Tigers Keep Things Rolling at Tennessee Classic

Another Saturday, another great set of performances from the cross country teams. At the Tennessee Classic, the girls finished 5th
out of 20 teams while the boys brought home some hardware for their third place finish (out of 29 teams).

Coach Berthel gave the girls' varsity wise counsel to take the first mile a bit cautiously, reserving strength for the race's later stages. This worked very well, as all the girls climbed places as the race continued.  Bennet LeMaster led the way, moving from the 20s all the way to 12th by race's end.  The next three girls - Katharina Hein, Hannah Bollen and Hannah Roth, finished within 20 seconds of each other to help keep the team score low, and Abby Motycka closed out the team scoring, with Josephine Zenker and Christy Slobogin not far behind.  The team's 5th place continued their successful finishes this season.

The boys' varsity group followed a similar strategy, though the intensity of the lead pack was evident in the first mile and made it more difficult to hang back.  Still, the boys moved steadily up throughout the race, especially in the difficult final mile, with the terrific trio of John Coogan, Ben Keffer, and William Doak all finishing in the top 30.  Since the top five runners score team points, George Coogan's and Dylan Groos's finishes in the top 50 closed out the scoring and put the team 3rd, ahead of many strong programs. Christian Floyd ran a big PR on a difficult day, and Gregory Shemancik continued to run well while on a steady diet of twice-daily running.

The JV races also featured some standout performances, done in a much warmer and sunnier setting as the day went on.  Girls' JV results were not available at the time of this writing, but I know that Chloe Kibble, Jackie Carter, Julia Hill, Karen Yang, and more had PR days. The boys ran at the hottest time of day, but that didn't stop them from competing well; PRs came from John Spence and George Niarhos, among others. The boys' race also featured a fine motivational speech from Sam Bollen.

Perhaps the most meaningful comment today came from a runner from another team, who told Coach Berthel that our girls' team was "the best," that they motivated her, and that, after the race, our girls were handing cups of water to other runners before getting any for themselves, inspiring the competitor to do likewise.  Once again, we couldn't be prouder of the teams' efforts, performances, and spirit--great things await!

Coaches Berthel, Edmonds, and Flatau