Published: September 17, 2008 01:25 pm            

WHS male harriers pick up pace at Madill

WAURIKA — After watching Waurika’s boys run in a cross country meet for the second time this season, coach Joe Masoner couldn’t help wondering: Where can I find one more guy?

With only four runners in the second-year program, the Eagles weren’t considered in the team standings at Saturday’s Madill Invitational. That could be the situation throughout the season, since it takes five finishers to comprise a full team in cross country.

Masoner’s still hoping that changes, though, and the Eagles reinforced his desire to recruit one more harrier with their showings at the Madill meet.

Although he had played football the night before, senior Nathan Howard finished 30th overall with a time of 21:03, in a 5-kilometer race on Madill’s curvy course. Steven Driggers was right behind in 31st, with a time of 21:10, while Paul Brown, who had also participated in Waurika’s football game against Healdton on Friday, finished 35th with a 23:36 clocking.

Brady Clark completed WHS’ finishes by running 26:40 in 45th place.

Against a field of Class A, 2A and 3A competition, the Eagles’ finishes weren’t eye-popping. However, their times were fairly good for just the second meet of the season. Masoner figures those times will continue to drop as the cross country season now begins to heat up, and that’s why it’s frustrating being one runner short of fielding a full team.

“I really wish I could find a fifth runner, because I think we could do well team-wise, especially against Class A teams,” Masoner said. “The guys didn’t do badly at all in Saturday’s meet, especially since we haven’t run a meet in two weeks and Nathan and Paul had played football the night before.

“We still need to get faster, but that will come as we go along. I’m really pleased with their effort.”

Masoner wasn’t feeling as encouraged following the varsity girls’ race on Saturday. Although No. 1 runner Kelsi Dennard finished among the meet’s medalists and Masoner was pleased with freshmen Brandi Clark and Megan Medlinger, he was disappointed with some veteran runners.

“Kelsi wasn’t bad. She medaled by getting 25th in 16:36,” Masoner said, following Dennard’s finish in the 2 mile race. “I was pleased with her, and if she’ll just keep working at it, she’ll be down in the 15-minute range, which would put her in the running to make the state meet.”

“The two freshmen didn’t run too badly,” Masoner noted, after ninth grader Brandi Clark was 41st overall, with a time of 19:00, while classmate Megan Medlinger was 42nd in 19:30. “And Rebecca Medlinger was 44th in 21:00, which is OK for a first-year runner.”

“But,” Masoner added, “our other three runners can all do a lot better than they did, and we finished last as a team. The course had a lot of curves, but it wasn’t that hard, and they all should be running better times than they did.

“We need to realize that this is still a team sport, and everybody contributes to where we finish.”

WHS’ final finishers were Carly Norton, 45th in 24:00; Micah Smith, 46th in 24:03; and Kallie Montgomery, 47th in 28:30.

Waurika’s varsity and junior high harriers were back in action Tuesday, running in the Blue Devils Invitational at Walters. Saturday, the varsity and junior high will be at the Leopard Classic at Lindsay.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.