MARSHALL INDEPENDENT (© 2002 story reprinted with permission)
10-16-2002
Tiger boys win SWC cross country; girls 2nd
By Wayne Cook
Independent Sports Writer
MARSHALL � Not often do cross country teams record perfect scores during the Southwest Conference meet. Marshal did Tuesday afternoon at Independence Park, scoring 15 points.
�We wanted a perfect score,� Abdillani Awale said. The Tigers had the top six boys in the race, with Yahya Iman winning in 15:46. Jon Tauer, battling a hip injury, placed second. Tom Allen was third and Salah Mohamed fourth. Two seconds separated Tauer, Allen and Mohamed. Awale was fifth. His time was 16:30, identical to Akey Jumale.
�(A perfect score) really wasn�t a surprise,� Marshall coach Mike Jacobs said. �There was a kid from Luverne I thought they had to worry about. Jon has been nursing a bad hip and hasn�t been able to do some of our workouts. He had a super taper (practice) and recharged his body. He and Tom dropped 40 seconds from our home meet. It shows the strides they�ve made. Bart (Johnson) dropped 30 seconds. That was the best race that he�s had this year.�
�(My right hip) was really killing me at the beginning,� Tauer said. �Once I started racing, it eased up.� The pace was set by a Luverne runner for the first mile, then the Tigers� pack took over. Six runners were separated by merely 44 seconds. �Up to the hill, we run as a pack,� Awale said. �Then we take off ... whoever felt hot could go. Akey stayed back today.� The Tigers� strategy was to stay in a pack. Iman took over at the two-mile mark and won by a margin of 33 seconds.
�We wanted to stay in a pack,� Awale said. �Otherwise, we weren�t running in a group.� Jacobs said, �That is really a strong pack. I think there�s potential in the section meet to get six guys under 17 minutes.� �It�s so exciting having such a strong pack,� Johnson said. Tauer, a freshman, shook off the hip injury. His goal was to stay with his teammates, who set a blistering pace in the race. �I wanted to stay with Tom,� said Tauer, who placed ninth in the SWC meet a year ago. �I had more energy and tried to catch Imen. He was 50 meters ahead of us after two miles.�
Iman has been a first-year sensation in cross country after having run the 800 in track last spring. �I wanted to go 15 (minutes),� he said. �He�s really an incredible competitive athlete,� Jacobs said. �He likes to take charge. He was attacking all the way to the chute. There was no reason to attack, but you want to push yourself. You know somebody will be there in the section. It was positive to have him run hard all the way.� The top seven runners received medals and gained All-Conference recognition. �I wanted a medal,� Tauer said.
Marshall won the SWC boys race for the fourth straight year. They prepare for the Section 2AA meet Thursday, Oct. 24, in Litchfield. �We had a (perfect score of) 15,� Johnson said. �It�s our first one of the year.�
�(The meets) get a lot tougher. We hope to take the section and beat Mankato West. They�ve just been out of reach.� The top two teams in the section move on to the state cross country meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield.
SWC CROSS COUNTRY MEET
Boys team scores � Marshall 15, Jackson County Central 58, Luverne 80, Redwood Valley 117, Worthington 141, Windom 152
All-Conference (top seven):
1. Yahya Iman (Marshall) 15:46; 2. Jon Tauer (Marshall) 16:19; 3. Tom Allen (Marshall) 16:20; 4. Salah Mohamed (Marshall) 16:21; 5. Abdillani Awale (Marshall) 16:30; 6. Akey Jumale (Marshall) 16:30; 7. Jeff Stuckenbroken (Windom) 16:35
Other Tiger placings: 9. Bart Johnson, 17:20
Junior varsity: 1. Blaine Kuiper, 18:14; 2. Paul Carlson, 18:17; 3. Tyler Crowley, 18:42; 5. Eric Ahmann, 19:10; 10. Colby Bruns, 19:49; 11. Luke Nelson, 19:50; 16. Tim VanMoer, 20:10; 20. Malte Buecken, 20:25
Junior high: 1. Jacob Carrow, 7:05; 2. Alex Christianson, 7:09; 3. Brian Byrnes, 7:10; 6. Matt Calvin, 7:18; 8. Erik Carlson, 7:45; 10. Ben Petersen, 9:09
MARSHALL � Two years ago, there was talk of dropping the Luverne girls cross country program due to a lack of numbers. Tuesday afternoon, the Cardinals stood on the victory stand after taking the Southwest Conference meet by surprise.
They weren�t projected to be among the top contenders. Those were defending champion Jackson County Central and host Marshall. Luverne won the championship with 45 points. Marshall placed second with 61 points and JCC was third with 71 points. Marshall coach Mike Jacobs was in the mindset that JCC was the team to beat. �I thought that we did a good job of breaking them up,� he said. Luverne snuck in ahead of the two pre-meet favorites. �They must have found a gem of a runner and really developed her. Luverne was a surprise. They ran a great race and had five runners in great position,� Jacobs said.
Windom Area had the top two individuals, while JCC�s top runner, Heidi Hildebrandt, didn�t compete because of an injury. The Tigers, meanwhile, had two girls in the top six: Julia Schultz (5th, 16:01) and Traci Pagel (6th, 16:02). Whatever team had the best balance � the best showing from its 3-4-5 runners � would emerge the winner.
Luverne placed its top five runners in the top 20, three in the top 10. Schultz continued to be Marshall�s top runner, but Pagel was right on heels. �I stayed with people from other teams and with Julia,� said Pagel, an eighth-grader. �I started out pretty good. I�ve never been that close to Julia. I could have passed her in another second.�
�Traci had an outstanding race for us,� Jacobs said. �She was attacking all the way to the chute. She didn�t have any legs left, but she made them go.� While the two Windom girls were setting the tempo of the race, Schultz and Pagel continued to wage their individual battle. �She picked it up a little, and I tried to stay with her,� Pagel said. The top seven runners received medals and All-Conference recognition. Traci Pagel was among that group Tuesday.
The results of the girls� competition wasn�t known until 30 minutes after the race. The Tigers held out hope, knowing the team score would be close. �I thought everybody ran a good race,� said Lindsay Baun, who placed 20th overall. �We worked hard to keep up with the JCC girls. Traci was awesome today. I�d be awesome if we beat (JCC).� The final margin was 16 points.
�I wished I could have done better,� said Laura Johnson, who was 17th overall. �I started out maybe too fast. I wanted to stay with Traci. I wish I could have kept going at that speed. It seemed like I went really fast.� Johnson is an eighth-grader like Pagel and Baun is a freshman. Considering the Tigers� youthful squad, they ran very well. �I think they made strides in the right direction,� Jacobs said. �We had the first four runners under 17 minutes. They showed some very good improvement over the last few weeks.�
SWC CROSS COUNTRY MEET
Girls team scores � Luverne 45, Marshall 61, Jackson County Central 71, Windom 73, Redwood Valley 118, Worthington 142
All-Conference (top seven):
1. Jenna Sorenson (Windom) 15:38; 2. Melissa Francis (Windom) 15:47; 3. Lexi Heitkamp (Luverne) 15:56; 4. Jessica Schultze (JCC) 15:57; 5. Julia Schultz (Marshall) 16:01; 6. Traci Pagel (Marshall) 16:02; 7. Sadie Dietrich (Luverne) 16:04
Other Tiger placings: 14. Breha Holcomb, 16:50; 17. Laura Johnson, 16:58; 19. Samantha Tauer, 17:05; 20. Lindsay Baun, 17:12; 20. Haley Meyer, 17:48
Junior varsity: 2. Allison Schultz, 18:16; 3. Kate Geraets, 18:17; 4. Joni Coleman, 18:36; 5. Cassie VanOverbeke, 19:00; 6. Heather Martin, 19:13; 9. Steph Musser, 19:19; 16. Nicole Bergstrom, 20:28
Junior high: 1. Justine Heinis, 8:13; 2. Courtney Dardis, 8:19; 8. Shannon French, 8:50; 11. Erika Allen, 9:03; 12. Katelyn Crowell, 9:14; 14. Tiffany Schroeder, 9:20
-Courtesy Marshall Independent