More tidbits from the county invitational

Leftovers are on the menu for this week. Specifically, leftovers from last week's Greene County Invitational cross country meet last week.

I've always thought the county meet - whether it be in cross country or track - has always been a spectacular event.

As one who admittedly didn't particularly care for distance running as a participant I've got to say I was very excited to be covering this event. And the meet itself was every bit as spectacular as I'd imagined.

Cross country is not a "glamour" sport like football or basketball. The athletes who run cross country deserve recognition for their dedication, effort and perseverance.

With ten teams, nine coaches and 92 participants it simply wasn't possible to include everyone in the initial coverage of the meet. Hence the leftovers.

White River Valley girls coach Sara McIntosh said that for many of her girls this was the first high school cross country meet they had ever run. All of her girls have improved their times - some dramatically so. Sisters Jasmine and Sierra Padgett both improved their times by almost two and a half minutes.

"Our goal right now is improvement and I'm seeing that," McIntosh said.

"I truly believe we will see huge improvement by the end of the season and will be even more competitive."

Shakamak boys coach Zach Whitkanack has had a few runners that have missed some time due to injuries and a couple of guys were unable to run in the county meet.

Whitkanack said, "We've got a long way to go if we're going to contend for SWIAC. We lost a lot of senior leadership last year."

He continued, "We had some bright spots but we haven't quite clicked as a team yet. We're just waiting for that one race when it does."

Linton-Stockton girls coach Bill Doyle had a couple of bright spots as well. Hanna Camden finished tenth overall and Doyle's number two runner Kiera Mossburger emerged to finish fourteenth.

"We're a little behind compared to other teams but the girls did compete today," he said.

Eastern Greene girls coach Adam Nonte said, "We have a young team. I hate to call it a rebuilding year but we've got a ways to go as far as improvement."

Nonte continued, "Abby Cramer ran a nice race as did Sidney Johnson."

WRV coach Mike Karr thought it was a really good day for his team finishing second overall. He said it was a very good experience for the young guys.

"It was a good meet for showing kids how important their different separate tiers are and moving up in a race," Karr said. "It lets the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh runners see that they are just as important as the top three."

After my previous column on cross country I decided to further explore why these athletes run.

Shakamak's Elizabeth Bredeweg said, "I started running in fifth grade. I decided I liked it really well and stuck with it."

Bloomfield girls and boys coach Caleb Dunkerly also discovered that he enjoyed running. "I started running five miles after tennis practice and continued during golf season."

Scheduling didn't permit Dunkerly to run cross country and track in high school as the seasons conflicted with two of his primary sports - tennis and golf. Otherwise Caleb might have been a legitimate five-sport athlete (Caleb also played basketball for Linton-Stockton.

WRV boys coach Mike Karr said that runners basically fall into three categories. Some discover early that they really enjoy running and work hard and improve. Others use running as a means of conditioning for other sports. Karr mentioned a third group - those who just want to be part of a team and perhaps earn a varsity letter.

Coach Karr also mentioned, "Some kids aren't as good as they could be. They don't push themselves."

Hmmm....

Here's one final salute to all the runners who "gut it out" on cross country courses throughout the area. You should be proud of yourselves. Not everyone can - or will - do what you do.

Terry Schwinghammer is a sports writer at the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached at (812) 847-4487, ext. 27 or at tschwing32@yahoo.com.