October 28, 2004

Members of the YSHS boys cross country team, after winning the Division III Springfield district title last Saturday, from left: Andy Peters, Jeremy Upton, Andy Sontag, Carey Dixon, Matt Halm, David Warren and Sam Borchers.

Harriers win district championship

Things couldn’t get much better for the YSHS cross country team, which in the past two weeks won the Metro Buckeye Conference title, the John Bryan Invitational and, for the first time in at least 20 years, the Division III Springfield district championship.

On Oct. 23, the Bulldogs crushed the title hopes of Fort Laramie, ranked 10th in the state, when they won the Springfield district with a score of 52. Fort Laramie placed second with 85 and Anna was third with 104. Bulldog runners came in first, eighth, ninth, 17th, 23rd, 51st and 72nd.

The meet took place on an overcast day on one of the most difficult courses of the season at Springfield North. Giving his coach, Vince Peters, several new grey hairs, sophomore Sam Borchers took an early lead, completing the first mile in a very fast 5:11. And his teammates weren’t far behind, running in a pack as they have all year. Leading the pack was freshman Andy Peters, joined by senior David Warren and junior Carey Dixon. Also running a fast first mile was Jeremy Upton, and further back in the field but well positioned were Andy Sontag and Ha lm.

The course’s last mile concludes with a nasty uphill climb to the finish line, which the ’Dogs handled with assurance and confidence.

Borchers finished first in 16:29, winning with a three-second margin. Warren was eighth in 17:15 and Peters, in ninth place, posted a 17:22. Dixon placed 17th in 17:41 and Upton came in 23rd in 18:05. Finishing with a great kick, Sontag placed 51st in 19:26 and Matt Halm ran a lifetime best of 21:18, finishing 72nd.

Following the race, Borchers was named to the All-District first team, and Warren and Peters received second team honors.

Coach Peters encourages everyone to cheer the boys on this Saturday, Oct. 30, in downtown Troy in the Southwestern Ohio regional championships. The race starts at 11 a.m.

“Typically, about 4,000 spectators show up for the races in Troy,” Peters said. “It can get pretty wild since the course is laid out to be very spectator-friendly. It would be great if Yellow Springs could support us by coming out and cheering us on.”

Fort Laramie dominated the girls race with 22 points. Yellow Springs placed 10th with 215 points.

Leading the Lady Bulldogs was Tina Peters, who overcame stomach cramps to run a strong race and to finish 14th, in 13:50. She received second team All-District honors and qualified for the girls regional race on Oct. 30 in Troy at 1:15 p.m.

Freshman Rosa Dixon placed 51st in 25 minutes, a new lifetime best, and senior Hillary Livingston placed 55th in 25:34. Also running her best race of the year was Tina Chen, who came in 57th at 26:02, followed by Danielle Doubt at 68th in 28:12. Junior Rebecca Guest finished 76th in 29:48 and freshman Lara Donnelly placed 79th in 30:20.

“I’m proud of the entire team for the improvements they’ve made throughout the year,” Coach Peters said of the Lady team. “Each of the women had some unique accomplishments.”

On Oct. 19, for the first time in its 18-year history, the John Bryan Invitational was won by YSHS, its host team. The Bulldogs scored 36 points, and five Bulldogs placed in the top 13, out of 206 runners. Borchers won the race in 16:39, and was named the Dayton Daily News boys athlete of the week.

Also posting strong times at the invitational were Andy Peters, who finished fifth in 17:40, and Warren, who finished 11th in 18:02. Dixon finished in 18:02 and Upton finished 13th in 18:08. Sontag placed 37th in 19:15.

On the second team, Matt Halm placed 116th in 21:41, Ben Adams placed 149th in 22:49, Logan Sage finished 158th in 23:03, Zach Reichert placed 163rd in 23:16 and Dan Noll completed his second race of the season, placing 201st in 29:35.

Tina Peters led the YSHS girls team, placing fourth in 22:04. Livingston placed 77th in 27:44, Chen came in 81st in 27:48, Doubt placed 87th in 28:16 and Donnelly, in a lifetime best, was 104th in 29:27. Rebecca Guest placed 109th in 30:33. The Lady ’Dogs finished 11th out of 17 schools.

On Oct. 16 the Bulldogs won the Metro Buckeye Championship at Xenia Christian.

Borchers again led the boys team with a first-place finish in 18:02. Dixon placed third in 18:33 and Andy Peters was fourth in 18:37. Warren came in fifth in 18:43 and Upton placed ninth.

For the girls team, Tina Peters placed second in 23:15, Dixon was sixth in 26:17 and Livingston placed seventh in 26:28. All three made the All-League team. Doubt placed 11th, Chen was 14th and Guest 15th.