Turner and Bundren help Bulldogs capture third at Cowchip Classic
By Fred Kroner
fred@mahometnews.com
The Bulldogs had two top-10 performers, but placed third as a team in the Chrisman Cowchip Classic. Eleven schools entered full teams.
Avah Turner and Chloe Bundren were the M-S leaders. Turner ran the 2-mile course in 13 minutes, 55.0 seconds and placed seventh in a field of 91 competitors. Bundren was 10th, and was timed in 14:16.4.
Rounding out the Bulldogs’ all eighth-grade lineup were: Ava Jansen (13th in 14:31.5), Phoebe Truax (27th in 15:30.2), Ainsley Smith (31st in 15:46.7), Emmaline Culp (32nd in 15:49.8) and Emma Frazier (36th in 15:59.3).
Team honors were claimed by Champaign St Matthew (38 points) followed by Monticello (40), M-S (84) and Effingham St. Anthony (98).
“It is generally one of the largest meets we attend all year,” coach Lisa Martin said. “This year looked quite different, with our runners only being allowed to compete against two teams as it was done in a rotation format over the course of two days (Thursday, Sept. 3 and Friday, Sept. 4).
***
On Saturday (Sept. 5), M-S took a different set of runners to St Joseph for a junior varsity dual meet with the host school.
More than 70 young Bulldogs attended the meet.
Among the 54 girls who participated for the two schools, the individual winner was M-S sixth-grader Hannah Martin. Her 2-mile time was 14:27.
There were four races, with each one being a co-ed event.
In the first heat, the M-S leaders were: Martin (11th overall in 14:27); Taylor Mills (16th in 14:46); Isabelle Difanis (22nd in 15:17); Ainsley Smith (24th in 15:28) and Cora Tandy (26th in 15:50).
In the second heat, M-S’ leaders were: Emma Busch (seventh in 16:00); Erika Johnson (10th in 16:14); Emily Ramirez (13th in 16:17); Ella Walk (14th in 16:31) and Evelyn Hillard (17th in 16:43).
In the third heat, M-S’ leaders were: Ashley Shoaf (fifth in 17:02); Jaycee Fancher (10th in 17:35); Claire Waggoner (11th in 17:38); Poppy Smith (15th in 18:12) and Aubrey Hollwedel (17th in 18:24).
In the fourth heat, M-S’ leaders were: Emery Parker (third in 18:24); Elizabeth Zimmerman (seventh in 20:01) and Megan Smith (12th in 20:37).
“While the highlights of the day were the races, coaches noticed a lot of great things that came from our runners,” Martin said. “While many were notable, one that stood out was Taya Barton’s ‘pre-game speech’ for the young runners on our team that went to the line with her.
“Coach Jurkowski put Taya on the spot to give a speech just a few minutes before race time – her words were perfect and sum up what our program encourages: She started out by reminding them to think positively and then noted, ‘If you think negative, you’re more likely to give up during the race … just remind yourself that you practiced and prepared for this moment.’
“The young runners listened closely and followed her advice. A new runner to cross-country, Kaylee Guth, accomplished all three of her goals: 1) Have fun; 2) Run the whole race and 3) Run a PR. This is what our program is about – personal goals that add up to achieving something that not many can do. We look forward to many more meets with these young runners.”
***
In the Tuesday (Sept. 8) home-opener at 13 Acres Park, the Bulldogs had an impressive pack as M-S prevailed against Monticello and Mount Zion.
The M-S leaders in the 2-mile race were Avah Turner (second in 13 minutes, 26 seconds) and Chloe Bundren (fourth in 13:40).
There were 37 participants.
Behind them were 10 teammates who crossed the finish line within 50 seconds of one another.
The pack featured Madalyn Marx (eighth in 14:02.1), Ava Jansen (ninth in 14:02.3), Hadley Grotelueschen (10th in 14:02.7), Haley Reed (11th in 14:03), Reese Gallier (12th in 14:08), Hannah Martin (13th in 14:10.5), Taylor Mills (14th in 14:10.8), Isabel Lietz (15th in 14:12), Phoebe Truax (16th in 14:28) and McKenzie Hissong (19th in 14:52).
The other Bulldog finisher was Lindsay Gowler (24th in 15:27).
M-S had a team score of 33 and defeated runner-up Monticello (53) and third-place Mount Zion (67).
“Our varsity team is far from set,” Martin said. “We can’t wait to work more runners into the lineup, bring back some earlier ones and look to see who is out there that is ready for the next level.
“The awesome part is that many of these young runners will return next year and that is when they will see how it all fits together and realize how fortunate they were to have these ‘upperclassmen’ role models.”
M-S returns to action on Thursday (Sept. 10) with a junior varsity meet at Mount Zion with Monticello also participating.
