Central runners first over the line

~ Moreland won the girls race, while Yeargain was first in the controversial boys finish.

Central sophomore Brittany Moreland dominated the Central Invitational cross country meet on her home course Saturday, while Tyler Yeargain won in a controversial finish on the boys side to complete a Tigers sweep.

Moreland finished in 20 minutes, 28 seconds, nearly 40 seconds faster than fellow Central sophomore Veronica Schabbing.

Central placed two more runners in the top 10 and beat Fox by 10 points to win the team title.

"We didn't run well last week and I really felt that had something to do with the practice the week before," Tigers coach Mark Hahn said. "How our kids ran this race confirms that. We do have some talent there. At Perryville, we thought either we aren't as good as we thought we were, or I made a stupid training mistake."

Jenny Huo came in seventh and Emily Ponder finished 10th for the Tigers. Alyx Waterman finished just outside the medalist in 21st to round out Central's top five.

"It was hard," Moreland said. "The heat was bad, but our team worked together and calmed each other down at the start."

For Moreland, this was the second first-place finish this season. Moreland also placed first in the sophomore race at the season-opening Jackson Invitational. Last week at Perryville, Moreland was third.

"I just want to do my best at all the meets. That's all I can ask for," Moreland said.

Added Hahn: "I was very pleased that she didn't drop off. The girl that ran with her the first mile did, and Brittany did not drop off. On a day like this, that's a sign of tremendous conditioning, and that bodes well for the rest of the season."

Notre Dame sophomore Tori Pfau finished fifth.

Jackson had three medalist, led by Casey Hatton in eighth. The Indians' top girls runner, Amy Sterling, stepped in a hole during the race and was unable to finish.

Controversial finish

While the girls race was without much drama at the front, the boys race provided more than its share. Two runners hit the ground near the finish line, and the race rules committee had to be consulted following the finish.

Zach Kassman of Northwest appeared to be headed for victory when he simply collapsed just outside the finishing chute. Jackson sophomore Greg Gibson and Yeargain were neck-and-neck for the top two spots following Kassman's fall. With the finish line nearly in arm's reach, Gibson and Yeargain's feet appeared to get tangled, with Gibson going down and Yeargain finishing the line in first.

After talking with all the coaches involved, Yeargain remained in first, while Kassman got third and Gibson fourth. Neil Kanneberg of Notre Dame finished second.

"The coaches involved all conferred and everyone felt OK with the decision," Hahn said. "The main thing is we got it right. It's too bad that happened."

Not to be lost in the drama was a dominating performance by Notre Dame's boys. The Bulldogs had all five runners medal and ran away with the team title, scoring 46 points to Northwest's 89. Central was third with 99.

Logan Davis finished fifth, Jonathan Ramsey was ninth, Wynn McClellan was 14th and Ben Beussink rounded out the top five in 16th.

"We'd never won this," Notre Dame coach Bill Davis said. "Our goal was to win all three races, but the freshmen boys you never know about that. But I was very pleased. Our JV ran phenomenally well."

Saxony Lutheran senior Brandon Etzold was sixth to lead the Crusaders. Max Wieser also medaled in 15th.

Jackson was missing much of its boys varsity lineup but still finished sixth in the team standings. Cody Green finished behind Gibson in 23rd.

"To finish sixth with all those JV guys, we felt happy with that," Jackson coach Andrea Talley said.

Notre Dame's Dillon Klaffer won the boys junior varsity race in 17:58, a time which would have put him in the top 10 in the varsity race. Central's Tiffany Mead won the girls JV race in 24:18. Central's JV girls were first.

Oak Ridge freshman Garrett Light was first in the freshmen race in 19:04.

Girls

Team standings --1. Central 41, 2. Fox 51, 3. Carbondale 99, 4. Jackson 122, 4. Dexter 122, 6. Northwest 151, 7. Notre Dame 160, 8. Woodland 189

Central -- 1. Brittany Moreland 20:28, 2. Veronica Schabbing 21:06, 7. Jenny Huo 22:41, 10. Emily Ponder 22:52, 21. Alyx Waterman 23:52

Notre Dame -- 5. Tori Pfau 21:49, 35. Lauren Castleman 25:21, 37. Emily Messmer 25:31, 41. Abbie Messmer 26:03, 42. Jessica Brandon 26:12

Jackson -- 8. Casey Hatton 22:42, 12. Beth Barton 22:58, 20. Mandy Craven 23:41, 36. Nicole Parrish 25:28, 46. Barbara Gillard 26:48

Woodland -- 13. Nikkie Balzer 23:01

Kelly -- Tara Johnson 23:32

Boys

Team standings -- 1. Notre Dame 46, 2. Northwest 89, 3. Central 99, 4. Saxony Lutheran 104, 5. Carbondale 123, 6. Jackson 149, 7. Dexter 186, 8. Woodland 195

Notre Dame -- 2. Neil Kanneberg 17:17, 5. Logan Davis 17:25, 9. Jonathan Ramsey 18:21, 14. Wynn McClellan 18:40, 16. Ben Beussink 18:47

Central -- 1. Tyler Yeargain 17:13, 11. Dale Brannock 18:30, 18. Cole Bradley 18:54, 33. Shawn Owens 19:44, 36. Aaron Loya 19:57

Saxony Lutheran --6. Brandon Etzold 17:50, 15. Max Wieser 18:44

Jackson -- 4. Greg Gibson 17:19, 23. Cody Green 19:09, 27. Caleb Statler 19:22, 47. Ira King 21:01, 48. Nick Foust 21:22

Kelly -- 10. Cody Kern 18:22