Osky Harriers compete at Southeast Polk
The Oskaloosa High School Cross Country team debuted their season by competing at Southeast Polk this evening. The races were separated into one 9/10 grade girls, one 9/10 grade boys, one 11/12 grade girls and one 11/12 grade boys race. The harriers experienced a new course and also experienced hot and muggy weather conditions. Coach Keith Comfort commented on the races by saying “leading the way for the girls in the 11/12 grade race was Brooke VanHouweling with a 16th place finish in a time of 17:27. Brooke ran a good race, especially considering she has been nursing a minor injury. I thought all our girls did a good job for the first race of the year. The conditions were warm and muggy and the course was rough and very challenging. Gabi Boxler ran a solid race as well finishing with a time of 21:22. Amanda Stefanik had a great finish running down several runners in the last 200 meters. Amy Sarver, Ginny Lane, Jackie Kurandt and Mirjana Vidakovic also competed for the Indians.”
Coach Comfort also took time to comment on the 9/10 girls race. “In the girls 9/10 race the Indian girls had several good performances. Riley Berg and Kelsie Roquet led the way finishing in 42nd and 43rd places with Stephanie Smith close behind in 45th. Those three girls were within 18 seconds of each other and all three broke the 20 minute barrier. Natalie Whitis, Meghan Toubekis and Leslie Roquet were not far back finishing in 65th, 69th and 74th places respectively. Also running were Angela Hyland, Hannah Grahek and Brooke Beers.” Comfort also stated “I think the girl’s team has some potential to be pretty good by the end of the year.”
When commenting on the 9/10 boys race, Coach Comfort said ” In the 9/10 grade boys race, Adam Genskow led the way finishing in a time of 24:25. Also running were Bryan Herr, Logan Ashman and Braden Diggins. It was good experience for the boys as a couple of them were racing at the 5k distance for the first time. I thought they did a good job, but also see some areas we can work on to gain some improvements.”
Coach Comfort spoke about the 11/12 boys race as well “In the 11/12 grade boy’s race, Max Holle led the way finishing in 49th place with a time of 20:43. Max ran a solid race as our returning veteran. Tyler Wallen, a first time runner for the high school, and Alex Hyland, a returning runner were the next two Indians across the line finishing with times of 21:48 and 22:07. Also running were Caden Smith, Emory White, Zach McCombs and Charlie Comfort. The boys ran well for the conditions of the course and weather. We are relatively inexperienced at the varsity level, but I expect we will see significant improvement in the times of the guys as the season progresses.”
The Indians next meet will be at the Pella Invitational on Saturday September 4th at Central College.
