VAN BUREN – The Fremont Ross cross country coaches implored Zach Edmonds to run with the Little Giants’ top runner Ethan McClory for as long as he could.
Zach Edmonds
Edmonds did that and more.
Edmonds edged out McClory at the finish line by 0.31 seconds, smashing his personal best time and finishing second overall at the Van Buren Black Knight Invitational Saturday.
Edmonds and McClory’s second- and third-place finishes also led the Little Giants to the team championship as well, edging out Anthony Wayne by a single point, in a field of 15 teams.
“We haven’t beaten Anthony Wayne all year,” coach John Elder said. “We were second to them at Norm Bray (Invite) and they beat us the next week at BG.
“The weather was ideal,” he added. “So we told the kids on Saturday, ‘Push the pace, you’re not going to overheat, you don’t have to worry about heat getting to you,’ which has been a concern. Push the pace and see what happens.”
Edmonds finished with a time of 16:29.14, the first time in his career he broke 17 minutes. McClory finished right behind Edmonds, at 16:29.45.
Ethan McClory
“(Assistant coach) Mark (Sheidler) and I have talked to Zach that ‘You need to run with Ethan. You’re capable of it,’” Elder said. “He’s been trying and it just kind of fell into place….It was a great time for Ethan, one of his best of the season, so the fact Zach was able to go with him was double the fun.”
The rest of the Little Giants had a solid showing as well with Ross’ top five runners all finishing under 18 minutes for the first time this season. Jayden Scott finished ninth overall at 17:21; Brayden Darr took 12th in 17:30 and Isaias Ortiz rounded out the scoring by finishing 21st in a time of 17:57.
“We had five boys under 18 minutes, which is what we’ve been talking about all year,” Elder said. “Now they did it, now they have to prove to me that it’s not a fluke and do it every week.”
The Lady Giants finished second out of 11 teams and, like Edmonds, Ross’ lead runner, McKela Elder, finished her race second overall. Elder finished in a time of 19:04.
“It was nice for McKela, Zach and Ethan, they think they’re good enough to go to state and the times they ran on Saturday certainly are plenty good enough to go state,” John Elder said.
McKela Elder
Allison Taylor
Freshman Allison Taylor entered the race looking to clock her first time in the 21-minute range, instead she skipped the 21s and went straight to the low 20s, timing in at 20:14.33, placing her seventh overall.
“She does not like the hot weather,” Elder said of Taylor. “Who does when they run? But it really bothered her, but I said to her, ‘Today is the day to get into the 21s’ because she hasn’t been there before and, lo and behold, she almost gets into the 19s.”
Grace Egbert followed for the Lady Giants, taking 22nd place in 22:15; AnneMarie Moses finished 36th in 23:04 and MeKenna Englund finished 50th overall in 23:44.96.
“Talking to the girls this week, it was like, ‘Ladies, it’s time to start getting competitive,’” Elder said. “And they were pretty competitive, as a whole.”
Van Buren Black Knight XC Invitational
BOYS RESULTS
TEAM: 1. Fremont Ross, 47 points; 2. Anthony Wayne 48 (15 teams)
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Zach Edmonds, 2nd overall, 16:29.14
Ethan McClory, 3rd, 16:29.45
Jayden Scott, 9th, 17:21.55
Brayden Darr, 12th, 17:30.29
Isaias Ortiz, Isaias, 21st, 17:57.46
Noah Egbert, 36th, 18:17.39
Ivan Starkweather, 40th, 18:26.63
GIRLS RESULTS
TEAM: 1. Anthony Wayne 33; 2. Fremont Ross 99. (11 teams)
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
McKela Elder, 2nd overall, 19:04.86
Allison Taylor, 7th, 20:14.33
Grace Egbert, 22nd 22:15.70
AnneMarie Moses, 36th, 23:04.47
McKenna Englund, 50th, 23:44.96
Ashanti Elkins, 54th, 24:05.39
Madalyn Metcalf, 57th, 24:21.24