Oskaloosa XC Invitational
Oskaloosa Indians
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Osky kids ran really well tonight. Once again Brooke VanHouweling and Skylar DeJong led the way with each of them involved in the mix for the individual titles. Brooke wound up 2nd running a 16:42 over the 4k race distance. Brooke ran a solid race, running with the lead pack the whole race. She stayed in it the whole way and had a good finish. She is running well so far this year, which is what you expect from a senior leader. Paige Walter and Lesley Roquet continued to be a strong presence for the Indians with Paige finishing in 20th place (18:05) and Lesley running in 32nd place (18:35). Kelsey Roquet and Riley Berg rounded out the top 5 finishing in 38th and 46th place respectively. Alina Nettesheim and Kayley Keller also ran for the varsity team finishing in 51st and 58th place. Our top five had a strong race and are continuing to show improvement. At the same time, I believe we see some area we need to get better in. Our race tactics need to improve and we still need to do a better job of racing at the four thru seven spots. I really like what I see in this girls team though. As a team the girls finished 4th out of 10 teams with 130 points. Skylar DeJong finished in 3rd place after battling with Wick Cunningham of Knoxville in the early stages of the race. Skylar ran 17:30 over the 5k race distance. Skylar ran well, but perhaps didn’t run a perfect tactical race. I think he probably learned a few things about racing tonight. That being said, he is a very talented young man and I like his style. He will be a very tough competitor by the end of the year. Spencer DeJong and Jared Boggess also ran strong races finishing in 14th and 27th places with times of 19:00 and 19:44. Alex Hyland ran 20:49 to finish 58th and Logan Ashman 21:02 to finish 61st. Gerrit VanMaanen and Jared Buckallew were in 67th and 68th place. Five of our top seven runners are freshman and so we are still learning how to compete at this level. I like what I see and I think we will continue to improve. Our top 3 are pretty solid, but like the girls, we need some improvement in the 4 to 7 positions if we want to be competitive in the conference meet. Some of our current JV runners may have something to say about how the bottom varsity positions shake out. As a team the boys finished 6th out of 12 teams with 161 points. Overall a very good performance by our kids tonight.
In the JV races Meghan Toubekis finished in 13th place running 19:41 to lead the JV girls. Amanda Stefanik and Natalie whitis were 25th and 26th with Angela Hyland 37th, Kenzie Gunter 49th and Lauren Gorski was 51st. The JV girls all ran good races tonight. They continue to show improvement and will challenge the varsity girls for positions. Competition always makes the team better and that is a good thing. I appreciate the efforts of each of these girls and I love the improvement they showed over this course in the last couple of weeks. It is a tough course and it wears on them mentally. So I am really proud of what they accomplished tonight. The boys JV was lead by Kamron VanHulzen and Logan Gross in 32rd and 35th places. Foreigh exchange student Jaycob Lee was 53rd, Greg Comstock 68th and Cole Oscarson 101st. The boys did well tonight as well. Jaycob ran his first race after joining the team on Friday and did a nice job. It is important to have a good JV team to challenge the varsity to get better and I am seeing a lot of improvement in these boys.
For the middle school team, Sienna DeJong was 2nd to lead the team. She ran 10:33 over the 1.5 mile course. Melissa Moorman and Bailey Blythe also garnered top 10 finishes by completing the race in 9th and 10th place. Lexi Randau and Kylie Krier rounded out the top 5 finishing in 22nd and 26th place. This is a great group of girls. There are 12 of them and they all are working hard and are showing a lot of talent. Sienna had another great race tonight and I look for great things from her before she is done running. Brady DeJong led the boys with a 3rd place finish running a time of 10:30 over the 1.5 mile course. Colton Berg finished in 11th, Aaron Bowie in 43rd, Spencer Nelson in 46th and Garrett gilliland in 52nd. The boys team is a little short in numbers, but they make up for it in enthusiasm. They showed some improvement from last week on a tougher course. It was a good running for the middle school cross country team.
Varsity Boys
Place – Time
Skylar DeJong 3 17:30.3
Spencer DeJong 14 19:00.6
Jared Boggess 27 19:44.1
Alex Hyland 58 20:49.5
Logan Ashman 61 21:02.9
Gerrit VanMaanen 67 21:22.0
Jared Buckallew 68 21:22.5
Varsity Girls
Place – Time
Brooke VanHouweling 2 16:42.3
Paige Walter 20 18:05.7
Lesley Roquet 32 18:35.5
Kelsey Roquet 38 19:20.9
Riley Berg 46 19:47.8
Alina Nettesheim 51 20:15.7
Kayley Keller 58 20:30.1
JV Boys
Kamron VanHulzen 23 21:25.7
Logan Gross 35 21:50.9
Jaycob Lee 53 22:35.0
Greg Comstock 68 23:43.5
Cole Oscarson 101 27:48.6
Tiki Anderso DNR
Adam Genskow DNR
JV Girls
Meghan Toubekis 13 19:41.1
Amanda Stefanik 25 20:30.2
Natalie Whitis 26 20:42.6
Angela Hyland 37 21:54.4
Kenzie Gunter 49 24:05.9
Lauren Gorski 51 24:14.7
Gabi Boxler DNR
Cheyenne Glandon DNR
MS Boys
Brady DeJong 3 10:30.9
Colton Berg 11 11:09.4
Aaron Bowie 43 13:09.9
Spencer Nelson 46 13:13.6
Garrett Gilliland 52 13:35.0
Rogan Scutca DNR
MS Girls
Sienna DeJong 2 10:33.7
Melissa Moorman 9 11:34.5
Bailey Blythe 10 11:36.4
Lexi Randau 22 12:42.1
Kylie Krier 26 13:00.7
Breyanna Hill 33 13:16.1
Kamryn Beers 39 13:30.4
Melanie Harvey 46 13:45.5
Claire Fiechtner 47 13:47.9
Gillian Gross 64 14:52.0
Alex Koenig DNR
Hiat Campbell DNR
Team Scores
Varsity Boys
Ottumwa 47
Knoxville 75
Centerville 95
Williamsburg 104
Newton 125
Osky 161
Albia 178
Fairfield 192
Eddyville 239
Pella Christ 284
Twin Cedars 302
Chariton 311
Varsity Girls
Williamsburg 32
Ottumwa 80
Centerville 108
Osky 130
Fairfield 141
Albia 144
Newton 146
Knoxville 153
Pella Christ. 225
Chariton 301
