Three teams open at McDowell Invite
By ALLEN SEYBERT aseybert@timesobserver.comERIE - It's a grand tradition.
The Eisenhower, Warren and Youngsville cross country teams started their seasons off on Saturday at a place they have for so many years - the McDowell Invitational.
Against a field loaded with talent, the county teams all went through some growing pains with no team finishing better than 17th in the 23-team field.
The Youngsville boys were 17th with the Eisenhower boys 18th and the Warren boys 21st. The girls teams were led by Warren in 18th and Youngsville in 19th. The Eisenhower girls did not have enough scored runners to be included in the team standings.
The Eagle boys featured a strong pack in the middle portion of the field paced by Patrick Hoover, Abel Robinault and Travis Cunningham. Hoover was 71st in 19:24 with Robinault in 75th just 15 seconds behind Hoover and
Cunningham 79th four seconds behind Robinault. Other Eagle runners included John Csicsek (115th, 20:34), Nick Kibbey (129th, 21:03), Ryan Pepper (134th, 21:22) and Brenton Maille (135th, 21:29).
Sophomore standout Brent Foster was the leading county runner in the field placing 47th for the Knights in a time of 18:32. Jeff Parker was 83rd in 19:46 and Travis Woodburn was the third Eisenhower runner across the line in
20:11.
Other Ike runners included Derek Carlson (110th, 20:22), Nick VanOrd (133rd, 21:20) and Joe Confer (146th, 22:43).
A young Warren team was paced by sophomore Amani Bosko with a 98th place run of 20:04. Following Bosko home were Josh Thornton (123rd, 20:57), Kyle Hanlin (140th, 21:45), Ryan Ottney (141st, 21:49), Drew Lobdell (145th, 22:41) and Drew Williams (150th, 23:21).
"We were very pleased with Amani," said Warren assistant coach Justin Norris. "He was at wrestling camp and didn't have as much practice as the other guys so for him to put up such a strong race was impressive."
Warren's Katie Spade led the county runners with a 32nd place finish. Despite placing lower than last season, Spade's time was nearly identical to that of 2007.
For the Youngsville girls, Morgan Eastman paced the Eagles with a 58th place race in 22:05. She was followed by Kelsey Stoner in 74th with a run of 22:39 and Cassaundra Swartzbaugh who narrowly egded Eisenhower's Shelby
Thompson for 110th. Both runners finished in 24:07 with Swartzbaugh just four-tenths of a second ahead of Thompson.
Rounding out Youngsville's finishers were Corvette Morrison (136th, 25:41), Katie Rose (154th, 27:08) and Kassaundra Hultberg (160th, 30:17).
"The girls began the season well," said Youngsville coach Ray Bennett. "Corvette and Katie had nice runs and their times will drop as their milage grows."
Bennett added that Rose was literally running blind during the event after losing a contact lens before the race.
"On a track that wouldn't be that big of a deal," he said. "However, when you are in the woods trying to navigate a trail it can be quite difficult."
Following Spade to the finish line for Warren were Kelsey Nuhfer (99th, 23:54), Imari Nystrom (123rd, 24:53), Rachel Beach (126th, 24:57) and Sarah Madison (150th, 26:42).
"Kelsey had a great race and knocked almost 20 seconds off her time from last year," said Norris. "The rest of the girls finished right around where we thought they would and put down some good times to improve on throughout the season."
The additional three Ike runners also laid down some solid times to start the season with Kayla O'Brien in 140th with a 25:49 and Andrea Amroski 148th in 26:35 as well as Carissa Lauffenburger.
Several local runners also competed in the junior varsity event. Youngsville's Christian Bundy was 45th with Josh Lewis 108th, Derek Wachter 112th and Jacob Gambino 127th. Eisenhower's lone runner, Jordan Quiggle, was 130th.
Warren is off until Sept. 9 when it hosts Cathedral Prep while Youngsville and Eisenhower begin region competition on Tuesday. The Eagles visit Union City while the Knights travel to Corry.
35th Annual McDowell Invitational
At Brown's Farm Course
Boys
Team results: North East 40, Fairview 72, Butler 107, General McLane 107, Cathedral Prep 152,
Top 10 individuals: 1. Sam Havko, Fairview, 16:01, 2. Alex Beardsley, North East 16:29, 3. Zachary Mix, North East 16:31, 4. Mike Moore, Cathedral Prep 16:37, 5. Bennett Porter, Butler, 16:46, 6. Bryan Baumgartner, General McLane, 17:01, 7. Nick Stolar, Mercyhurst Prep 17:04, 8. Tommy Bollinger, Grove City 17:07, 9. Logan Steiner, Meadville 17:08, 10. Rob Merkel, North East 17:24
YOUNGSVILLE: 71. Patrick Hoover 19:24, 75. Abel Robinault 19:39, 79. Travis Cunningham 19:43, 115. John Csicsek 20:34, 129. Nick Kibbey 21:03, 134. Ryan Pepper 21:22, 135. Brenton Maille 21:29
EISENHOWER: 47. Brent Foster 18:32, 83. Jeff Parker 19:46, 101. Travis Woodburn 20:11, 110. Derek Carlson 20:22, 133. Nick VanOrd 21:20, 146. Joe Confer 22:43
WARREN: 98. Amani Bosko 20:04, 123. Josh Thornton 20:57, 140. Kyle Hanlin 21:45, 141. Ryan Ottney 21:49, 145. Drew Lobdell 22:41, 150. Drew Williams 23:21
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Girls
Team standings: Union City 110, Fort LeBoeuf 142, McDowell 153, Butler 182, Oakland Catholic 192,
Top 10 individuals: 1. Lauren Zarger, Harbor Creek, 18:45, 2. Katie Perkins, North East 19:35, 3. Brittany Kaltenbaugh, Fort LeBoeuf, 19:49, 4. Elesia Wilson, Meadville, 19:54, 5. Emily Giannotti, Coudersport 20:00, 6. Marissa
Polk, Oakland Catholic, 20:08, 7. Hannah Day, Union City 20:12, 8. Katie Heney, Boardman, 20:15, 9. Beth Gordon, Allderdice, 20:16, 10. Vicky Bem, Union City, 20:17
YOUNGSVILLE: 58. Morgan Eastman 22:05, 74. Kelsey Stoner 22:39, 110. Cassaundra Swartzbaugh 24:07, 136. Corvette Morrison 25:41, 154. Katie Rose 27:08, 160. Kassaundra Hultberg 30:17
WARREN: 32. Katie Spade 21:09, 99. Kelsey Nuhfer 23:54, 123. Imari Nystrom 24:53, 126. Rachel Beach 24:57, 150. Sarah Madison 26:42
EISENHOWER: 17. Carrissa Lauffenburger 20:35, 111. Shelby Thompson 24:07, 140. Kayla O'Brien 25:49, 148. Andrea Amroski 26:35
