MARSHALL INDEPENDENT (© 2002 story reprinted with permission)
11-04-2002
A real statement: Tiger boys 2nd in Class AA
By Wayne Cook
Independent Sports Writer
Northfield � For 30 minutes, members of the Marshall boys cross country team sat on the floor of the Skoglund Center gymnasium Saturday, awaiting the Class AA awards ceremony.
Where did the Tigers finish? Did they achieve their goal of making the top five? Or was it higher? Could Marshall be in the hunt with Hopkins, Stillwater and Eden Prairie? While his team waited in anticipation, coach Mike Jacobs finally got a copy of the final results.
The Tigers finished second. Behind defending champion and nationally-ranked (No. 7) Hopkins. Ten points separated the two teams (82-92). Jacobs considered Stillwater the team to beat after the Ponies won the Alexandria Invitational earlier. The Tigers were fifth. It came down to the Roy Griak meet in Minneapolis. Hopkins won it and Marshall was fourth. �I knew we�d be in the top five, and hopefully the top three,� Jacobs said. �Second is nice. It�s disappointing to be only 10 points away from winning it. It would have been easier to take if it would have been 40 points.� The Tigers, making their second consecutive state appearance, improved from 11th place a year ago.
�I thought they had an awesome run,� Jacobs said. �We wrapped up the season with our two strongest runs, here and at the section.� The Tigers dethroned Mankato West in Section 2 and replaced the Scarlets as the state meet runner-up. West finished tied for sixth place.
Marshall � and its non-senior lineup � was paced by Yahya Iman, who was 11th overall (7th team) in 16:32. He won All-State honors. He want off with the pace-setters, Garrett Heath of Winona and Forrest Tahdooahnippah of Minneapolis Southwest.
�Everybody was going slow so I decided to pick it up,� Iman said. The Tigers� next runner was Akey Jumale, who placed 28th overall (13th team) in 16:50. Starting fast, he come on strong halfway through the race. �The second half, he ran like nobody�s business,� Jacobs said. �It was hard to run,� Jumale said. �You have to run hard for the first mile because there�s a lot of people. I went 4:50 something. I had a good mile. I felt tired before I got to the hill, but I passed 10 runners.� The Tigers used excellent pack running to stay in serious contention for the Class AA state championship.
Their 3-4-5 runners were separated by 16 seconds. Tom Allen placed 37th (18th team) in a time of 16:58 and was followed by Abdillahi Awale (50th, 26th team) and Salah Mohamed (52nd, 28th team). Their times were 17:13 and 17:14, respectively.
�Tom had a breakout race,� Jacobs said. �It was his strongest race.� Awali, an eighth-grader, wanted to start fast.
�I went out fast at sections,� he said. �This time, I wanted to be up with our fourth and fifth runners, Tom and Salah. They were (going) slow so I knew I had go on.
�My strategy was to go hard the last 800 meters over that hill. I liked the hill. I passed a lot of people. It was my best race of the year.� Mohamed, who joined the team late this year, was feeling fatigued to start the final mile of the 3.1-mile race.
�The third mile, I got a side ache,� Mohamed said. �Jon told me to keep running. He had a side ache, too. I kept fighting (for position).� Jon Tauer and Bart Johnson rounded out Marshall�s lineup. Tauer ended 71st (43rd team), and Johnson was 125th (83rd team).
�Jon had a cold, but he didn�t quit,� Jacobs said.
�Something was wrong with my throat,� Tauer said. �I couldn�t breath. I�ve had a cold all week.�
It was a team effort, indeed, that put Marshall in a position to battle the state�s top cross country teams over the weekend. �It�s trying all year and pulling together, packing in this quality of a meet ... it was a tremendous effort,� Jacobs said. �There wasn�t a guy that I was disappointed with. They were so focused as a team. They were passing more people than were passing us. That�s a good situation.�
Waiting for the final meet results and the individual introductions of all the members of the top three teams, the Marshall Tigers had a reason to feel good about themselves Saturday afternoon.
�Yeah, we surprised some people today,� Iman said. �We did what we can,� Jumale said. �A lot of the coaches were saying that you better look out for Marshall.�
�I can�t believe what we did ... the whole team,� Mohamed said. �It�s a team.�
�We ran pretty good. It showed we belonged here,� Tauer said.
�Now, that we are up here, we can compete with these teams. We�re not scared,� Awali said.
Top 10 finishers 1. Garrett Heath (Winona) 15.50. 2. Forrest Tahdooahnippah (MSW) 16:07. 3. David VanOrsdel (H) 16:15. 4. Wolive Bekekcha (South) 16:18. 5. Collin Bushman (S) 16:25. 6. Mike Krisch (H) 16:28. 7. Brian King (Holy Angels) 16:29. 8. Seijen Takamura (MW) 16:29. 9. Ben Klungtvedt (M) 16:30. 10. Sufian Kimo (SPA) 16:30
Tiger placings: 11. Yahya Iman 16:32; 28. Akey Jumale 16:50; 37. Tom Allen 16:58; 50. Abdillahi Awale 17:13; 52. Salah Mohamed 17:14; 71. Jon Tauer 17:30; 125. Bart Johnson 18:15
-Courtesy Marshall Independent