Posted 5:30 p.m. September 24, 2006
editor@oakridgesports.com That splash you heard Saturday was the noise the Oak Ridge boys made on the national high school cross country scene. A cannonball, it wasn’t, Coach Allen Etheridge’s Wildcats arguably made their best showing on the national level in Oak Ridge school history as they finished 10th in the team race at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Hoover, Ala. Give Oak Ridge a 9.9 out of 10 on their dive into the national cross country pool. “We’ve never approached anything like this, even going back to my era,” said Etheridge, referring to OR’s performance in the prestigious meet, which attracted several of the top 25 prep teams in the nation. |
Collegiate School scored a remarkable team total of 59, placing five runners in the top 16. “They (Collegiate School) were unbelievable,” said Etheridge, whose Wildcats rebounded in style from a year ago when they struggled at the meet. “The results for us were quite a bit different from last year when we got hammered.” Oak Ridge was led by Maclean O’Donnell, who covered the 5k course in 17 minutes, 13 seconds to place 39th overall. Ben Hubers of McEachern (Powder Springs), Ga., won medalist honors in a sizzling time of 15: 38. Chris Cole was right behind O’Donnell for the ’Cats as he claimed the No. 47 position in 17:24. “Maclean ran super. He got out a little harder than he normally does. I’m just real happy for him.” Rounding out the top-five finishers for Oak Ridge and scoring in the team race were: 74. Ethan McGroom (17:45); 82. Phil Riemer (17:52); and 102. Ben Shassere (18:07). Emerson Peacock took 103rd (18:08) while John Sharpe was No. 129 (18:34). Etheridge said it was a bit of a coming-out-party for McGroom. “Ethan has always had the wheels and talent. He got out there and hammered the first two miles and just ran great.” Etheridge applauded the efforts of Riemer and Sharpe who were making their first appearances in a meet of this ilk. “It was Phil’s first time ever to see a big-time meet like this and he doesn’t freak out. John is a freshman running on a huge stage like this for the first time.” Etheridge said his boys collectively ran about as well as he could expect, all things considered. “The conditions were brutal. It was so hot and humid it was like a steam bath. It had to be bordering on 90 degrees. Legitimately, if we had run our very best, we could have been fifth or sixth. The teams at the very front of this race were out of our league -- for now.” That heat -- coupled with a tough course -- took its toll on the Lady Wildcats. Melanie Kulesz and Leslie Jenkins, two of OR’s top runners, each had to drop out of the race. Kulesz exited with about 300 meters left while Jenkins departed the course at about the two-mile mark. “At the mile mark our girls were in fantastic shape. Melanie was in about 30th place and Leslie was right behind her. Whitney (Irby) and Corinne Lariviere were right there with them, also. “The first mile of the course is flat. Then, there are some rolling hills and one behemoth of a hill before it’s all flat again. Somewhere back in the woods something started to unravel for us.” “Losing Melanie and Leslie, it’s unbelievable that we finish that high (22nd).” Oak Ridge notched 427 points in the race, which was won by Episcopal (Jacksonville, Fla.) High School’s 99. Morristown West was the top Tennessee finisher with 147 points, good for 15th. Etheridge said his girls were on course for easily a top-10 finish before Kulesz and Jenkins dropped out. Irby (76th, 21:20) and Lariviere (77th, 21:23) stuck together the rest of the way to pace the Lady Wildcats. “Whitney was great -- she was really tough. It’s hard to run when you know you’re in the middle of the field, especially when you’re used to running up front. “Corinne was fantastic. I didn’t think she was as nervous as some of our other girls. Whitney and Corinne just keep getting better.” OR’s other three finishers were: 97. Meghan Hughes (21:51); 128. Allison Miles (22:23); 135. Tara Tae (22: 33). “Meghan wasn’t that far back from Whitney and Corinne. She did great. It probably wasn’t Allison’s best race, but she nailed a ton of people at the end. Again, she’s a freshman running in a big race for the first time.” Individual honors in the distaff division went to a fellow Tennessee runner that Oak Ridge saw last week at the Tennessee Classic. Independence High’s Kathy Kroeger blistered the field with a 17:29 clocking. That was 20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. In the combined team race, Oak Ridge finished 21st. In the junior varsity boys’ division, Oak Ridge was fourth with 91 points. St. Xavier Louisville (Ky.) took honors with 45 points. Results for the Wildcats were: 10. Chris Ostrouchov (18:14); 12. Christian Lewellyn (18:21); 13. Aaron Oswald (18:27); 19. Cory O’Leary (18:37); 39. Rett Myer (19:14); 43. James Miller (19:22); 48. Aron Beierschmitt (19:27); 79. Landon Smith (20:01); 80. John Black (20:01); 81. Jimmy Varnell (20:02); 107. Zach Meyers (20:26); 110. Scott Molony (20:31); 119. David Drown (20:54); 127. Sam Hendry (21:09). “We had a couple of guys run super well in the JV race,” said Etheridge. “Chris Ostrouchov and Christian Lewellyn both absolutely went for it.” On the girls’ junior varsity side, Oak Ridge’s Autumn Gipson experienced the first race of her high school career. It was both a success and an adventure. The highly touted Gipson took ninth place in 22:08 but actually led early on. “She was leading the race and fell,” said Etheridge. “She got up and had sand and dirt all over her, but she ran it in. Autumn really took it out. Laurel O’Donnell ran really well for us, too, under the conditions.” O’Donnell was the No. 15 finisher in 22:44. Other results for the Oak Ridge JV girls were: 23. Stephanie Soldano (23:03); 24. Hilde Oliver (23:08); 46. Lauren Irby (23:54); 59. Emily Oswald (24:05); 97. Bernadette Riemer (25:15); 109. Laura Mitchell (25:49); 116. Savannah Robertson (26:09); 126. Betsy Hilliard (26:27); 134. Liliane Ernst (27:01). The Oak Ridge junior varsity girls took sixth in the team event with 199 points. Etheridge takes his varsity team out of state once again Saturday as Oak Ridge travels to the McDonald’s Cross Country Festival in Richmond, Va. Once again, competition figures to be stiff as several of the southeast’s top 15 teams are entered in the meet. |