DES MOINES —
Kelsey Howard didn’t feel too good after she finished her run at the Des Moines East Invitational Thursday.
She had exerted a lot of energy fending off three Marshalltown girls who were hot on her trail at the end of the race.
“Those three Marshalltown girls were right behind and I was literally yelling ‘go Kelsey, go,’” coach Angela Chaney said.
And Howard did go, and her “go” was fast enough to stay in front of the three girls. Her exertions earned her a 13th place finish with a time of 18:27. But after the race, Howard was reeling from the effects of her extra effort, Chaney said.
Yet, afer the race, she was feeling the effects of her extra effort, the coach said. Although she didn’t know it at the time, Howards’ extra effort would secure a first place finish for the Bulldogs.
When the points were tallied after the race, Ottumwa and Marshalltown were tied for first with 32 points. The winner would depend on how fast each squad’s sixth runner finished. The sixth runner for Ottumwa just happened to be Howard, while the Bobcats’ sixth runner was one of three girls behind her.
“We just won because you out-kicked those girls,” Chaney told Howard after the race.
The girls’ triumph also owed to the fact that the top 10 was occupied by four Bulldogs. Caroline Owens took second at the invite with 16:52 and Daylin Latham claimed third with 16:58. In addition, Charlette Flanders came in sixth with 17:39 and Sydney Strunk took ninth with 17:57.
“I was super-excited because I knew it was going to be a pretty close race,” Chaney said after the race. “I think it will be a great boost for our girls going into conference (meets).”
Also, Chaney said, beating Marshalltown helps her team’s confidence because the Bobcats are one of the schools Ottumwa will see at districts. On the boy’s side, Cody McConnell and Charlie Altfillisch finished first and second in the race. McConnell claimed first with 16:33 and Altifillisch placed second with 17:03.
“Cody and Charlie, as they have all year, ran great,” coach Jeff Smith said.
Smith was especially impressed with Altifillisch’s performance.
“I thought he just ran spectacular,” she said.
The top two finishers, however, were not enough to gain Ottumwa a first place finish. The Bulldogs took second with a score of 47, five above Marshalltown, who finished first with 42.
“We just had too big a gap between two and three and three and four and even four and five,” Smith said.
Collin McConnell claimed ninth with a personal best time of 18:18. Shane Riley came in 15th with 18:56 and Curtis Ford claimed 20th with 19:32.
“I think we are getting better and peaking at the right time of the season,” Smith said.
The Ottumwa cross country teams will compete in the CIML Metro Confeence Tuesday.
Des Moines East Invitational
10-11-12
BOYS
Team scoring — Marshalltown 42; 2. Ottumwa 47; 3. Des Moines Lincoln 50; 4. Hoover 102, DM East 122.
Top Ten — 1. Cody McConnell 16:33; 2. Charlie Altfillisch 17:03; 3. Zach Wells (Marsh.) 17:11; 4. Aaron Havens (Lincoln) 17:23; 5. Ben Bourland (Hoover) 17:30; 6. Daniel Talbert (Marsh.) 17:42; 7. Sam McMichael (Linc.) 17:44; 8. Tanner Wood (Linc.) 18:13; 9. Collin McConnell 18:18; 10. Nestor Sanchez (Marsh.) 18:24
Ott. Runners — 1. Cody McConnell 16:33; 2. Altfillisch 17:03; 9. Collin McConnell 18:18; 15. Shane Riley 18:56; 20. Curtis Ford 19:32; 24. Sebastian Silva 20:04; 26. Billy Barnes 20:34.
Ottumwa Junior Varsity Runners — 5. Jianwa Bennett 19:32; 8. Isacc Ramos 20:09; 15. Isacc Goodman 20:39; 16. Riley Wynn 20:39; 17. Alex Ayala 20:34; 19. Seth White 21:01; 20. Nick Sedore 21:02; 23. Jared Bohlman 21:26; 25. Nick Sheehy 21:44; 29. Grant Gullion 23:46; 30. Wyatt Blegan 24:13.
GIRLS
Team scoring — 1. Ottumwa 32; 2. Marshalltown 32; 3. Hoover 102; 4. Lincoln 103; 5. DM East 111
Top Ten — 1. Rachel Blagg (M) 16:29; 2. Caroline Owens (O) 16:52; 3. Daylin Latham (O) 16:58; 4. Michaela Huey 17:20 (M); 5. Wynn Tan 17:26 (M); 6. Charlette Flanders (O) 17:39; 7. Audrey Klein (17:43 (Linc.) 8. Victoria Jones 17:54 (M.); 9. Sydney Strunk (17:57 (O); 10. Riley Mortenson 17:58 (Hoover)
Ottumwa Runners —12. Ashlyn Thompson 18:26; 13. Kelsey Howard 18:27; 17. Sydney Cloyd 18:51.
Junior varsity Runners — 1. Madison Zesiger 18:08; 3. Damaris Toom 19:40; 5. Sarah Keith 19:51; 8. Georgia Garrett 20:07; 12. Estefany Guido 21:16; 14. Daisy Cuautle 21:59; 15. Sam Saunders 22:01; 19. Ashley McMullin 23:04; 21. Abby Walker 23:12.
Junior varsity teams:
1. Marshalltown 28, Ottumwa 29, Des Moines Lincoln 85.
Sports
October 8, 2012
Ottumwa girls take first at Des Moines East Invitational
- Sports
-
- Big weekend of action on tap Hello race fans and welcome to another edition of The Pit Stop. This weekend is the first holiday weekend during the racing season and with it brings some great racing action. The Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa kicks off the week of racing tomor
-
Albia 4x400 becomes first boys state track champ; CV's Busch defends 800 title
DES MOINES - It had probably never been said before. Or at least, it hadn't held up as remaining true to the end. But as he watched teammate Alex Schultz race down the backstretch of Drake Stadium with a big lead on the rest of the field on the final
- Saturday's State Track and Field Results TRACK STATE FINALS Girls Sprint Medley Finals 2A - EBF (Sadie Baugher, McKinley Moore, Tasha Alexander, Karlie Taylor) (Finished seventh in a time of 1:53.37). 3A - Fairfield (McKenzie McClure, Erin Thompson, Cierra Bielinski, Jessica Lamb) (Finished
-
Tri-County pulls away late from Keota
Tri-County Trojans and Keota traded the lead seven times on Monday, but the Trojans ended up on top with a 9-4 win to open the baseball season in South Iowa Cedar League play.
- Ottumwa junior varsity team crushes Albia The Ottumwa red junior varsity softball team crushed Albia in a doubleheader Monday, blanking the Blue Demons 21-0 in game one and 21-2 in the nightcap. Ottumwa only needed three innings to win the first game and four to emerge victorious in the seco
- Gonzalez's second-half goal lifts Ottumwa to win
-
Comets outslug New London to open baseball season
Brennon Elder had a huge blast to get Cardinal's baseball season off to a thrilling start against Southeast Iowa Superconference south rival New London on Monday.
-
Sigourney softball wins opener at English Valleys
The Sigourney softball season, fresh off a very successful season, got what could be an even better year off to a winning start in South Iowa Cedar League action Monday.
- Dostal takes first, Bulldogs qualify for state CEDAR RAPIDS — Going into Class 5A regionals Monday, Whitney Dostal was in the midst of what had already been an uber-successful season brimming with accomplishments. But at regionals, the junior linkster's season reached its apex, as Dostal posted t
- Warrior golfers finish 11th at nationals; White finishes as All-American LUBBOCK, Texas — Every break and every shot they needed, they found each of the past two years to win a national title. Even for the Indian Hills golf program, all good things eventually come to an end. Such was the case this season as the Warriors f
- More Sports Headlines
