| Oak Ridge High School Cross Country |
State champs once again Oak Ridge boys repeat as cross country winners By Mike Blackerby editor@oakridgesports.com As a high school cross country runner, Allen Etheridge was part of Oak Ridge’s three-year state championship run from 1983-85. Next year, as coach of the Wildcats, Etheridge will have a rare opportunity to three-peat once again. Etheridge’s Oak Ridge boys -- as expected -- stormed to their second Class AAA title in a row this afternoon in Nashville on the Percy Warner State Park 5k Steeplechase Course.
sixth-place finish, the Wildcats totaled 71 points to easily outdistance runnerup Germantown Houston (112). The win also ties Oak Ridge with Clarksville for most boys’ state cross country titles in Tennessee prep history with seven championships. “We went out with the idea that we were in control of this sucker and that’s exactly what we did,” said Etheridge. On the girls’ side, Oak Ridge ran almost to its potential, but so did Morristown West which repeated as Class AAA championship. Morristown West finished with 51 points to Oak Ridge’s 94, but Etheridge had no complaints about the effort put forth by his Lady Wildcats. “I’ve never seen a better performance by an Oak Ridge team -- boys or girls. They were both great.” Oak Ridge’s boys certainly lived up to their billing as the top cross country team in the state -- and one of the best in the southeast.
Cole, along with Maclean O’Donnell and Phil Riemer earned all-state honors for OR as they all finished in the top 15. O’Donnell, coming off a Region 2 individual title, took 10th at the state in 16:41. Riemer turned in his best effort of the season as he was clocked in 16:42, good enough for 11th. “Chris Cole was outstanding today. Maclean didn’t have his best day and he was still eleventh. The big news was the next two guys. Phil Riemer is a soccer guy running his first year of cross country and he gets all-state. “Another biggie was Ben Shassere (19th, 16:56). Every single ghost he saw at Percy Warner Park today he killed.” Etheridge was referring to Shassere’s struggles at the state meet in previous years. Last year, Shassere limped home in 90th place. Also for Oak Ridge it was Emerson Peacock in 40th place (17:22), Ethan McGroom in 52nd (17:34) and Cory O’Lear in 75th (17:57). “Another big day came from Ethan McGroom. Ethan has been kind of up and down all year. Today, he had a great race.” Brentwood’s Sean Keveren won the individual event in 16:12. West’s Matt Sonnenfeldt was second in 16:22. Rounding out the top five teams in the boys’ race were White Station (117), West (143) and Science Hill (195). On the distaff side, Oak Ridge ran its race but was unable to overcome a Morristown West team that placed its first five finishers in the top 18. “The girls ran about the best race they could,” applauded Etheridge. “Morristown West had five runners in the top 18. If you do that you deserve to win.” Results for the Lady Wildcats included: 9. Autumn Gipson 19:37, 11. Melanie Kulesz 19:45, 22. Leslie Jenkins 20:19, 34. Tara Tae 20:46, 35. Corinne Lariviere 21:02, 40. Meghan Hughes 21:03, 43. Whitney Irby 21:05. “We had talked with Autumn about how much it was gonna hurt, but she ran tough. It was a good race for her.” Etheridge said Kulesz ran one of her best races of the season on the way to earning all-state honors. The OR girls also had several other outstanding efforts according to Etheridge. “Jenkins suffered during the race, but she had enough guts to finish. Meghan Hughes came out with guns blazing and had a solid race. One of the great stories of the year was Tara Tae coming out and finishing fourth for us.” The girls’ race was won by standout sophomore Kathy Kroeger in a sizzling time of 16:59. Kroeger, if not already the top female prep runner in the nation, will certainly be so the next two years. Finishing behind Oak Ridge in the girls’ team race were White Station (107) in third, Science Hill (117) in fourth and Brentwood (187) in fifth. Etheridge said he already has his attentions turned to 2007 -- and, not only a three-peat by the Oak Ridge boys, but a state championship sweep by both of this teams. “Assuming we get every kid back, assuming we have everybody healthy and assuming we have every kid do what they’re supposed to, we should come back next year as prohibitive favorites in both the boys’ and girls’ (divisions).” |
| Oak Ridge coaches Ed Wright, left, and Allen Etheridge celebrate a second-consecutive state crown Saturday in Nashville. Photo by Sam McGroom |
| Oak Ridge's Lady Wildcats earned a runnerup trophy for their efforts at the Class AAA meet. Photo by Sam McGroom |
| Earning all-state honors for Oak Ridge at the state cross country meet were Phil Riemer, Chris Cole, Maclean O'Donnell, Melanie Kulesz and Autumn Gipson. Photo by Sam McGroom |