TRIO OF WILDCATS FINISH IN TOP 5 AT NTL COACHES CHAMPIONSHIPS
By: Chris Manning | AthensWildcats.com | October 15, 2022 | Photo courtesy Chris Manning
ROME — Athens saw three individuals finish in the top five between the
girls and boys races here at the NTL Coaches’ Championships on Saturday.
For
the girls sophomore Sara Bronson (20:46.9) and senior Emma Bronson
(21:44.2) placed second and fourth to lead the Lady Wildcats to a third
place team finish with 80 points.
Bronson ran with overall
winner, NEB’s Gracelyn Laudermilch (20:31.9), for the first half of the
race, but ultimately lost contact as she finished 15 seconds behind.
“I wanted to stick with her because I know she always runs well,” said Sara. “I thought if I was with her, it’s be a good race.”
Emma
has had an up-and-down dual meet season, but had a strong showing on
Saturday, holding off NEB’s Melanie Shumway (21:52.6) for fourth.
“Today
was a lot better than some of my previous races,” remarked Emma. “It’s
really a confidence booster to know that I can do it going into
districts.”
Junior Thea Bentley (23:09.9) also finished in the
medals, taking 14th overall, while sophomore Emily Henderson (26:36.5)
was 37th, and senior Abby Prickitt (26:48) took 40th to round out their
scorers.
On the boys’ side, sophomore Ethan Hicks (18:05.1) was
fifth overall, while teammate senior Ethan Denlinger (18:25.7) took
seventh.
“It feels great,” Hicks said on finishing in the top five.
After
CV’s top three and NEB’s Creed Dewing was when the race could get
interesting, with the question being who would step up. Hicks answered
that question, nearly catching CV’s Nathaniel Welch down the stretch
after running with him all race long.
“I knew it was going to be tough, but I knew if I just stayed up with Welch, it’d be good from there,” Hicks said.
Athens
was sixth overall with 127 points as senior Nate Prickitt (20:11.5)
took 31st, sophomore Ronel Ankam (20:59.3) finished 42nd, and freshman
Sam Sensenig (21:33.2) was 48th to round out their scorers.
For
the Sayre girls, Corey Ault (27:04.4) led the way with a 42nd-place
finish, while Rose Shikanga (27:17.2) was 46th. Deborah Shikanga (30:19)
finished 54th.
On the boys’ side, Sam Claypool (21:29.1) was 47th to lead the Redskins, and Hunter Kimball (23:32.8) was 77th.
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