PENDLETON — Pendleton Heights and Lapel cross country seasons are in early stages, but it would be hard to compare the 2020 campaign to any other.
There wasn’t a guide set, until this year, on how to run in a pandemic.
The area cross country teams are among many in all sports who have been adjusting to protocols that had never been in place before.
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“We have done virtual training starting when our track season got canceled,” said Pendleton Heights girls cross country coach Melissa Hagerman, who is in her 17th season. “We have tried to find creative ways to stay in touch each week when we couldn’t meet together, and some girls even ‘ran together’ by FaceTiming during their run.
“It’s been tough just like it has for many teams, but the girls seldom complain. We probably feel worse for the freshmen and the other new girls on the team because they missed the experience of summer camp and conditioning. We will make it up to them!”
As different as the year has been, the area teams got some sort of normalcy last week at the Pendleton Heights Arabian Roundup.
In the annual meet, which took place Wednesday, Aug. 26, the Arabians girls team placed second in a 14-team field. Lapel finished 12th.
In the boys race, also with 14 full teams, the Arabians placed third. Lapel, hit hard by the graduation of a number of seniors, including standouts Luke Combs — winner of last year’s Arabian Roundup — and Jesse McCurdy, did not have a full group for team scores, but did have four runners (one shy of being able to have a team score) in the event.
There were 104 runners in the girls race and 116 runners in the boys contest.
Hagerman has her entire varsity team back and had four runners in the top 14 places. They scored 61 points, just 16 behind first-place Mt. Vernon (45).
Leading the way was junior Berkeley Lord, who finished sixth in the 5K run with a time of 22:04. She placed just ahead of teammate Laney Ricker, another junior, who was seventh in 22:10.2.
Katie Jones and Catherine Dudley, both juniors, finished 13th and 14th, respectively. Jones had a time of 22:36.4. Dudley finished in 22:41.2.
A newcomer to the lineup, freshman Abby Davidson, was the fifth scoring runner. She was 28th in 23:50.2.
“Our goal this season is to appreciate every practice and every meet and make the most of this season.” Hagerman said prior to last week’s race. “We are focused on the positives and working hard to be our best this season.”
The Bulldogs may have lost one Combs to graduation, but another is stepping right in.
Freshman Hannah Combs was the top Lapel runner in the girls race. She was 27th overall with a time of 23:46.9.
She is part of a very youthful Bulldog team. Four other girls ran on Wednesday, including freshmen Allyson Gillespie and Riley DeHart, sophomore Emma Shupe and junior Ellie Manning.
In the boys race, Pendleton Heights had two of its senior runners finish in the top 10. Sean Roan was fifth with a time of 18:11. Kyle Drinkut placed eighth in 18:17.5.
Mt. Vernon, with 38 points, and Greenfield-Central, with 52, took the top two spots. The Arabians scored 73 points, 13 ahead of fourth-place Wapahani.
Pendleton Heights’ freshman Will Coggins just missed a top-10 run, placing 11th in 18:29.9. Junior Elijah Creel placed 26th (19:07.1). Seniors Andrew Alderman and Taylor Skalon grabbed 29th and 33rd, respectively. Alderman finished in 19:15.6. Skalon clocked in at 19:23.2.
Lapel’s four runners included Braxton Burress, Elijah Stires, Dylan Hofer and Tommy Manning. Burress, a freshman, led the Bulldogs on Wednesday, placing 85th in 22:48.
The Bulldogs were able to field a complete lineup in the boys race at Wapahani on Saturday. Lapel finished seventh out of eight teams.
Freshman Cameron Smith was the top Lapel runner, placing 18th with a time of 20:21.2. Burress was 28th (21:44.2), followed by Hofer (38, 23:03.7), Stires (41, 23:46.4) and Manning (44, 24:15.2).
The girls were one runner shy of a team score and were led by Combs, who placed 10th in 24:03.9. She was followed by Gillespie (30, 29:04.0), Manning (35, 30:54.7) and Shupe (39, 34:59.9).
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”2020 Pendleton Heights girls’ cross country roster” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name;Grade
Mycala Brinker;12
Madison Brunnemer;12
Payton Brunnemer;12
Sy Carter;12
Maddie McKee;12
Hailee Brunnemer;11
Darbie Cullipher;11
Ella Dixon;11
Catherine Dudley;11
Katie Jones;11
Zoe Kesler;11
Berkeley Lord;11
Laney Ricker;11
Claire Wittkamper;11
Sammi Green;10
Annalise Hernandez;10
Luci Lamper;10
Katy McHatton;10
Gloria Richardson;10
Maddox Smith;10
Abby Davidson;9
Chloe Jones;9
Jaycee Thurman;9
Olivia Welpott;9
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”2020 Pendleton Heights boys’ cross country roster” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name;Grade
Sean Roan;12
Kyle Drinkut;12
Will Coggins;9
Elijah Creel;11
Andrew Alderman;12
Taylor Skalon;12
Andrew Blake;10
Gabe Holland;11
Nick Rhea;11
Ian McLaughlin;10
Deven Taulman;9
Riley Penrod;10
Dillon Penrod;9
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”2020 Lapel boys’ cross country roster” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name;Grade
Tony Chelli;11
Dylan Hofer;11
Tommy Manning;11
Evan Zachary;11
Gabe Armstrong;9
Braxton Burress;9
Cameron Smith;9
Elijah Stires;9
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”2020 Lapel girls’ cross country roster” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name;Grade
Lucy Loller;11
Ellie Manning;11
M’Lia Carey;10
Emma Shupe;10
Hannah Combs;9
Riley DeHart;9
Allyson Gillespie;9
[sc:pullout-text-end]