Reynolds comes back from illness to win El Dorado Invitational
By Michael Ashford
Monday, October 9, 2006
Up until last Friday, it was unclear if Emporia High junior cross country runner Michaela Reynolds would be good to go for Saturday’s El Dorado Invitational.
The 2005 5A State Champion, Reynolds had been ill since last Saturday, and her status was up in the air until late in the week.
But on Friday, Reynolds began to feel better, and on Saturday, she proved it, as she finished in first place at the El Dorado Invitational in a course-record time of 15 minutes, 5 seconds in the four-kilometer race.
Even though it was the first time a girls 4K race had been run on the course, it was still a big mark for Reynolds after a trying week.
“I wasn’t sure what we’d get out of her,” coach Mark Stanbrough said, “but at the 1,200-meter mark, she started to pull away from the pack and she took control.”
Reynolds’ performance — she now owns the El Dorado State Park course record in the 2-mile and 4K — spurred the Spartan girls to a dominating team victory, as they finished with 78 team points, 56 points of second-place Andale.
Following Reynolds was senior Layne Moore, who finished in 15:47 to place fifth. Jenna Stanbrough came in 14th (16:12), Heather Coe finished 15th (16:12), Abby Lake placed 47th (17:24) and Liliana Morales (17:28) and Katie Weaver (18:09) rounded out the Spartan finishers with 51st- and 74th-place showings, respectively.
The Emporia High boys also had a strong outing, as they finished just 12 points out of first place with 99 team points, second behind only Kapaun Mt. Carmel (87 points).
Asher Delmott again paced the Spartans, finishing 11th in a time of 16:48 on the 5K course.
Perhaps the biggest contribution for EHS came from junior Tyler Anliker, who finished 15th in a time of 16:57 to come in as the Spartans’ second runner, his best showing of the season.
“This is his first year running, because he’s always been a soccer player before,” Stanbrough said. “He’s starting to get a feel for cross country, and this race probably gave him a lot of confidence.
“When he starts a race, he’s usually in the middle of the pack, and he just picks his way up as the race goes on. Tyler’s going to be a big boost for us heading into league, Regionals and State.
Senior Mike Robinson came in 19th (17:05) and Jacob Davies finished 25th (17:12) to give the Spartans four top-25 placers. Rounding out the EHS finishers was Lance Sadler, who finished 37th in a personal-record time of 17:26, Andrew Wayman in 40th (17:35) and Octavio Dikin in 66th place (18:07).
Two runners did not race on Saturday, as senior Ryan Parks and freshman Kelsey Camien were held from action.
The Spartans now head into the postseason, as the Centennial League meet is this Saturday at Stateland Cross Country Course in Topeka. The Spartan boys will try for their fifth straight league title while the EHS girls will face tough competition from the likes of Manhattan, ranked No. 1 in 6A, and Seaman, ranked No. 1 in 5A.
EHS gymnastics finishes 5th at Newton Invite
The Emporia High gymnastics squad had perhaps its best performance of the year Saturday at theNewton Invitational, but it failed to show in the team standings, as the Spartans finished fifth out of seven teams.
The Spartans scored a season-high 95.40 points, led by a strong effort on the balance beam that saw all three EHS competitors perform no-fall routines despite new elements for each competitor.
Hayley Fry scored an 8.75 to place fifth, Libby England finished with a 7.75 and Kayla Baker received a 7.45. All three were personal-best scores.
“Beam was the highlight of the day,” coach Barbara Clark said. “All three girls had put in new things in their routines and with no fall routines, it just puts icing on the cake. On top of that icing were three personal bests.”
On the vault, Madison Reiber and Hayley Risley each scored personal bests with scores of 7.6 and 7.3, respectively.
Tarra Nichols had a third-place showing on the bars with a score of 8.45, while Mercedes Davis scored a 5.1, which was a personal best for her.
“(Nichols) had a tough time at the beginning of her routine, starting with her mount,” Clark said, “but she stayed composed to finish strong, and it paid off with a third-place finish.”
The personal bests continued to roll in with the floor exercise, as Risley scored a 6.6 for the best mark of her career. Nichols was the high finisher for the Spartans on the floor, as she received an 8.3, good enough for sixth. Fry came in seventh.
In the all-around competition, Fry came in seventh with a personal-best score of 32.65.
“We had a great meet,” Clark said. “We had some time off to work on some new skills and I think that the time was well spent.”
Olathe South took home the team title with 101.125 points, followed by Newton (97.90), Lee’s Summit (97.775), Olathe Northwest (96.60), Emporia, Hutchinson (93.75) and Olathe North (80.15).
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