’t far behind as he took 31st with a time of 23:15.62.

Chris Allison finished 37th with a time of 23:39.46, while Ben Koppa was 39th with a time of 23:41.46. Sean Griffen took 44th with a time of 24:03.55 and Hayden Berry was 48th with a time of 24:32.74.

Nate Schon and Donnie Torbett were the final finishers for the boys junior varsity team. Schon was 57th with a time of 25:57.54, while Torbett took 68th with a time of 32:31.77.

The girls junior varsity didn’t record a team score as they had only three competitors.

Hannah Shalters was the top finisher for the JV as she took 29th with a time of 21:32.49. Erica Sherman finished 52nd with a time of 24:42.74 and Johanna Wessel was 53rd with 25:04.62.

Middle school results

Red Oak did have a couple of runners in the middle school races. Abigail Sherman was the only runner to medal as she placed 10th in the girls race. Sherman finished with a time of 8:06.38.

For the Red Oak boys team, Taylor Smith missed out on the top 10, placing 13th with a time of 15:24.34. Jake Sellers was 18th with a time of 17:06.55.