Gage gets better of Light in Class 1

JACKSON -- Saxony Lutheran senior Ross Gage and Oak Ridge junior Garret Light don't know each other very well off the cross country course.

But on the course, they are quite familiar with each other.

They frequently compete in the same meets and their head-to-head battles have gone back-and-forth as they enjoy similar talent.

Gage finished behind Light in two recent competitions, but the Saxony senior was able to outrun the Oak Ridge junior Saturday at the Class 1 District 1 meet at Jackson City Park.

Gage finished first overall in 17 minutes, 35 seconds. Light followed in second place (17:59).

It was the first time Gage finished first at the district meet. He came in second to Light last year.

"I've been anxious to come back and race at districts ever since he beat me last year when we had a sprint at the end and he out-kicked me to the finish," Gage said. "But this year I trained really hard over the summer and I was anxious to see how I could do against him at districts. I won this year, so I'm pretty happy."

Gage and Light helped their teams advance to the Class 1 state meet next weekend.

The top two teams from each district earn berths to the state competition, which will be held in Jefferson City.

Saxony won the team competition with 39 points. Oak Ridge finished second with 54 points.

"To be honest, I really don't talk to him very much," Gage said of Light. "I've talked to him occasionally during the season. I just know he's a good competitor and I just want to face him and try to do the best I can every time I race against him."

Gage added that he had finished ahead of Light in many meets this season, but that Light has run well lately. Light beat Gage at Farmington and Clayton. Gage said losing to Light at Clayton provided extra motivation to run well Saturday.

"I executed the way I wanted to," Gage said. "Everyone on our team, we didn't want to go too crazy the first mile. ... [At practice] we concentrated on running the middle part of the race really fast. So I ran the middle part of the race to try to catch up with the lead guy. Once we came around with about three quarters of a mile to go, I was able to kick it in and hold it until the finish."

Gage, who would like to run in college, increased his mileage this past offseason. He said it was necessary because he also plays soccer, which takes away some time from training for cross country during the season and also takes more of a physical toll on his body.

Gage, a midfielder on the soccer team, said he ran between 40 to 45 miles each week at the peak points of his training during the summer.

Gage said he wants to finish in the top 15 at the state meet, but more importantly he wants his team to earn a trophy.

Light battled through a knee injury earlier this season that prevented him from running and exercising for two weeks. But he has been feeling better and running better lately. He said Gage was just better than him Saturday.

"There is always a competitive thing with Saxony," Light said. "You want to beat them, but it just didn't work out too good today. I thought I ran pretty well today. Ross just ran an awesome race. I just fell behind at the end. ... To get to state, that is what I really shoot for. I've got to do better at state than I did today."

Gage said he has seen Light become a stronger runner as the season has progressed.

"Unfortunately for him, he had a knee injury at the beginning of the season," Gage said. "But he has been coming on and running faster and faster."

Crusaders coach Larry Cleair said the rivalry between Gage and Light will be beneficial next week.

"One of the nice things about cross country is that you can compete against somebody and appreciate their skills and they are actually helping each other," Cleair said. "They will do a better job next week at the state meet because of each other. They are going to know where the other one is at the state meet and that will be a plus for us. I think that makes us a stronger team and it makes Oak Ridge a stronger team."

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Team scores -- Saxony Lutheran 39, Oak Ridge 54, Valley Park 75, Delta 96, Advance 134, Meadow Heights 142, South Iron 152

Local finishers

Saxony -- 1, Ross Gage 17:35; 5, Joe Buerck 18:14; 9, Sam Kluesner 18:23; 12, Rhett Obermann 18:31; 15, Andrew Etzold 18:52

Oak Ridge -- 2, Garrett Light 18:03; 3, Caleb Elam 18:05; 14, Stephen Bolen 18:40; 17, Tyler Lappe 19:21; 21, Dillon Myers 19:57

Delta -- 7, Zach Riegert 18:21; 11, Austin Seabaugh 18:29; 23, Teddy May 20:01; 28, Brandon Horman 20:28; 34, Malachi Brooks 21:33

Advance -- 10, Grant Gray 18:28; 27, Cody Vangennip 20:26; 35, Hunter Shoemaker 21:42; 36, Kyndel Page 21:45; 37, John Middleton 21:51

Meadow Heights -- 4, Daylan Davis 18:14; 26, Justin Masters 20:15; 39, Alan Rasmussen 22:13; 40, Isaac Elk 22:20; 43, Nick Farrow 22:51