Conquering the hills at Tecumseh has never been easy. Doing it with a team that is less than full strength just adds to the challenge. Coming off an opening season win, the Malcolm boys’ cross country team – down a runner – earned runner-up honors at the annual Johnson County Central Invite held Sept. 2 at the Tecumseh Country Club.
Malcolm’s team score of 42 was well behind Palmyra. The Panthers claimed the top spot with 26 points. Platteview was third with 74.
Bricen Wilkie continues to run strong races. The junior earned the silver medal with a time of 18:28. The Clippers, who ran as a pack the previous week, found themselves a little more spread out this time as Joe Brockhaus placed 11th with a time of 19:27 while Zane Zoucha was 14th. Alex Paider was the 19th runner to cross. Tate Ele, a medalist in the opener at Logan View, sat this race out as he was nursing a sore hip.
“Missing Tate definitely presented a challenge,” Malcolm coach Brie Pulec said. “Palmyra has a group that ran as a pack better than we did. The boys just need to keep doing what they are doing, which is practicing hard and trying to improve their race every week.”
Karter Kincaid and Olivia Watts each improved upon their times from the previous week. The junior was the first Malcolm girl across the finish line, coming in 17th with a time of 26:19. Watts – a sophomore – was 22nd with a time of 26:51.
“Karter is just a hard worker who really pushes herself,” Pulec said. “Olivia loves hilly courses. So, mentally, this was a great place for her to race.”
The Palmyra girls were the team champions with 20 points. Malcolm placed six with 68.
The competition ticks up a notch this week as Malcolm travels to Crete for Thursday’s Milford Invitational. In addition to the Eagles – winners of five state titles in the past 10 years – the Clippers will again see Palmyra.
“I really want our boys to get up there and race along with the top teams,” Pulec said. “I want to see them be even more aggressive and continue to improve how they race.
“I'm hoping the girls can work on being more competitive and start actively looking for the next person to pass.”
Racing is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, on the course at Doane University.
