Cross Country seizes second

The Bobcats take second place behind Savannah College of Art and Design in the 5k

MorganWilson | gcsunade.com

(Left to right) Karissa Ekstrom, Ashton Passino, Madeline McCane, Rebecca Shane, Ellen Osment and Catie Tinker posing after the conclusion of the Bobcat Invitational. The women ran a 5k, while the men ran a 8k.

The women’s cross country team began its season Friday, Sept. 2, at the third annual Bobcat Invitational. The team finished strong, taking second place against Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia Southwestern State University and Young Harris College.
The race was held at West Campus, which gave the Bobcats the home-field advantage.
Although SCAD finished first, Georgia College was not far behind. The first eight runners to cross the finish line were all from GC and SCAD. Sophomore Allison Lones led the team, finishing the 5k course in fifth place with an impressive time of 21:27. Senior Karissa Ekstrom followed close behind in sixth place with a time of 21:48.
Early in the race, everyone cheered Lones on as she took second place. She was quickly catching up with SCAD’s first place runner until an unexpected wrong turn slowed her down.  Although GC had the home-field advantage, a tired Lones lost focus and went down the wrong trail. She quickly turned around and got back on track but not without being bumped back a few places.
“I was expecting better,” Lones said, “Between my shoe coming untied and having to turn around, I added a few extra seconds to my time. We did really well pacing as a team though, so I’m glad our first five runners finished strong.”
The remaining placing Bobcats raced in to finish shortly after Lones and Ekstrom.  Sophomore Ashton Passino finished seventh with a time of 21:55. She was followed closely by freshman Rebecca Shane in eighth at 21:58 and Courtney Timmerman, who ended the GC scoring in tenth place at 22:09. GC finished the race with 36 team points, behind SCAD’s first place score of 21 points.
“I think we did pretty well,” Ekstrom said. “We were determined throughout the entire race. We just need to make sure we get enough rest and are mentally prepared for the next meet. It always helps when we get psyched up before a race.”
The blistering 90-plus degree heat did not make running the course any easier. The girls persevered and managed to cross the finish line with exceptional times.
The audience consisted of the team’s friends and family, and as the girls began to tire, the cheering fans around every corner kept their adrenaline pumping. The girls say they would not have done as well without the extra support.
“The fans were great,” Lones said. “There was someone cheering us on at every mile.”
The team will continue their 6:30 a.m. practices and extra runs on the weekends in order to improve their times for their next meet in California at the UC Irvine Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 10. They will continue pushing themselves at practice as they endure hill and interval workouts in preparation for future meets.
“The team ran extremely well,” Head Coach Joe Samprone said. “I’m happy with their performance because they ran as a good, tight group.”

Posted by MorganWilson on Sep 8 2011. Filed under Lead stories, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.