The Lansing cross country team didn’t let being delayed a day stop a great start to the 2010 season. After a storm postponed Thursday’s Tonganoxie Dual to Friday, the Lions swept the boys’ and girls’ varsity races. Lansing runners earned the top two spots in each varsity race, Pete LaMoe and Aaron Potter going 1-2 in the boys’ 5K race while Ashtin Kurz and Amy Redden were first and second in the girls’ 4K.
Kurz clocked a time of 16 minutes 56 seconds to win the girls’ race and Redden was just behind in 17:13. Nashia and Malika Baker went fifth and sixth, respectively, in 17:47 and 18:06. Abbie Hillard came across in seventh with a run of 18:11 and Maggie Hornick’s 18:40 was good for eighth. Sarah Hannon finished the Lansing girls’ varsity scoring with ninth place in 18:42.
On the boys’ side, LaMoe ran a 16:52 for first and Potter clocked a 17:49 in his first race with the Lions’ cross country team for silver. Felix Albl was fifth in 19:00 and Chris Brown was just seven seconds behind in sixth. Johnny Barnett crossed the finish line in 20:00 for ninth place while Sonjay Baker and Kyle Hyde were 12th and 13th, respectively, with times of 21:11 and 24:18.
“We did great,” head coach Melanie Enneking said of the team’s first outing. “We have high hopes on both sides.”
Even with the day delay because of the weather, the Lions’ coach said her squad come out strong.
“We were a little concerned that after being pumped up to race that (the delay) could be deflating, but they were excited to get that first competition in.”
Although they may be older, many runners were making their cross country debut on Friday.
“We have quite a few runners who are new to the sport,” Enneking said. “For us, our interest was in getting the race experience in and the competition. We were very pleased with how they performed. For Aaron Potter to run in the 17s in his first 5K ever is pretty impressive. Chris Brown and Felix Albl did very good and Johnny Barnett, who’s typically a sprinter coming out and doing cross country, had a solid performance.”
On the girls’ side, Enneking said she was happy to see her squad stick together to help push one another in the season opener.
“We had quite a few girls running together for the first time, which made a difference. For the first time out they did a very good job running as a team.”
In the junior varsity races, which got in Thursday before the storm hit, Lansing’s Kate Johnson was the top finisher in the girls’ race. Johnson clocked an 18:36 to win the girls’ JV event. Joel Springman was the top JV finishers for the Lansing boys, running a 21:39 for second place in the race.
The Lions are now off until next Saturday, when they’ll travel to Bishop Miege.
“It’s far enough away that it give us a chance to see competition from some bigger schools that we normally wouldn’t compete against,” Enneking said.
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The Lansing cross country team didn’t let being delayed a day stop a great start to the 2010 season. After a storm postponed Thursday’s Tonganoxie Dual to Friday, the Lions swept the boys’ and girls’ varsity races. Lansing runners earned the top two spots in each varsity race, Pete LaMoe and Aaron Potter going 1-2 in the boys’ 5K race while Ashtin Kurz and Amy Redden were first and second in the girls’ 4K.
Kurz clocked a time of 16 minutes 56 seconds to win the girls’ race and Redden was just behind in 17:13. Nashia and Malika Baker went fifth and sixth, respectively, in 17:47 and 18:06. Abbie Hillard came across in seventh with a run of 18:11 and Maggie Hornick’s 18:40 was good for eighth. Sarah Hannon finished the Lansing girls’ varsity scoring with ninth place in 18:42.
On the boys’ side, LaMoe ran a 16:52 for first and Potter clocked a 17:49 in his first race with the Lions’ cross country team for silver. Felix Albl was fifth in 19:00 and Chris Brown was just seven seconds behind in sixth. Johnny Barnett crossed the finish line in 20:00 for ninth place while Sonjay Baker and Kyle Hyde were 12th and 13th, respectively, with times of 21:11 and 24:18.
“We did great,” head coach Melanie Enneking said of the team’s first outing. “We have high hopes on both sides.”
Even with the day delay because of the weather, the Lions’ coach said her squad come out strong.
“We were a little concerned that after being pumped up to race that (the delay) could be deflating, but they were excited to get that first competition in.”
Although they may be older, many runners were making their cross country debut on Friday.
“We have quite a few runners who are new to the sport,” Enneking said. “For us, our interest was in getting the race experience in and the competition. We were very pleased with how they performed. For Aaron Potter to run in the 17s in his first 5K ever is pretty impressive. Chris Brown and Felix Albl did very good and Johnny Barnett, who’s typically a sprinter coming out and doing cross country, had a solid performance.”
On the girls’ side, Enneking said she was happy to see her squad stick together to help push one another in the season opener.
“We had quite a few girls running together for the first time, which made a difference. For the first time out they did a very good job running as a team.”
In the junior varsity races, which got in Thursday before the storm hit, Lansing’s Kate Johnson was the top finisher in the girls’ race. Johnson clocked an 18:36 to win the girls’ JV event. Joel Springman was the top JV finishers for the Lansing boys, running a 21:39 for second place in the race.
The Lions are now off until next Saturday, when they’ll travel to Bishop Miege.
“It’s far enough away that it give us a chance to see competition from some bigger schools that we normally wouldn’t compete against,” Enneking said.
