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Brenda McCollum of Bluestem won the girls race (Photo by Adam Knapp / September 21, 2012) |
Oxford senior Mark Sutton had a little problem. There were two cross country meets he wanted to race, within 48 hours of each other.
Saturday’s Rim Rock Invitational, in Lawrence, is a huge meet with high exposure and terrific competition.
But Thursday’s meet in Winfield, the Oxford Invitational, was important to him also. Jim Helmer, the legendary coach at Southwestern College, came out especially to see Sutton.
Sutton ultimately decided to compete in both. Thursday, he turned in a time of 16:55 to easily win the boys five-kilometer race.
“I don’t usually double up like this,” Sutton said. “This is our home meet. I can’t really miss this one. But I wanted to get through it without completely burning myself out.”
Sutton finished 27 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Sunrise Christian’s Ryan Dungan, and was just five seconds off a new personal record.
“The course is always a fast course, every year,” Sutton said. “I struggled a little bit today; I just out a little harder than I would have liked. I was a little nervous because (Helmer) told me he was going to come watch me. I went out a little harder than I anticipated. And I suffered a little bit more in the middle than I would have liked. But a win’s a win.”
It was the second straight victory for Sutton, who was coming off a win at Central of Burden. He has also finished second in Hesston this season.
Sutton took the lead at about the 800-meter mark and never looked back.
“I really wanted to get a gap today and maybe try to cruise a little bit,” Sutton said. “… If I’d run a smarter race, I probably could have had a PR. I felt pretty good before the race, but it still hurt pretty good toward the end.”
The Clearwater boys won the 18-team race with 61 points, followed by Cheney (65) and Central (83).
On the girls’ side, Sunrise won the title with 41 points, followed by Wellington (53) and Clearwater (68).
Individually, Bluestem junior Brenda McCollum won the four-kilometer race with a time of 15:50, tying a personal best. She was 28 seconds faster than the runner-up, Clearwater’s Allison Rylant.
“I think I lost her on the first hill,” McCollum said. “But it wasn’t too hilly, kind of flat. And I have slight asthma, so the dust sometimes bothers me.”
It was the first high school cross country victory for McCollum, but she has won five national junior race walk races. She said her goal is to compete in that event for the United States Olympics team.
“I think I have a fighting chance,” she said.
Saturday’s Rim Rock Invitational, in Lawrence, is a huge meet with high exposure and terrific competition.
But Thursday’s meet in Winfield, the Oxford Invitational, was important to him also. Jim Helmer, the legendary coach at Southwestern College, came out especially to see Sutton.
Sutton ultimately decided to compete in both. Thursday, he turned in a time of 16:55 to easily win the boys five-kilometer race.
“I don’t usually double up like this,” Sutton said. “This is our home meet. I can’t really miss this one. But I wanted to get through it without completely burning myself out.”
Sutton finished 27 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Sunrise Christian’s Ryan Dungan, and was just five seconds off a new personal record.
“The course is always a fast course, every year,” Sutton said. “I struggled a little bit today; I just out a little harder than I would have liked. I was a little nervous because (Helmer) told me he was going to come watch me. I went out a little harder than I anticipated. And I suffered a little bit more in the middle than I would have liked. But a win’s a win.”
It was the second straight victory for Sutton, who was coming off a win at Central of Burden. He has also finished second in Hesston this season.
Sutton took the lead at about the 800-meter mark and never looked back.
“I really wanted to get a gap today and maybe try to cruise a little bit,” Sutton said. “… If I’d run a smarter race, I probably could have had a PR. I felt pretty good before the race, but it still hurt pretty good toward the end.”
The Clearwater boys won the 18-team race with 61 points, followed by Cheney (65) and Central (83).
On the girls’ side, Sunrise won the title with 41 points, followed by Wellington (53) and Clearwater (68).
Individually, Bluestem junior Brenda McCollum won the four-kilometer race with a time of 15:50, tying a personal best. She was 28 seconds faster than the runner-up, Clearwater’s Allison Rylant.
“I think I lost her on the first hill,” McCollum said. “But it wasn’t too hilly, kind of flat. And I have slight asthma, so the dust sometimes bothers me.”
It was the first high school cross country victory for McCollum, but she has won five national junior race walk races. She said her goal is to compete in that event for the United States Olympics team.
“I think I have a fighting chance,” she said.
