Nick Gonnella
Greensburg Daily News
Greensburg —
The North Decatur cross country teams hosted South Decatur on a sunny and pleasant Thursday afternoon for a dual meet between two talented county rivals.
The North girls topped South 21-33. Seven of the eight runners recorded season's personal bests. Senior Victoria Leffel paced the Lady Chargers with a time of 22 minutes, 31 seconds.
Both North teams are now 3-0 on the season.
ND Results:
(PR's noted with *)
1. Victoria Leffel - 22:31*
2. Kylee Laudick - 23:08*
4. Veronica Yager - 24:31
6. Iiris Kolunsarka - 25:27*
8. Julia Ricke - 27:37*
10. Marrissa Hipps - 29:36*
12. Alessondra Woscov - 31:13*
13. Erica Wilson - 32:14*
The North boys topped the South boys, which lined up an incomplete team because of an injury. Eight of the 11 Chargers posted season personal bests. Anthony Bedel led the Chargers with an 18:48.
ND results:
(PR's noted with *)
1. Anthony Bedel - 18:48
2. Ryan Root - 19:20*
5. Tyler Menkedick - 21:30
6. Troy Kunkel - 22:27
7. Lee Mirick - 22:37*
8. David Bokelman - 22:39*
10. Paul Badgley - 22:45*
11. Corden Simmonds - 23:00*
12. Jeremiah Volk - 24:03*
14. Javier Adame - 27:00*
15. Nick Stewart - 33:31*
"I was really happy with our runners this evening," said North head coach Scott Johnson. "We had 15 season bests, which was great to see. Once again, it shows that if you work hard in practice it will pay off in the meets. Earlier this week we had a really tough practice and our athletes stepped up and met the challenge I presented them. It paid off tonight. South Decatur has some really good runners, so it was nice to get a win against them.
North and South next run this Saturday in the Jac-Cen-Del Invitational. The meet starts at 10 a.m., with the girls running first.
South head coach Bethany Fromer said the Cougars enjoy running against the Chargers.
"Its always nice to come out in a dual meet and run North," said Fromer. "The kids really enjoy running both boys and girls together in at least one meet of the season."
The South boys team was incomplete due to Blake Bennett mising the meet with an injury.
"I want to rest him and keep him healthy for the meet on Saturday," said Fromer of Bennett. "He has been a very good sport about it. On the boys side, we did post some personal season's bests."
Senior Cody Wamsley led South, placing third overall with a time of 19:56.
Nolan Allen ran his best time with 20-minutes flat. Evan Kirchner ran his best time at 22:40. South also had improving, once again, Brandon Overlock who ran a 24.51.
"He had dropped his time almost a minute from the last meet," said Fromer. "I am proud that our times continue to get better on both the boys and girls sides." For the girls, South also had a personal best. Junior Julie Mapes ran her best career time of 26.42!
"This is a four-minute drop from the beginning of the season," said Fromer. "I am very proud of how hard she has been working."
Kristy Hamilton led South with a third-place time of 24:24. Rylie Buening posted a 24:42 for 5th overall. Senior Shelbi Baker posted a 27:51 for 9th, while Emily Mapes clocked a 30:29.
"Rylie and Shelbi were within 10 to 20 seconds from personal bests," recalled Fromer. "I know that both teams will continue to run better times as the season progresses. The hard work on the weekend and over breaks have paid off. We are looking forward to running the Jac-Cen-Del Invite on Saturday."
