CHS runners compete at Columbia Relays
<p class="p1">With only two meets under their belts in this early cross country season, the Chester High School cross country teams traveled to Columbia (Ill.) for an unconventional competition on August 31.
<p class="p1">The event was titled "The Columbia Relays" and gave runners the opportunity to compete as part of three-person relay teams.
<p class="p1">"I always like going to this meet because it is a good change of pace for our runners," said CHS coach Curt Gilpin. "Both the YellowJacket boys and the Lady Jacket girls continue to improve and drop times.
<p class="p1">"They are all putting in the time and effort and improving each day. That is what we strive for."
<p class="p1">The distance of the races was 4.5 miles and every runner ran 1.5 miles apiece.
<p class="p1">Runners began their portion of the relay on the high school track, where all No. 1 runners started at the same time at about the 50-yard line of the football field on the track.
<p class="p1">Runners then proceeded around the track to about the starting line for the 200-meter run and at that point, the course left the track and ran outside the stadium to an outdoor cross country course.
<p class="p1">The bulk of the course was over the normal cross country terrain for about .75 miles at which point runners turned around and ran back to the stadium.
<p class="p1">Once in the stadium, the No. 2 runners were on the track at the starting lines awaiting the return of the lead runners.
<p class="p1">When the No. 1 runners arrived, they slapped the hand of the No. 2 runners and the race was on once again.
<p class="p1">This process continued until the No. 2 runners returned and made contact with the No. 3 runners.
<p class="p1">The No. 3 runners then ran their 1.5-mile segments of the 4.5-mile race and made their way back to the stadium ,where they crossed the timing area and were timed as a three-person team.
<p class="p1">The race was timed for girls and boys separately and awards were distributed accordingly.
<p class="p1">Schools were allowed to have as many three-person teams as they had runners. Any runners that were not paired in three-person units were allowed to compete as individuals.
<p class="p1">The Chester girls were able to man two teams. The Lady Yellow Jackets also had two runners compete as individuals.
<p class="p1">Awards were presented to the top eight teams.
<p class="p1">Chester's Team 1 consisted of Jessica Kattenbraker, Shea Petrowske and Taylor Dunning, which turned in a time of 33:51 to finish fourth overall.
<p class="p1">Kattenbraker had a time of 10:50 followed by Petrowske (11:41) and Dunning (11:20).
<p class="p1">Chester's Team 2 consisted of Ellen Blechle, Addie Blechle and Avery Runge, which finished with a group time of 39:05.
<p class="p1">Ellen Blechle had a time of 13:40, followed by Addie Blechle (13:39) and Runge (11:46).
<p class="p1">Chester's Jocelyn Landeros and Elizabeth Soellner ran the 1.5-mile race as individuals. Both girls crossed the finish line at the same time of 13:42.
<p class="p1">The Yellow Jacket boys also fielded two three-man teams. They also had one runner compete in the individual category.
<p class="p1">Chester's boys Team 1 consisted of Josh Haberberger, Joe Soellner and Ronin Doiron. Haberberger was the No. 1 runner and had a time of 9:41, while Soellner finished with a time of 10:23 and anchor runner Doiron had a time of 9:54 for a combined time of 29:58.
<p class="p1">Team 2 included Jakob Cushman, Lance Bohnert and Mitchell Colonel. Cushman was the lead runner with a time of 10:23.
<p class="p1">Middle runner Lance Bohnert finished in 10:26, while anchor man Mitchell Colonel recorded a time of 10:55.
<p class="p1">The team has a recently new member, Chris Schwier. Schwier ran the race as an individual and had a time of 15:10.
<p class="p1">There were 10 different schools that competed in the event, with 30 different girls and boys three-person teams.
<p class="p1">"Columbia had the race very well organized and the kids really seemed to enjoy the atmosphere," said CHS assistant coach Mary Stallman. "Of course, we stopped on the way home to eat and that is always a very popular aspect of most all of our away meets."