ssttaarr--nneewwss sports Star-News / Friday, September 15, 2006 11 Senior runner finishes Cowgirls win tourney, eighth at Wamego race get top three medals By Sharon Corcoran By Sharon Corcoran The Goodland Star-News The Goodland Star-News Goodland had the eighth-place The Cowgirls won it all, with the top three finisher in the boys’ race and the golfers and four in the top 10 medalists at the 28th finisher in the girls’ at Wamego Thomas More Prep-Marian Invitational tourna- Saturday. ment Monday in Hays. Kerek Mason was eighth in the At a junior varsity tournament Tuesday in 5,000-meter run with a time of Ulyssess, Goodland golfers took fifth, sixth and 17:32.83. The top time in the race seventh. was 17:10.75 by Chris Elniff of Goodland’s Eryn Topliff won the gold at Hays Baldwin High School. Second was with 100 strokes on the par-72 course. Second Jeb Flynn of Abilene with 17:15.80, and third were Sammie Raymer with 109 and and third was Nikki Trooien-Smith Chelsie Gausman with 110. Brooke Whitmore of Mulvane at 17:16.52. was 10th with 117. Goodland’s Toby Hurst was The Cowgirls’ winning team score was 436. 101st with a time of 20:40.03, and Larned was second with 465, Russell was third Dustin Pennington was 114th, fin- with 490 and Oakley was fourth with 535. ishing in 21:35.20. There were 132 “I am please that we had the top three golfers runners finishing the race, and the of the tournament and that Brooke Whitmore slowest time was 24:49.42. had one of her best scores to place 10th in the Whitney Dautel, the only Cow- field of golfers,” said Coach Connie Livengood. girl in the girls’ 4,000-meter race The Cowgirls fell short of some team goals, finished 28th with 16:41.84. The she added, but considering the conditions, they top three were Heather Garcia of did a good job. It is a tougher course even than Baldwin High School with Sugar Hills, she said, with a lot more water to 14:22.12, Brittney Graff of Eudora cross to get to the holes, and every green sur- in 14:33.75 and Laura Nightengale rounded by sand traps. of El Dorado in 15:07.14. The greens are elevated and very fast to putt There were 120 runners who fin- on, she said, and the pins were put to the sides, ished, and the slowest time was close to the bunkers. 24:15.86. “The girls did a good job,” she said. “I still The top three teams in the boys’ think that the girls can be 20 strokes better than race were DeSoto High School, they are right now.” Baldwin and El Dorado. The top For the rest of the season, she said, they have three in the girls’ were Baldwin, a lot of work to do and a lot of competition left DeSoto and Clearwater. Goodland to take care of. The girls haven’t seen any of the didn’t have a team score in either teams from the southern part of the state that they race. will see for the next three weeks and at regionals, The kids did a really good job, she said. said Coach Richard Schwasinger; “But we are excited,” the coach said, “because their times were really good, but the that is what the sport is about, hard work and re- competition was also really good. wards.” Dautel ran a good race, he said; Natashia Hillman was fifth at Ulysses with a she had some problems on the hills, score of 56, and Courtney Sheldon was sixth but it was the first time for a with 56. Kerri Bellamy was seventh with 57. Natashia Hillman finished fifth in the junior varsity Goodland runner on that course. “I am very proud of the girls who went to the golf tournament in Ulysses Tuesday. Goodland This is the first year for the 4,000- Toby Hurst was one of four Goodland runners to compete at the tournament,” Livengood said. “They did a good also had the sixth and seventh place golfers, meter race, about 2.48 miles instead Wamego cross country meet Saturday. He finished 101st out of job of staying around a target score that we have Courtney Sheldon and Kerri Bellamy. The Cow- of the previous two miles, he said, 132 runners in the boys’ race with a time of 20:40.03. Goodland’s set. They know what they need to work on.” girls took the top three spots and No. 10 to win the and that was tough, but she did well top runner Kerek Mason finished eighth, and the Cowgirls’ com- When there is a tie, the coach said, they do a varsity tournament Monday in Hays. on the last half mile and she beat petitor Whitney Dautel finished 28th. The Goodland runners got to “scorecard playoff,” based on the handicap of Photo by Connie Livengood/The Goodland Star-News some runners she hadn’t beaten be- try out the course they will run at state competition and compete the hole. They look at the No. 1 handicap hole fore. against some of the runners who will be at state. and see which girl has the lowest score, she said; coach said, and Ulysses had them go out and play Mason ran an awesome race, the Photo by Jeff Mason/The Goodland Star-News then if there is a tie there, they go to the second against each other to determine the winner. coach said, on a course that, other hardest hole and so forth. The varsity girls compete at 2 p.m. Monday in Colby than Goodland’s, was about the The top three golfers were tied with 53, the and the junior varsity at 2 p.m. Monday in Russell. toughest in the state. at Wamego they don’t see here. 3A. Pennington and Hurst had good Plus, the team got to see the com- “I expect we’ll still be 4A,” he times but were back in the ranks, petition from Class 3A schools, said, “but we’ll have to revamp our Schwasinger said; that is a testa- some of whom they may see at state. thinking if we bounce into 3A.” ment to how tough a race it was. 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