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Mobile Challenge of Champions XC 2015 Recap - DyeStatPublished by
Ocean Springs girls, Baker boys first in Mobile By Arthur L. Mack for DyeStat
It took a coach's keen eye, but Ocean Springs (Mississippi) was able to bring home a team title in the Invitational Girls division of the Mobile Challenge of Champions held at Langan Park on Saturday morning.
Initially, Mobile's McGill-Toolen Catholic—led by Grace Jensen, who won the Invitational Girls race in 19 minutes, 48.7 seconds on a warm and humid morning—was declared the winner. But a protest was lodged when it was discovered that two Ocean Springs runners were not listed in the final results.
When the results were redone, Ocean Springs was the winner—by one point, 75-76. Ascension Catholic of Donaldsville, LA was third with 91 points, while Luscher Charter of New Orleans and Mobile Baker rounded out the top five with 119 and 133 points respectively.
Ocean Springs' top runner was Amber Koch, who finished 10th overall in 21:04.7. The Greyhounds, though, were able to place two runners ahead of McGill-Toolen's No. 4 runner, ensuring the win.
There was no such controversy in the Invitational Boys' race, as Mobile's Baker placed all five of its scorers in the top 10 to easily defeat second-place Spanish Fort 24-68.
Baker was led by junior Jay Day, who finished second in 16:46.0, behind winnerMicah Sheldon Britton of Alabama Christian Academy (16.31.3). Jack Morgan was Spanish Fort's top finisher in third (16:56.5). Rounding out the top five were Fairhope (81), Ocean Springs (137) and Mobile's St. Paul's Episcopal (145).
Baker coach Paul Agnew said that his team was primed to win the meet.
“What I was real excited about was the pack they made throughout that race,” he said. “They went out aggressively through that first mile, and they maintained a good strong pack throughout the race. All of those guys have put in a whole lot of work throughout the summer and throughout the season, and we knew about the level of competition around here and the level of competition that came from out of town, and it took a good group effort today (to get the win).”
In the Invitational Girls' race, Jensen was locked in a tight battle in the early going with St. Paul's Isabel Valenzuela, Ascension Catholic's Stephanie Breaux and Sophie Daigle, as well as Mobile's Cottage Hill Christian'sCaroline Cumbest. Those five were in a battle for the first mile, but Jensen gradually pulled away from the pack about midway through the race.
“I thought if I don't go now, then I probably never will, so I just took off,” she said. “I thought I was going to really have to kick at the end, because I didn't know if Valenzuela and the others were going to stay together the whole time.”
Unlike Jensen, Britton didn't have to worry about any challengers. The defending Class 5A outdoor champion in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 took off from the opening gun and never looked back. At one point, he led by 150 meters, and looked comfortable the entire race.
If it appeared that Britton was treating the race as a training run, it was because he was.
“Training is everything,” he said after the race. “When you come out here, you've got to treat this like a training run—you can't just treat this like, 'Oh, I'm going to go out there and have fun.' Every race, I'm building on something—I'm trying to make something for myself. I just thought that today was a good training run, and I've got to get better.”
The Open Division had its share of excitement as well.
Two Mississippi schools—St. Patrick and Ocean Springs—took the top two team spots, scoring 38 and 71 points respectively. St. Patrick was led byRamsey Wagner, who won with an impressive 19:27.4. Wagner, Anna Claire Colson (21:36.8), and eighth-grader Gabriela Patino (21:51.6) swept the first three places for St. Patrick to get the team win.
Navarre, Fla. (106), McGill-Toolen Catholic (126), and Robertsdale (155) rounded out the top five.
In the Open Boys division, Baldwin County edged UMS-Wright 107-125, with Spanish Fort third (143). Rounding out the top five were Navarre, Fla (155) and McGill-Toolen Catholic (171).
Navarre's Austin Epstein (17:11.5)was the individual winner, fighting off an early challenge from Spanish Fort's Bretton Dejong (17:55.0). |
