While the Malcolm boys’ cross country team won its first two meets of the season, the Clippers had yet to really be tested. That first real test came at the Sept. 9 Milford Invite held at Doane University in Crete. The defending state champions hosted the meet and owned the course while Malcolm finished third in the team race.
While the Eagles had six runners in the top 12 and a close to perfect team score of 13, the Clippers had two medalists and scored 53 team points. Minden finished second with 47 points.
“Our boys were aware of how good Milford is,” Malcolm head coach Brie Pulec said. “But I think they were a bit surprised at how well they ran. This level of competition was good for them because it showed what we are up against for the rest of the season. They’ve seen the best and understand more clearly the work that needs to be done.”
As he was the first two meets of the season, Bricen Wilkie was the first Malcolm harrier to cross the line with an eighth-place finish in 18:27. The sophomore was pushed by his teammate Ty Brockhaus who was six seconds back, finishing 10th.
“Ty should continue to run closer to Bricen as the season progresses,” Pulec said. “He’s still getting into shape. If he has made this much progress in just three weeks, imagine where he’ll be three weeks from now.”
Zane Zoucha was the third Clipper to cross, just out of the medals with his 16th-place finish in 18:43.
“Zane struggled with the heat at our first meet and his body is just getting back to where it needs to be health wise,” Pulec said. “He got in some great summer mileage, so I have no doubt he is going to continue to make great moves to help our team.”
The Malcolm girls finished fourth out of five teams with a team score of 83. The top three teams were tight as Minden won with 23 points. Palmyra was second with 26 while Milford had 30 points.
In her first varsity race of the season Lillie Beach turned in a 21st-place finish with a time of 25:34 while Karter Kinkaid was 27th and Lauren Shafer was 29th.
“Having Lillie up and running again is really helpful for the girls,” Pulec said. “Having one of their teammates up running toward the front will push the other girls to run faster, too.”
The Clippers have two meets this week as they travel to the Yutan Invite on Monday before heading to Geneva for the Fillmore Central meet on Thursday, Sept. 16.
“This week is a great opportunity for the runners to get stronger,” Pulec said. “Two meets in four days is tough, but, the overall benefit they will get is too great to pass up.
“They absolutely need this intensity if they want to achieve end-of-the-season goals.”
