The
Brenham Hillacious Invitational and Open was once again run in hot, muggy
conditions. Some of the area's top
teams came out to try their luck on the hilly course.
Starting
off the Varsity races was the Varsity Girls Division 1 race.
The race saw Klein's Kelcee Keenan nearly claim the course record of
11:44 set by Candice Kolb of Cedar Park in 2000.
Keenan's time of 11:46 was just two seconds shy of the record.
The race began with Langham Creek's Nicole Peters leading Keenan through
the mile mark at 5:42. Keenan
eventually wore her down on the infamous "water tower" hill and pulled
away for a 19 second win. The team
race was a close one as Cinco Ranch edged out Klein by a score of 44-46.
The second
varsity race of the day was probably the most exciting individual race.
Early in the Varsity Girls Division 2 race, the Brenham duo of Charissa
Laster and Megan Hafner set the pace for the field.
By the mile mark, Melissa Webster of Cinco Ranch 'B' had taken the lead
at 6:05 with the Brenham duo close behind. As
the group approached the 1 1/2 mile mark, Melissa Holme of St. John moved ahead
and began increasing her lead. With
about 400 meters to go, Holme was about 50 meters ahead with Laster in second.
Approaching the final hill, about 200 meters before the finish, Laster
began to make a strong move to cover some of the gap between her and Holme.
The freshman, Laster, attacked the hill and moved within 10 meters of
Holme by the top of the hill and sprinted past her during the final 50 meters
for a narrow win. Brenham Sophomore,
Megan Hafner held on for a third place finish.
The team race came down to St. John and Brenham with St. John winning
51-68.
The
Varsity Boys Division 1 race began as the temperatures began to heat up.
The individual race began with Klein's Hank Vera leading Dobie's Josh
Pantoya through the first mile at 5:00. Cinco
Ranch began the race as a pack and had four within striking distance with a 5:10
first mile. Cinco's fifth runner was
12 seconds behind but still close. At
the 2 mile mark, Pantoya had taken a small lead at 10:38 with Vera close behind
at 10:41. Cinco Ranch was still
running small although their pack had somewhat broken apart coming through
between 10:50 and 11:10. In the last
mile, Pantoya continued to extend his lead with Cinco's Kyle Goldsmith making a
strong move to overtake Vera and finish in second.
Cinco Ranch's pack strategy worked for them as they easily won the meet
with 46 points. Klein was second
with 79 points.
The
Varsity Boys Division 2 race began with a strong early move by Alvaro Quintero
of Waller. He had taken a 40 meter
lead by the 1/2 mile mark and came through the first mile in 4:56.
Moving up on Quintero, Elgin's Alfredo Soto and Francisco Avelar, and
Brenham's Bruce Myles passed through the first mile in 5:01.
Going up the "water tower" hill, Soto overtook Quintero and
began pushing for a lead. By the 2
mile mark, Soto had about a 30 meter lead over Quintero and Avelar as he passed
through in 10:46. He continued to
extend his lead over the last mile and finished with a commanding 28 second win
over Quintero. The team race saw a
strong Elgin team win with 44 points over Brenham's 113.
The Open
Race began at 12:00 noon, but was afforded a little relief from the heat thanks
to the overcast sky. The Open race
which began 3 years ago, has grown more competitive than in year's past.
The first 2 years saw an average of about 10 racers each year, but this
year's Open had over 30 registered. Adding
excitement to the race was the team competition which featured teams of 4
scoring runners and up to two alternates. The
women's team race featured Cedar Park running the 3 mile race in preparation for
the Nike South Invitational, while the men's race saw Fish's Flyers out of
Austin and an Army team along with numerous individuals.
The race began with unattached runner, Clint Sherrouse, taking a huge
early lead and hitting the first mile at 5:04.
The Cedar Park girls came through strong with the top 3 running together
at 5:50 with the 4th at 6:00 and 5th at 6:10.
At the 2 mile mark, Sherrouse was still extending his lead with a time of
10:55. The Cedar Park top trio was
still running together at 12:30 with the 4th at 13:14 and 5th at 13:36.
In the end, Sherrouse won with an Open race record of 16:27 over Lars Roe
(18:22) and Matthew Fisher (18:23), both of Fish's Flyers.
Cedar Park's Heather Bulin took the win and women's open record with an
18:45 while Jennifer White was close behind with an 18:54.
Cedar Park won the women's division with a perfect score of 10 but was
the only full team on the women's side. Fish's
Flyers took the men's division with 14 points while Army finished in second with
46 points.