Upper’s Solis leads way at Icebreaker

Wynford’s Jordy Kiess stays ahead of Carey’s Ben Kromer during the Icebreaker Invitational on Tuesday at Harrison Smith Park. Kromer eventually passed Kiess and finished 29th in 18:39.6, while Kiess placed 30th in 18:47.8.

Individually, Upper Sandusky’s Dominic Solis led all area runners, while Carey’s boys and girls teams had the highest finish in Tuesday’s season-opening cross country meet, the Upper Sandusky Icebreaker Invitational at Harrison Smith Park.
The Blue Devils took sixth of 13 teams, many of them larger schools, in the boys standings, with Wynford coming in right behind in seventh. Bay was the dominant boys winner with only 39 points, way ahead of second-place Mount Gilead with 104 points. Upper Sandusky was 12th with 240 points.
Carey’s girls also came in sixth, finishing with 172 points. Wynford (247) points was 10th and Upper Sandusky (299) as 11th. Toledo Notre Dame Academy won the girls race with 30 points, 19 better than Napoleon.
Solis, a sophomore, posted a time nearly a minute better than any he ran last year, coming in 10th 17:40.1, while teammate Garrett Miller ran an 18:26.3 for a 26th-place finish. New runner Andre Myers showed both potential and that he still has some things to learn, finishing 61st in 20:02.8.

Upper Sandusky’s Dominic Solis (right) runs in front of teammate Garrett Miller during the Icebreaker Invitational on Tuesday. Solis posted by far his best time ever, finishing 10th overall in 17:40.1. Miller was 26th in 18:26.3.

“Dominic had a great race,” Upper Sandusky coach Ed Arnold said. “He ran about a minute faster than he’s ever run, so you can’t complain about that. The other guys did OK. Andre, it was his first race. … Garrett had a little bit of issues with breathing. It was kind of humid.”
Mason Derr, 91st in 22:03.0, and Jacob Herring, 118th in 24:57.9, had the other two scoring spots for the Rams.
It was a learning experience for Upper Sandusky’s girls team, which features a slew of inexperienced runners. Leading the way was freshman Zoe Garber, who was 71st in 24:36.8. Two more freshmen followed behind, with Kirsten Gardner placing 75th in 24:44.4 and Grace Stober taking 93rd place in 25:55.7.
“The girls team, they ran pretty close to the pack,” Arnold said. “The first three girls who are freshmen, it’s their first 5K, and I talked to them, and they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s a lot longer.’ It’s a learning experience.”
Although Carey’s overall finish was strong, the Blue Devils also considered the season’s first race a learning experience.
Senior girl Sarah Walter had Carey’s highest finish, coming in 23rd in 22:02.3. Not too far behind her were Alivia Stephan in 37th in 22:54.9 and Jaclyn Troiano in 38th in 22:56.0. New cross country runner Amber Spurlock placed 65th in 24:19.0 and freshman Kristina Nusbaum was 70th in 24:26.3.
Brayden Leist paced Carey’s boys with a 25th-place finish in 18:25.9, but his next three teammates were close behind. Ben Kromer was 29th in 18:39.6, Zach Logsdon was 31st in 18:48.2 and Michael Patton was 34th in 18:52.3. Clayton Brickner rounded out the team scoring with a 53rd-place finish in 19:45.2.

Carey’s Ellen McDougle (right) and Riverdale’s Sarah Hunter (left) run along the back of Harrison Smith Park during the Icebreaker Invitational on Tuesday. McDougle finished 83rd in 25:22.3, while Hunter was 94th in 26:03.2.

It seemed the Blue Devils probably could have posted better times had they started the race faster, so they will have to take that knowledge with them into their next race, coach Dean Kessler said.
“Almost to the athlete, they’re all saying they felt very comfortable in the middle of the race,” he said. “… None of them can figure out why they didn’t go out a little quicker at the beginning. … It’s good to know at least their endurance base is good and they felt good in the middle of the race. … All in all, we’ll learn from the first race of the year and move on from there.”
M.J. Quaintance topped all of Wynford’s runners with a 20th-place boys finish in 18:17.4. Jordy Kiess was 30th in 18:47.8, Michael Shupp took 40th in 18:47.8 and Mark Pfeifer was 51st in 19:43.0.
The girls team did not post finishes as high as the boys, but they did meet most of their time goals, first-year coach Billy Banta said.
“The boys are looking very good,” he said. “The girls as far as training goes and our goal times, they’re on the mark. … There’s a lot of factors we throw in there and we came up with a goal time. … It was a great start.”
Ellie Richmond led the Royals girls in 34th place in 22:43.7, with Sara Hoffman placing 56th in 23:48.4. Rachel Redolf placed 77th in 24:49.6.
Riverdale also competed but did not have enough runners to post team scores for boys or girls.
Cody Radabaugh was the Falcons’ top boys finisher, placing 102nd in 22:57.6, while Anna Penwell was 62nd in the girls race in 24:10.4.
Tiffin Columbian’s Brandon Gibson won the boys race in 16:50.4, and River Valley’s Hannah Campbell was the girls winner in 19:29.9.
As Upper Sandusky’s only home meet of the year, the invitation was a success, Arnold said.
“It takes a lot of people working and we have a lot of volunteers to help out,” he said. “… We’ve got people who come and help us every year and they make it possible.”
Carey, Upper Sandusky and Riverdale all return to action at 9 a.m. Saturday in the Early Bird Invitational at Colonel Crawford. Wynford is off until the Northern 10 Invitational at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Riverdale.

Boys
Team results
1. Bay, 39; 2. Mount Gilead, 104; 3. Tiffin Columbian, 118; 4. Oak Harbor, 122; 5. Bucyrus, 159; 6. Carey, 163; 7. Wynford, 197; 8. Napoleon, 206; 9. Van Buren, 225; 10. River Valley, 226; 11. Fostoria, 234; 12. Upper Sandusky, 240; 13. Kenton, 374.
Individual results
Carey: 25. Leist, 18:25.9; 29. Kromer, 18:39.6; 31. Logsdon, 18:48.2; 34. Patton, 18:52.3; 53. Brickner, 19:45.2; 68. Arredondo, 20:26.3; 73. E. Hyatt, 20:49.3; 81. O’Flaherty, 21:19.8; 84. A. Hyatt, 21:39.8; 85. Breitigam, 21:46.8; 95. Fahl, 22:20.6; 98. Griffin, 22:30.8; 101. Hagley, 22:52.6; 110. Fruth, 23:43.7; 131. Gerbers, 27:39.1.
Wynford: 20. Quaintance, 18:17.4; 30. Kiess, 18:47.8; 40. Shupp, 19:15.4; 51. Pfeifer, 19:43.0; 78. Hord, 21:08.9; 82. Hall, 21:29.1; 93. Blank, 22:07.1.
Upper Sandusky: 10. Solis, 17:40.1; 26. Miller, 18:26.3; 61. Myers, 20:02.8; 91. Derr, 22:03.0; 118. Herring, 24:57.9; 122. Mundy, 25:48.2; 128. Maltsbarger, 26:58.8.
Riverdale: 102. Radabaugh, 22:57.6; 109. Matheny, 23:37.2; 134. Mason, 29:28.7.
Girls
Team results
1. Toledo Notre Dame, 30; 2. Napoleon, 49; 3. Mount Gilead, 55; 4. Tiffin Columbian, 149; 5. Oak Harbor, 171; 6. Carey, 172; 7. Bucyrus, 194; 8. Van Buren, 197; 9. Bluffton, 244; 10. Wynford, 247; 11. Upper Sandusky, 299.
Individual results
Carey: 23. Walter, 22:02.3; 37. Stephan, 22:54.9; 38. Troiano, 22:56.0; 65. Spurlock, 24:19.0; 70. Nusbaum, 24:26.3; 83. McDougle, 25:22.3; 101. Cunningham, 26:48.2; 106. Yeater, 27:34.3; 107. A. Keller, 27:42.2; 123. K. Keller, 30:31.2.
Wynford: 34. Richmond, 22:43.7; 56. Hoffman, 23:48.4; 77. Redolf, 24:49.6; 89. Creel, 25:41.2; 102. Graham, 26:48.5; 108. C. Starner, 27;46.1; 119. Blank, 29:17.2; 120. Mosley, 29:18.5; 121. T. Starner, 29:49.9; 127. May, 32:40.7; 129. Bush, 35:35.5.
Upper Sandusky: 71. Garber, 24:36.8; 75. Gardner, 24:44.4; 93. Stober, 25:55.7; 105. Rowe, 27:29.0; 111. Massara, 28:09.7.
Riverdale: 62. Penwell, 24:10.4; 94. Hunter, 26:03.2; 115. Jeffers, 28:52.6.

By LONNIE McMILLAN
Sports editor

Posted by Daily Chief on August 22, 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry