South takes the lead in Area 3 Championships
Bundle up. Mark Martin, Ansley Rogers, Emily Barnes, and Ashley Hunt cuddle up in the pouring rain. October 19th on a Saturday, runners from South take on the speediest course and dominate it. The day being a mixture of rainy, and windy didn’t stop them from running their hearts out on this meet.
December 6, 2019
Area 3 championships excites the South Cross-country team every season because of how well they do. This year, everyone was pumped up and ready to hit the course, knowing that a real show was about to begin. Area 3 fell on a rainy Saturday morning. South bundled up in piles of clothes, only wishing for a sunny day as the meet went by. Regardless, whether sun, rain, or snow, they continue, relentlessly running until the finish line comes into view.
“Going into Area 3, I feel comfortable with how the teams are performing and can’t wait to see what happens in the next two weeks,” Coach Shaw claimed.
The race was a fast course, meaning the ground was flat with no major hills. Many runners set new personal records at this meet. Senior Madelynne Cadeau finished with a time of 17:52, landing right on her personal record and winning the race. Senior Sophia Baker, only three places behind, came in 4th with a time of 18:57.
“Even though it was super cold and rainy, our entire team still killed it,” Sofia Baker said.
On the other hand, South’s 3rd runner a freshman, Carmel Yonas came in 6th place. She ran a 19:05. Later on, the crowd went wild, cheering on the runners as they came in racing to finish. A roar came from South’s team when Senior Brennan Bower sprinted his hardest down through the finish line. On the varsity boys, Bower once again came 1st in the 5000-meter run and for the team. Excitement and astonishment filled the air as he ran a 15:42.
“Winning the Area 3 meet my senior year was a great moment,” Bower commented.
Senior Mikey Patterson made the top ten at 10th place with a 16:10 run. In the top 20, South had Joe Pontrelli a senior as well, in 15th place with a time of 16:27:34. Seconds later, Nate Verska a sophomore, in 16th place ran a 16:27:75, and senior Harrison Siegel in 17th place ran a 16:29:48.
South finished Area 3 strong due to the top runners from the boys and girls finish 1st. It’s a very fast course, all flat, so lots of competition happens every year. Fortunately, South created the gap that was needed between them and the other runners. The times were close, but they made that .4 second difference which got them leading in all their races.
