Oak Ridge harriers come up short

FOLSOM — The 2012 cross country season concluded for the Oak Ridge cross country teams at the Section Meet last Saturday at the Willow Hills course in Folsom.

The Trojan varsity boys and girls teams both placed fourth in their Division I races. The top two varsity boys teams (Davis and Woodcreek) and the top three varsity girls’ teams (St. Francis, Davis, Woodcreek) qualified for the state meet.

The varsity boys were led by Dusty Armstrong’s 17th place finish with a time of 16:43 on the challenging 5,000 meter course. Jake Zeltner (19th, 16:45), Marcos Conde (22nd, 16:48), Jordan Hordesky (26th, 17:00) and Zach Thornton (32nd, 17:21) were the other scorers on the team.

Armstrong and Zeltner received medals. Hordesky raced well to obtain a 35-second personal best (PR) on the course. Four varsity boys improved their times.

The varsity girls were led by freshman Briana Dulgar’s 17th place finish with a time of 19:33, an improvement on the course by 36 seconds. Rachel Peterson (20th, 19:42), Ellie Velez (24th, 19:55), Whitney Wilhelmy (28th, 20:05), and Sami Kilcollins (41st, 20:30, personal best on course by 17 seconds) were the other scorers on the team. Dulgar, Peterson and Velez received medals.

Whitney Wilhelmy improved her time by 41 seconds. Four varsity girls improved their times on the course.

The sophomore boys’ team raced well to place first in the Division I race. The sophomore boys team scored 45 points while the second-place team, Armijo, had 78 points. Oak Ridge placed five runners in the top 16. Alex Merry led the Trojans with a third place finish with a time of 11:27 (19 second personal best on the 3,400 meter course).

Seven of the boys in the sophomore race achieved personal bests. The Frosh/Soph girls team also raced well placing third with 93 points in the D-I race. Mikhayla Polivka led the Frosh/Soph girls team with a 15th place finish with a time of 13:54 (22 second personal best of the 3,400 meter course). Five of the Frosh/Soph girls set personal bests on the course. The top 7 runners on the sophomore boys’ team and the top 7 runners on the Frosh/Soph girls’ team received medals.

Colin Pilcher (36th, 18:36) and Pablo Guiot Vial (46th, 19:44) put in excellent efforts in the junior varsity boys D-I and 2 race. Mia Brower (33rd, 23:38) raced strongly in the junior varsity girls D-I and 2 race. Mia improved her time by 1 minute and 37 seconds on the course.

Blake Fabian (16th, 12:40), Sebastian Gardey (20th, 13:03, 6 second personal best on the course), and Tanner Martin (26th, 13:15) raced very well in the freshmen boys D-I race. Blake had a tremendous race by improving his time by 57 seconds.

“The varsity boys and varsity girls are disappointed about not qualifying for the state meet but it was another successful cross country season for the Oak Ridge teams,” Trojan coach Rob Fairley said. “The team has a very bright future with many of the athletes returning next year. The entire varsity girls’ team will return. Many of the cross country runners will continue their training over the winter to get prepared for the (next) track season.”

For complete results for the section meet go to redcaptiming.com.

Varsity boys (4th with 116 points)
17-Dusty Armstrong, 16:43; 19-Jake Zeltner, 16:45; 22-Marcos Conde, 16:48; 26-Jordan Hordesky, 17:00; 32-Zach Thornton, 17:21; 42-Ryan Prestegard, 17:36; 43-Evan Baxter, 17:37.

Varsity girls (4th with 115 points)
17-Briana Dulgar, 19:33; 20-Rachel Peterson, 19:42; 24-Ellie Velez, 19:55; 28-Whitney Wilhelmy, 20:05; 41-Sami Kilcollins, 20:30; 43-Maddie DeZordo, 20:39; 58-Alison Bamford, 21:42.

Sophomore boys (1st with 45 points)
3-Alex Merry, 11:27; 10-Chad Vardas, 12:02; 11-Brett Ford, 12:03; 13-Patrick Irwin, 12:05; 16-Kyle Kauffman, 12:10; 24-Bret McNamee, 12:23; 32-Chris Buckley, 12:31; 34-Jason Phen, 12:34.

Junior Varsity boys
36-Colin Pilcher, 18:36; 46-Pablo Guiot Vial, 19:44.

Junior Varsity girls
33-Mia Brower, 23:38.

Freshmen boys
16-Blake Fabian, 12:40; 20-Sebastian Gardey, 13:03; 26-Tanner Martin, 13:15.