MARSHALL INDEPENDENT (© 2002 story reprinted with permission)
9-25-2002
-Tiger boys win Willmar CC Invite; girls take 3rd
WILLMAR � The Marshall boys cross country team blew past the competition in the Willmar Invitational to finish first with a score of 18. Second-place MACCRAY scored 98 points. The Tiger girls finished third behind Willmar and New London-Spicer. First and second place came from Marshall�s Yahya Iman and Akey Jumale, but Marshall head coach Mike Jacobs didn�t see a huge effort from them.
�I wasn�t really too excited about Yahya (Iman) and Akey (Jumale�s) 16:51 and 16:53,� said Jacobs. �I think they ran with the competition. They ran hard enough to stay ahead of the pack.� Three Tigers finished fourth, fifth and sixth with Jon Tauer at 17:05, Tom Allen at 17:11 and Salah Mohammed at 17:14.
�They have moved up to make it a strong three-pack,� said Jacobs. Abdillahi Awali finished eighth with a time of 17:21 in only his second varsity meet. Jacobs is very pleased with what he is seeing. �Abdillahi (Awali), this was only his second time on varsity,� said Jacobs. �He really is going to solidify that pack.� Bart Johnson rounded out the seven varsity runners at the 11 spot with a time of 17:44.
�Everyone beyond the top two were really pushing as hard as they could,� said Jacobs. �If we can get these guys to develop into 16-minute runners by the section we have the potential to get six guys in the 16-minute range.� For the Marshall girls it was a tougher day with a third-place finish with a score of 77 behind Willmar 33-point first place and New London-Spicer�s 40-point second place.
�We are looking at two well balanced teams,� said Jacobs. �Our times look a little high, but the course was not conducive to fast work.� Julia Schultz finished top for the Tigers with a time of 16:48. Traci Pagel was the only other Marshall girl in the top 10with a time of 16:59. �What I saw that was encouraging to me was Julia (Schultz) going after these two Willmar girls that were in the top ten of the state meet,� said Jacobs. �She�s within striking range of two people out of our section.� Breha Holcomb finished with a time of 17:23 and Sam Tauer and Laura Johnson finished 21st and 22nd, respectively, with times of 17:45 and 17:46.
�A good sign from Traci (Pagel), Sam (Tauer), and Laura (Johnson), was they were closing the gap on the Willmar and New London-Spicer girls,� said Jacobs. �It looked to me that we were doing the surging in the last half mile.� Both varsity squads will travel to the University of Minnesota to compete in the Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday, a race that takes place on the U of M�s golf course.
Willmar Invitational
Boys Team scores: Marshall 18, MACCRAY 98, New London-Spicer 109, Morris 110, Apollo 115, Willmar 127. Marshall placings: 1. Yahya Iman, 16:51; 2. Akey Jumale, 16:53; 4. Jon Tauer, 17:05; 5. Tom Allen, 17:11; 6. Salah Mohamed, 17:14; 8. Abdillahi Awali, 17:21; 11. Bart Johnson, 17:44.
Marshall JV: 1. Paul Carlson, 18:32; 2. Blaine Kuiper, 18:45; 3. Tyler Crowley, 19:05; Eric Ahmann, 20:38; 13. Luke Nelson, 20:42; 16. Malte Buecken, 21:01; 19. Tim VanMoer, 21:19.
Marshall junior high: 2. Alex Christianson, 10:18; 6. Matt Calvin, 10:24; 8. Jacob Carrow, 10:34; 13. Erik Carlson, 10:48; 25. Ben Petersen, 12:52.
Girls Team scores: Willmar 33, New London-Spicer 40, Marshall 77, Morris 114, BOLD 132.
Marshall placings: 5. Julia Schultz, 16:48; 10. Traci Pagel, 16:59; 19. Breha Holcomb, 17:23; 21. Sam Tauer, 17:45; 22. Laura Johnson, 17:46; 23. Haley Meyer, 17:55; 27. Joni Coleman, 18:37.
Marshall JV: 1. Lindsay Baun, 18:05; 8. Allison Schultz, 18:39; 9. Kate Geraets, 19:40; 13. Shannon French, 19:13; 15. Steph Musser, 20:10; 18. Cassie VanOverbeke, 20:07; 22. Nichole Bergstrom, 20:13.
Marshall junior high: 12. Justin Heinis, 11:50; 13. Courtney Dardis, 11:51; 23. Erika Allen, 12:35; 31. Katelyn Crowell, 13:50; 32. Tiffany Schroeder, 13:51.