After beginning the 2010 season with a promising performance at the MSSU Warm-Up Tuesday, the Carthage High School cross country teams faced their first true test of the season at the SWCCCA Kickoff Meet.
Although it was another non-scoring affair (like the MSSU Warm-Up), both teams got a first-hand look at several conference, district and sectional opponents during the second meet of the season Saturday at Lake Springfield.
“It certainly was a good learning experience for some of our younger runners,” veteran Carthage coach Andy Youngworth said, adding it was Carthage’s first 5K run of the season. “It was good to see us race on a challenging course.”
In all, the meet included Branson, Camdenton, Carthage, East Newton, Kickapoo, Lebanon, Nixa, Ozark and Southwest (Washburn), not to mention several returning state medalists and qualifiers. All divisions ran together while the top 10 individuals from each class earned medals.
Carthage, which brought 10 varsity athletes combined, had six runners finish in the top 20 overall, despite some minor alterations to the course.
Traditionally, Youngworth encourages his athletes to stay together and run as a team. But, after observing the girls’ race, Youngworth altered the game plan slightly because of the changes to the course.
“Runners got off to a fast start, and the course narrowed quickly,” Youngworth explained. “It was a great day to run because the weather was cool, but the course was difficult.”
Seniors Mandolin Smith and Bethany Roy, both running harder than originally anticipated, finished fifth and seventh, respectively, overall.
“With only two girls running, I was able to see the whole race,” Youngworth said. “Typically, I don’t see the end of the race, but I was able to this time.”
Smith, who held off Bolivar’s Sierra Wells by approximately one second, received some help from Roy late in the race, said Youngworth.
“Mandolin pulled away from Bethany after both runners started out together,” said Youngworth. “With (Wells) gaining on Mandolin, Bethany let her know and she was able to find another gear toward the end of the race.”
Smith, with a time of 21 minutes, 19.70 seconds, finished behind Liz Reida of Kickapoo (first), Brigett Caruthers of Branson (second), Olivia Francka of Halfway (third) and Savannah Beaver of College Heights (fourth). All four runners, by the way, were state qualifiers in 2009.
Evan Adams, who finished fifth overall with a time of 17:04.50, paced the Tigers. The top three runners — Caleb Hoover, Trenton Morris and Adrian Todd — finished within 30 seconds of each other. Hoover, last season’s Class 1 state champion from College Heights, placed first overall with a time of 16:11.40. Morris, Hoover’s teammate and state runner-up, finished with a time of 16:33.60. Kickapoo’s Adrian Todd, a Class 4 returning state qualifier, crossed the finish line with a time of 16:37.21.
