Oskaloosa XC At SE Polk Invitational

Oskaloosa Indians

by Keith Comfort

The Oskaloosa cross country teams were in action at the SE Polk invitational on Tuesday. Under warm and sunny skies, the Indians had a good night of running. Races were held in a 9/10 grade and 11/12 grade divisions rather than the normal varsity/jv format. In the girls 9/10 race, the girls were led by Bailey Blythe won ran a fine time of 17:16 to place 3rd in the race. She was followed by Melanie Harvey in 26th place, Julia Coniglio in 28th place, Brey Hill in 29th place, Alex Koenig in 40th place and Lauren Gorski in 48th place. “The girls ran well for the warm conditions. the course was tougher than the one we ran on last week and I thought the girls had a good showing. This is a strong group of girls and they are developing quite nicely. The girls were fourth out of five teams with 93 points.”

In the 11/12 girls race, the Indians had an 11-13-15 finish with Lesley Roquet leading the way with a time of 18:56. She was followed by Kelsey Roquet and Riley Berg, with Natalie Whitis in 29th place and Morgane Cloesen in 41st place for a 4th place team finish. Also running for the Indians were Brooke Beers and Angela Hyland. “This group of girls has been running for a couple of years and continue to be a strong group. I thought they competed quite well and showed some improvements from last week. I think when we put the two groups of girls together, we will have a pretty strong team. The freshman are still learning to race at this distance, and some of our veterans are still rounding into running shape. By the end of the year, we coulc surprize some people.”

In the 9/10 boys race, the Indians finished 1-4-6 led by Skylar and Spencer DeJong along with Kamron VanHulzen. Skylar won the race with a time of 18:08. The team score was rounded out by Caleb Fisher and Logan Gross for a team score of 47, which was good for a tie for second. the Indians lost the tie-breaker to SE Polk however. Gerrit VanMaanen, Jared Buckallew, Johannes Hartman and Devion Versendaal also competed for the Inidans. “I thought the boys ran really well and I was happy with the 1-4-6 by the guys. Skylar and Spencer are always strong and Kamron has had a good summer and is starting to scratch his potential. Strong runs by Caleb and Logan helped offset some off nights by some others. We have a ways to go, but the potential is there.”

There was only one Indian boy in the 11/12 race. Graeme Kuba is the lone upper classman for the team and he had a fine performance finishing in 18th place. “Graeme is new to cross country and is learning the ropes, but he did a great job tonight, including a very strong sprint to the finish.”

All in all, I would rate the performance as a good one for the team. The next action will be Saturday at the Pella Dutch Invitational held at Central College beginning at 11:00.

place time
9/10 girls
Bailey Blythe 9 3 17:16.0
Melanie Harvey 9 26 20:28.0
Julia Coniglio 9 28 21:00.0
Brey Hill 9 29 21:05.0
Alex Koenig 9 40 22:20.0
Lauren Gorski 10 48 24:01.0

Team Scores
Johnston 24
Newton 49
SE Polk 80
Osky 93
Carlisle 137

place time
9/10 boys
Skylar DeJong 10 1 18:08.0
Spencer DeJong 10 4 19:18.0
Kamron VanHulzen 10 6 20:17.0
Caleb Fisher 10 17 21:52.0
Logan Gross 10 22 22:44.0
Gerrit VanMaanen 10 29 22:47.0
Jared Buckallew 10 30 23:51.0
Johannes Hartman 10 34 25:21.0
Devion Versendaal 9 40 29:18.0

Team Scores
Newton 37
SE Polk 47
Osky 47 * SE Polk won tie-breaker
Carlisle 100

11/12 girls
Lesley Roquet 11 11 18:56.0
Kelsey Roquet 11 13 19:44.0
Riley Berg 11 15 20:39.0
Natalie Whitis 12 29 21:58.0
Morgane Cloesen 12 41 23:53.0
Brooke Beers 12 43 24:10.0
Angela Hyland 12 44 24:18.0

Team Scores
Johnston 35
SE Polk 38
Carlisle 90
Osky 103
Newton 113

DM East 141

11/12 boys
Graeme Kuba 11 18 22:27.0