Rochester girls, boys both finish 3rd at Caston Invite
Rochester frosh Conliff top area girl, Pioneer senior Bowditch top area boy
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
FULTON — With both teams led by freshmen, the Rochester girls and boys cross-country teams each finished third at the Caston Invitational Saturday.
The girls scored 88 points and finished third in an eight-team field. Pioneer was fourth with 89, Caston was fifth with 120, and Winamac was eighth with 180. Culver and Argos had incomplete teams.
In the boys meet, Rochester scored 72 points and finished third in a seven-team field. Caston was fourth with 75, and Winamac was sixth with 167. Pioneer, Argos and Culver had incomplete teams.
Tri-County won the girls team title with 44 points, seven fewer than Triton. Representing South Newton, Hannah Schoenbeck was the girls individual champion in 21:26.
Morgan Township won the boys team title with 48 points, four fewer than runner-up Tri-County. Delphi junior Leo Hernandez ran a 16:46 to win the individual title by 46 seconds over the field.
Girls
Schoenbeck stayed well ahead of the field and cruised home with the victory. Rochester freshman Katelyn Conliff kept a steady pace and then picked off runners and finished fifth in 22:23 in a pack that included Triton’s Sophia Culp just in front of her and Triton’s Kensie Schuh and her Lady Z teammate Adison Hayes displaying a strong kick just behind her in sixth and seventh. A distressed Hayes needed help from an inhaler after crossing the finish line in 22:28.
Caston’s Hannah Rogers took ninth in 22:49, and 25 seconds later, Pioneer freshman Brylie Caudle crossed 11th in 23:14. Two seconds behind her was her fellow Pioneer freshman Jolene Kennell.
More area freshmen soon followed home: Rochester’s Addisyn Malone in 14th place in 23:35, Caston’s Aliza Rudicel in 16th in 24:18 and Pioneer’s Evie Shafer in 24:44.
Argos’ lone runner, sophomore Eden Rakoczy, was 25th in the field of 59 in 26:21.
Other Rochester runners included Chloe Tyler, who was 36th in 29:11; Addisyn Zimmerman, who was 37th in 29:21.3; and Trinity Baine, coming home on Zimmerman’s heels in 38th in 29:21.5; and junior Jane Gottschalk, who was right behind in 29:24 in 40th place.
“The finishing for both of those girls was awesome,” Rochester coach Troy Pryor said. “If I were to pick a spot where we need to improve, for Katelyn’s race, it’s in the middle and maybe starting off a little bit more conservatively. I felt like Hayes did a really good job being conservative early and working her way up through the field throughout the race. Both in their own way because of those strategies had a good finish the last 200 meters. This week, what we’re going to work on in practice is trying to close that gap at the start between Katelyn and Hayes because I can think they can both be in that 1-2 ballpark together, and that’s where we want them.”
Pryor said that Daniela Ochoa missed her second straight race as she recovers from oral surgery. Senior Vivian Miller walked off the course due to “pain and discomfort,” according to Pryor.
Rounding out the Pioneer lineup was Avery Haselby, who was 29th in 28:02; Paytyn Dillman, who was right behind Haselby in 28:03; and Zadie Fross, who was 39th in 29:23.
Caston runners after Rogers and Rudicel included Trinity Zimmerman, who was 28th in 26:56; Sadie Flenar, who was 35th in 28:43; Emmie Lowe, who was 46th in 31:47; and Aryanna Solis, who was 51st in 33:06.
“I think she has already cut two to three minutes off her time,” Caston coach Blair Zimmerman said of Rudicel. “When I saw Aliza running as an eighth-grader, I said, ‘That’s a runner’s build right there.’ And she has just come along. … She’s more than happy to work hard. She swims in the winter. She’s just got the lung capacity. It’s all about teaching her to make it a run instead of a swim. She definitely always is in the upper third of when there’s an option of what we can do for our workout, she goes for that harder end of the scale, and it’s paying off for her.”
Winamac’s frontrunner was freshman Jillian Burns, who was 31st in 28:20. Others in the Winamac pack included Brooklyn Jachim, who was 33rd in 28:29; Kallie Kasten, who was 42nd in 30:15; Katelyn Burgess, who was 43rd in 30:17; and Jaelyn Huddleston, who was 58th in 42:17.
Culver had two representatives. Lilly Kuykendoll, who is also a member of the Lady Cav soccer team, was 48th in 32:36, and fellow senior Savanna Harrington was 52nd in 33:25.
Boys
Morgan Township’s Kaleb Freyenberger took second behind Hernandez, and then there was another 32-second gap before Pioneer’s Dane Bowditch outkicked Tri-County’s Connor Scheitlin to the line for third place.
Caston’s Daulton Oak displayed a strong kick to take fifth in 18:15.
The first Rochester runner to hit the tape was freshman Warner DuBois, who was seventh in 18:21. Caston’s Malakai Clayton was in the top 10 of the field throughout and finished in 10th in 18:37. Ten seconds later, Rochester’s Leandro Javier crossed in 18:47 and took 11th.
Sophomore Emry Stackhouse, representing Argos, was 13th in 18:58. Other area runners finishing in the top 20 included Pioneer’s Eli Hines, who was 18th in 19:44; and Rochester sophomore Tyson Wachtmann, who was 20th in 19:52.
In addition to DuBois, Javier and Wachtmann, other Zebra included Parker Smith, who was 23rd in 20:11; Lucas Scorsone, who passed teammate Caden Biernacki late and was 32nd in 20:59; Biernacki, who was 33rd in 21:00; and Tommy Schwenk, who was 71st in 25:46.
“He had a rough third mile,” Pryor said of DuBois, who was 1:04 slower than he was the previous week at the Oak Hill Invitational. “And some of that is we’ve been pushing him harder and harder in practice and really getting after some volume. So his mileage has been high. He had a really hard workout on Wednesday this week and may have plateaued with his 17:17 at Oak Hill. A little bit off today in that third mile, but a lot of that was by design. I wanted him to go out aggressively the first mile, and he did and put himself in a position with the leaders. We’ll take that and learn that we probably need to be a little bit more conservative early.”
The three scoring Caston runners after Oaf and Clayton included Jack Brumett, who was 22nd in 19:56; Isaac Albright, who was 30th in 20:46; and Reuben Helt, who was 31st in 20:55. Carter Moss was 43rd in 21:45, Drew Douglass was 49th in 22:16, Jamison Rude was 57th in 23:25, Armando Garcia was 58th in 23:27, and Boaz Yarber, who was 68th in 25:10.
“Daulton tends to be a long-sprint-to-mid-distance in the spring during track season,” Zimmerman said of Oaf. “And you definitely see that play out at the tail end of these races in cross-country season where he just has that gas to give, and he has just been almost like he’s running from demons in practice. It’s been crazy. I’ve caught on to him. Right now, I’m kind of on injured reserve myself. I’m on the bike. I can go up and down the road race line, and I get out to him near the front, and I will say, ‘Daulton, you know today is supposed to be an easy day, right?’ And he’ll just look over and say, ‘I am going easy, Coach.’ He’s got something to prove, and I can’t wait to see him prove it.”
For Winamac, junior Braylen Becker led the way by finishing 34th in the field of 75 in 21:08. Elisha Burns was 39th in 21:25, and Evan Burgess was 40th in 21:35. There was a gap to Ethan Showley, who was 54th in 23:00; Joel Showley, who was 61st in 23:43; and Austin Pratt, who was 64th in 24:22.
Winamac coach Mike Haschel was asked about his team’s youth.
“I would say we’re definitely stacked with quite a few freshmen, and not just the freshmen, but we’ve got a lot of upperclassmen, it’s their first time running, so they kind of fall into the younger group for me as well,” Haschel said. “It changes a little bit about how much volume we do, but ultimately, our goal every year is the same thing. You show up on Day 1, and we get faster by the last day. So far, so good.”
Other area runners include the Pioneer duo of Braylon Jamerson and Peyton Hines, who finished 45th and 46th in 21:58 and 22:01, respectively; Jude Keller, the other half of the Argos team along with Stackhouse, who finished 72nd in 26:57; and Culver’s Christian Markley, who was 65th in 24:36.
Caston Invite notes
Caston’s Savannah Zimmerman, Boaz Yarber and Moss were recognized in senior day ceremonies prior to the awards ceremony.
Morgan Township won both the girls and boys middle school team titles.
The fastest area middle school girl was Rochester sixth-grader Maggie Helt, who was sixth in 13:15.
The fastest area middle school boy was Rochester fifth-grader Parker Forry, who placed 21st in 12:17.
Times were universally slow compared with previous times this season. The weather started overcast but became muggy as morning progressed. Some runners claimed it is difficult to pick out the right pair of shoes on Caston’s course, which has both grass and pavement running surface areas. Cleats are not ideal for pavement, but flatter shoes have trouble gaining traction on grass, which can lead to slippage.
“That’s part of it is our boys, they all ran in trainers today just because they are on rocks or pavement so often, we leave the spikes at home and just run in the trainers, and that is a slower shoe. You get a little less grip. So that’s part of it. … Because overall, it’s a flat course, but for whatever reason, it always seems to run a little bit slower, and that’s OK.”
Argos, Caston and Culver will run at the Tippecanoe Valley Invitational this Saturday. Rochester, Pioneer and Winamac are among the schools headed to the Maconaquah Invitational.
CASTON INVITATIONAL GIRLS RESULTS (POINTS IN PARENTHESES): Tri-County 44, Triton 51, ROCHESTER 88, PIONEER 89, CASTON 120, Delphi 120, Frontier 175, WINAMAC 180
Incomplete teams: ARGOS, CULVER, North White, Oregon-Davis, South Newton
Rochester results (88 points, third place)
5. Katelyn Conliff – 22:23 (4), 7. Adison Hayes –22:28 (6), 14. Addisyn Malone – 23:35 (13), 36. Chloe Tyler – 29:11 (32), 37. Addisyn Zimmerman – 29:21 (33), 38. Trinity Baine – 29:21, 40. Jane Gottschalk – 29:24
Pioneer results (89 points, fourth place)
11. Brylie Caudle – 23:14 (10), 12. Jolene Kennell – 23:16 (11), 18. Evie Shafer – 24:44 (17), 29. Avery Haselby – 28:02 (25), 30. Paytyn Dillman – 28:03 (26),39. Zadie Fross – 29:23
Caston results (120 points, fifth place)
9. Hannah Rogers – 22:49 (8), 16. Aliza Rudicel – 24:18 (15), 28. Trinity Zimmerman – 26:56 (24), 35. Sadie Flenar – 28:43 (31), 46. Emmie Lowe – 31:47 (42), 51. Aryanna Solis – 33:06
Winamac results (180 points, eighth place)
31. Jillian Burns – 28:20 (27), 33. Brooklyn Jachim – 28:29 (29), 42. Kallie Kasten – 30:15 (38), 43. Katelyn Burgess – 30:17 (39), 58. Jaelyn Huddleston – 42:17 (47)
Argos results
25. Eden Rakoczy – 26:21
Culver results
48. Lilly Kuykendoll – 32:36, 52. Savanna Harrington – 33:25
CASTON INVITATIONAL BOYS RESULTS (POINTS IN PARENTHESES): Morgan Township 48, Tri-County 52, ROCHESTER 72, CASTON 75, Lewis Cass 113, WINAMAC 167, Frontier 174
Incomplete teams: ARGOS, CULVER, PIONEER, Delphi, North White, Oregon-Davis, South Newton, Taylor, Triton
Rochester results (72 points, third place)
7. Warner DuBois – 18:21 (5), 11. Leandro Javier – 18:47 (9), 20. Tyson Wachtmann – 19:52 (15), 23. Parker Smith – 20:11 (18), 32. Lucas Scorsone – 20:59 (25), 33. Caden Biernacki – 21:00, 71. Tommy Schwenk – 25:46
Caston results (75 points, fourth place)
5. Daulton Oaf – 18:15 (3), 10. Malakai Clayton – 18:37 (8), 22. Jack Brumett – 19:56 (17), 30. Isaac Albright – 20:46 (23), 31. Reuben Helt – 20:55 (24), 43. Carter Moss – 21:45, 49. Drew Douglass – 22:16, 57. Jamison Rude – 23:25, 58. Armando Garcia – 23:27, 68. Boaz Yarber – 25:10
Winamac results (167 points, sixth place)
34. Braylen Becker – 21:08 (27), 39. Elisha Burns – 21:25 (30), 40. Evan Burgess – 21:35 (31), 54. Ethan Showley – 23:00 (38), 61. Joel Showley – 23:43 (41), 64. Austin Pratt – 24:22
Top Left to Right: Argos' Emry Stackhouse, Caston's Jack Brumett, Winamac's E;isha Burns, Rochester's Tyson Wachtmann, Pioneer's Paytyn Dillman and Caston's Sadie Flenar
Bottom Left to Right:Rochester's Addisyn Malone, Culver's Lilly Kukenndoll and Argos' Eden Rakoczy
Comments