SCOTT TITTRINGTON/The Smithville HeraldThe Smithville High girls cross country team breaks from the starting line Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Platte County Invitational. The Warriors won the team title.
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Warriors gallop to glory
By Scott Tittrington
Before the final results trickled in at the Platte County Invite, Smithville High cross country coach Eric Klingensmith took the conservative approach and hedged his bets.
“This is Platte County’s home course,” said Klingensmith on Thursday, Sept. 21, at Platte Ridge Park near Tracy. “They run it all the time. … They should have an advantage.”
Of course, course knowledge rarely trumps good old-fashioned talent.
The Smithville girls again proved that in a big way, running away with the team title in convincing fashion with just 38 team points, easily outdistancing the host Pirates (53) and Penney (56).
While Platte County’s Ashton Stubbs did make the most of running on her home course, winning the 3.1-mile jaunt with a time of 20 minutes, 9 seconds, the Warriors stuffed the individual stat sheet. Junior Payton Hartman took runner-up honors behind Stubbs in 20:21, while junior Jessie Johnson (sixth), senior Kymie Roland (10th), junior Paige Yates (15th) and junior Christina Starr (22nd) rounded out the team score.
“I think I could have run a little bit of a smarter race,” said Hartman, who was coming off an individual victory in the Maryville Invitational. “I took the first mile pretty fast.
“I felt really good, and I didn’t think it was going to be six minutes. I took it out like I normally do, and it ended up being way too fast and my legs started hurting.”
Klingensmith agreed that Hartman might have been a bit too anxious in trying to stay with Stubbs at the start, but knows there’s a fine line when it comes to race strategy.
“We have to reprogram her a little bit,” Klingensmith said. “But we’d rather have her be too aggressive instead of too relaxed.”
Smithville also got the best of Platte County in the boys race — but did not walk away with the gold trophy.
The Warriors had to settle for silver, as their 77 points weren’t enough to slip past Chillicothe, which finished with 73. Platte County took third with 90.
And like the girls, Smithville did enjoy a runner-up finish on the boys individual leaderboard. No one was going to catch O’Hara’s Max Storms, who ran away from the field in a time of 16:31.
However, Smithville junior Ben Barrows also found himself running alone for most of the race, crossing the line second in 17:32 — 21 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher.
“It felt all right, but I didn’t like it because I had Max way out in front of me, and the whole pack was way behind me after the first mile,” said Barrows, who, like Hartman, won at Maryville in his previous outing. “So again, I didn’t have anybody to push me.”
However, he did have motivation to get off the course as soon as possible, thanks to a huge blister that developed on his foot.
“I decided to chill for a little bit after the race, then take (my shoe) off and see how bad it was,” Barrows said. “It’s definitely the worst blister I’ve ever had.”
Fortunately, he had four days to heal before he and his teammates returned to action Tuesday, Sept. 23, at their own Smithville Invitational at Smith’s Fork Park.
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“This is Platte County’s home course,” said Klingensmith on Thursday, Sept. 21, at Platte Ridge Park near Tracy. “They run it all the time. … They should have an advantage.”
Of course, course knowledge rarely trumps good old-fashioned talent.
The Smithville girls again proved that in a big way, running away with the team title in convincing fashion with just 38 team points, easily outdistancing the host Pirates (53) and Penney (56).
While Platte County’s Ashton Stubbs did make the most of running on her home course, winning the 3.1-mile jaunt with a time of 20 minutes, 9 seconds, the Warriors stuffed the individual stat sheet. Junior Payton Hartman took runner-up honors behind Stubbs in 20:21, while junior Jessie Johnson (sixth), senior Kymie Roland (10th), junior Paige Yates (15th) and junior Christina Starr (22nd) rounded out the team score.
“I think I could have run a little bit of a smarter race,” said Hartman, who was coming off an individual victory in the Maryville Invitational. “I took the first mile pretty fast.
“I felt really good, and I didn’t think it was going to be six minutes. I took it out like I normally do, and it ended up being way too fast and my legs started hurting.”
Klingensmith agreed that Hartman might have been a bit too anxious in trying to stay with Stubbs at the start, but knows there’s a fine line when it comes to race strategy.
“We have to reprogram her a little bit,” Klingensmith said. “But we’d rather have her be too aggressive instead of too relaxed.”
Smithville also got the best of Platte County in the boys race — but did not walk away with the gold trophy.
The Warriors had to settle for silver, as their 77 points weren’t enough to slip past Chillicothe, which finished with 73. Platte County took third with 90.
And like the girls, Smithville did enjoy a runner-up finish on the boys individual leaderboard. No one was going to catch O’Hara’s Max Storms, who ran away from the field in a time of 16:31.
However, Smithville junior Ben Barrows also found himself running alone for most of the race, crossing the line second in 17:32 — 21 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher.
“It felt all right, but I didn’t like it because I had Max way out in front of me, and the whole pack was way behind me after the first mile,” said Barrows, who, like Hartman, won at Maryville in his previous outing. “So again, I didn’t have anybody to push me.”
However, he did have motivation to get off the course as soon as possible, thanks to a huge blister that developed on his foot.
“I decided to chill for a little bit after the race, then take (my shoe) off and see how bad it was,” Barrows said. “It’s definitely the worst blister I’ve ever had.”
Fortunately, he had four days to heal before he and his teammates returned to action Tuesday, Sept. 23, at their own Smithville Invitational at Smith’s Fork Park.