Mason cross country teams qualify for state
By Scott Hayes, Staff Writer
12:05 PM Thursday, November 5, 2009
Mason High School’s cross country teams brought home a lot of hardware from the Division I regional meet at Troy High School last weekend.
But, the reactions of the two teams was decidedly different.
Mason’s girls captured the D-I regional championship on Saturday, Oct. 31, scoring 58 points to beat second-place Springboro by 16.
Monica Lake was the top finisher for the Comets, coming in sixth with a time of 19 minutes, 20.45 seconds. Jessica Harrison was close behind in eighth (19:30.27), followed by Chelsea Hoffmaster (15th, 19:38.83), Mackenzie Jensen (24th, 20:04.03) and Bridget McElhenny (25th, 20:04.51).
“The girls ran an outstanding race,” Mason girls coach Chip Dobson said. “I’m very pleased with their effort.
“They ran a smart race. The pace went out fast but we didn’t take the bait. They ran their race and closed very well, which is something we worked on all week.”
The Comets picked up 25 points over the last mile and got superlative efforts from Hoffmaster and McElhenny.
“Those two really stepped up and were big contributors,” Dobson said. “It was just a great team effort. It’s really impressive to beat Springboro. They have a tough, tough squad. I hope we can do it again next week.”
The Comets will race in the Division I state meet on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Scioto Downs.
They’ll be joined by the boys squad, which finished second overall with 98 points. St. Xavier won the region with a score of 48.
Zach Wills took home the individual championship with a time of 15:41.54. But, coach Tom Rapp wasn’t satisfied with the overall result.
“We didn’t run very well, to a man,” Rapp said. “We’re just glad we still made it to the state meet.
“I told the guys that it’s a testament to how talented they are that they can still qualify for state without running their best. We’ll focus on the positive and hope this motivates the guys to get more serious next week.”
Matt Kahl finished 15th for Mason, crossing the finish line in 16:37.42. The Comets’ other top finishers were Matt Larcomb (27th, 17:04.47), Chris Lehman (38th, 17:14.85) and Eric Hauser (48th, 17:24.80).
“Chris Lehman was one guy who stepped into the mix while the other guys were faltering and did a real good job,” Rapp said.
Rapp said he still feels his team can compete for a state title.
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