Woodland runners take top spots at Oak Ridge

Several people anxiously waited as the results of Tuesday's boys varsity cross country race at the Oak Ridge Invitational were posted.

A little bit of a celebration broke out when Woodland, which took the top spots in both the boys and girls races, was revealed the winner with a total of 35 points.

"It really feels good to have a lot of kids running well instead of a couple kids running well, and that's just the kids buying in and doing their work to believe it can happen and then make it happen," Woodland coach Ryan Layton said. "Our biggest focus lately has really been on the mental part of this. I believe that in distance running, the biggest barrier when you're first starting out is just believing that it can happen and pushing through the times in the race where you doubt that. We've really been talking a lot about that, and it seems to be helping."

Woodland senior Garret Reynolds finished with a time of 17 minutes, 26 seconds to win the boys race, while teammate and sophomore Cheyenne Wells finished in 22:46 to lead the girls.

"Recently in the past, I haven't been feeling as good running, but today felt really good," Reynolds said. "I got up fast. There in that second mile, I took over the race. I was hoping I could stay strong throughout the race, and I did."

Woodland also got a third-place finish from Landon Thomsen, who finished in 17:55. Layton believes Reynolds' role as a leader has strengthened the rest of the team.

"Garret has shown leadership since he started as a sophomore, and it's just built from there," Layton said. "He's really taken it to heart to be our team captain this year."

St. Vincent's Levi Krauss runs a stretch of the Oak Ridge Invitational Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014 in Oak Ridge. He placed second in the boys' event. (Fred Lynch)

Woodland also had top-20 finishes from four other runners, including Brandon Sitzes (18:43) in eighth and Evan Grindstaff in 10th.

"The team ran great today," Reynolds said. "We have a lot of young people running their first races in their first or second years. We have a bunch of young talent that are really great right now. We're still missing a couple runners, but we have a very solid varsity team."

The course wound around a large soybean field behind Oak Ridge High School and featured a number of hills. Wells said the course offered similar challenges to last weekend's Cape Central Invitational.

"I just drove my knees up higher to get more space," Wells said. "I felt pretty good out there. I think I should've went faster on my first mile, but I felt pretty good about how I did. Coach told me to stay behind first place for at least the first mile, and after that, he told me to bring out a punch if I wanted to take first."

Delta junior Jaime Hodge took second place with a time of 22:46, followed by Crystal City's Abby Foster in third in 23:08.

St. Vincent had 81 points to finish second in the girls race, while the boys team placed second with 49 points.

Delta's Jaime Hodge finishes second in the girls race of the Oak Ridge Invitational Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014 in Oak Ridge. (Fred Lynch)

"This meet in particular is really good for us because it allows us to compete against all the teams around in our area that are about our size, sometimes a little bigger," St. Vincent coach Terry Wood said. "Woodland definitely is great competition for us. They're really fighing and pushing themselves to get stronger and stronger to get ready for their Class 2 competition. Really for us, it's all about motivating ourselves. If we can hang with teams like Woodland, then we have no problem doing what we need to do in districts."

Junior Levi Krauss finished second in 17:48 to pace St. Vincent in the boys race, while teammates Isaac Baer (18:27) and John Lipe (18:29) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

In order to prepare his team to endure the length of the season, Wood said the Indians run challenging courses at the beginning of the season, including the Jackson Invitational, the Forest Park Cross Country Festival and a meet in Edwardsville, Illinois, that features challenging terrain comparable to the State Cross Country Championship course in Jefferson City.

"Course-wise, it's pretty decent," Wood said about the Oak Ridge course. "It's a good course for you to hit your PRs and really try to get your strides in."

Seniors Courtney Brown (23:18) and Kylie Baer (23:23) finished fourth and sixth, respectively, to lead St. Vincent's girls.

Wood said it's the first time in four years that St. Vincent has had a full seven runners for both teams.

"When you have a group like us that can field a top five that well, it's a great feeling," Wood said.

Woodland's Cheyenne Wells is first to cross the finish line of the Oak Ridge Invitational cross country meet Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014 in Oak Ridge. (Fred Lynch)

Crystal City took first place in the girls race with a score of 52, followed by St. Vincent in second and Saxony Lutheran (86) in third. Abby Foster placed third in 23:08 to lead Crystal City.

"It's one of those things that you can use as a motivator for the rest of the season," Crystal City coach Ken Jones said. "We've missed a couple first-place plaques by just a little bit, so I'm hoping the girls will use it to kind of motivate them to use their practices to keep working hard."

Other top-10 finishers in the boys race were Zalma's Peyton Ford (fourth, 17:56), Oak Ridge's Nathan Bolin (seventh, 18:32) and Scott City's Jesse Perry (ninth, 18:56).

Oak Ridge placed third in the boys race with 75 points. Oak Ridge coach Kristi Seyer was pleased with the turnout in the school's 11th year of hosting the meet.

"I think it's just important that we bring in some of the schools that are more competitive for our class level, so it brings in a lot of people to our community," Seyer said. "We have one of the harder courses. I know a lot of the kids feel like the course here is hard, and running along the crops is kind of what cross country is all about."

Oak Ridge Invitational

GIRLS

Team Scores -- 1. Crystal City 52; 2. St. Vincent 81; 3. Saxony Lutheran 86; 4. Oak Ridge 115.

Individuals -- 1. Cheyenne Wells (W) 22:46; 2. Jaime Hodge (Del.) 22:56; 3. Abby Foster (CC) 23:08; 4. Courtney Brown (SV) 23:08; 5. Josie Miller (CC) 23:19; 6. Kylie Baer (SV) 23:23; 7. Sally Heil (V) 23:33; 8. Abbey Holdinghausen (CC) 23:35; 9. Emily Ladd (Dex.) 23:42; 10. Ali Waites (CC) 23:55; 11. Katie Richmond (SL) 24:02; 12. Paige Fallert (V) 24:02; 13. Grace Hanebrink (SL) 24:16; 14. Maci Jo Schamburg (OR) 24:28; 15. Lyndsey Statler (C) 24:35.

Local Top Finishers

Chaffee -- 15. Statler 24:35; 20. Hannah Glueck 25:44; 24. Shayna Seyer 26:25; 27. Katie Glueck 26:43.

Delta -- 2. Hodge 22:56.

Oak Ridge -- 14. Schamburg 24:28; 16. Jordan Layton 24:43; 22. Abby Matthews 26:18; 30. Kaitlyn Shallow 28:07; 33. Chelsea Seyer 29:45.

Saxony Lutheran -- 11. Richmond 24:02; 13. Hanebrink 24:16; 18. Rachael Koehler 25:13; 21. Kristen Gruenwald 25:50; 23. Alexis Goodson 26:20; 28. Abby Breite 27:10.

St. Vincent -- 4. Brown 23:18; 6. Baer 23:23; 17. Maddie Lappe 24:48; 25. Shelby Schumer 26:28; 29. Rina Hayashi 27:45.

Woodland -- 1. Wells 22:46; 19. Bailey Jones 25:25.

BOYS

Team Scores -- 1. Woodland 35; 2. St. Vincent 49; 3. Oak Ridge 75; 4. Scott City 104; 5. Zalma 129; 6. Dexter 176.

Individuals -- 1. Garret Reynolds (W) 17:26; 2. Levi Krauss (SV) 17:48; 3. Landon Thomsen (W) 17:55; 4. Peyton Ford (Z) 17:56; 5. Isaac Baer (SV) 18:27; 6. John Lipe (SV) 18:29; 7. Nathan Bolin (OR) 18:32; 8. Brandon Sitzes (W) 18:43; 9. Jesse Perry (SC) 18:56; 10. Evan Grindstaff (W) 19:01; 11. Zach Moore (OR) 19:03; 12. Robert Bauman (CC) 19:08; 13. Kyle Davis (W) 19:15; 14. Jacob Seabaugh (OR) 19:25; 15. Andrew Lipe (SV) 19:33.

Local Top Finishers

Advance -- 35. Crey Miles 22:23; 41. Jarred Owens 23:34.

Kelly -- 18. Robbie Hopper 19:46.

Meadow Heights -- 33. Seth Gloth 22:07; 38. Ben Davie 23:03.

Oak Ridge -- 7. Bolin 18:32; 11. Moore 19:03; 14. Seabaugh 19:25; 26. Jarrett Seabaugh 20:59; 27. Zach Whitener 21:23.

Saxony Lutheran -- 23. Gavin Brown 20:23; 31. Josh Vogel 21:53.

Scott City -- 9. Perry 18:56; 19. Joe Parker 19:55; 20. Jacob Harris 19:56; 24. Chris Phillips 20:43; 32. Tyler Rhyne 21:56; 42. Isaac Pennington 24:01; 46. Quentin Lacey 25:10.

St. Vincent -- 2. Krauss 17:48; 5. Baer 18:27; 6. Lipe 18:29; 15. Lipe 19:33; 21. Sam Baer 19:58.

Woodland -- 1. Reynolds 17:26; 3. Thomsen 17:55; 8. Sitzes 18:43; 10. Grindstaff 19:01; 13. Davis 19:15; 16. Thomas Grindstaff 19:37.

Zalma -- 4. Peyton Ford 17:56; 25. Charles Freeman 20:53; 30. Luke Robertson 21:42; 34. Cole Shelby 22:14; 36. Wyatt Lemons 22:28; 44. Aaron Taylor 24:42.