Neidig, White post top-15 finishes to advance to regionals

  • brian questel
  • October 25, 2011
  • 273
                        
103111 boysCCdistricts Promo: General cross country team advances pair of runners to Boardman regional Neidig, White post top-15 finishes to advance to regionals By Brian Questel Doug Bennett was looking for the whole, but what he got was two-sevenths. That isn’t all bad, for that means Bennett and two members of the Wooster boys’ cross country team will be moving on to the Youngstown Boardman Division I Regional. It wasn’t what Bennett and the Generals were hoping for after a season of impressive improvement. Wooster finished seventh out of 18 teams at the Malone College Division I District Cross Country Championships. The top five teams, as well as individuals who were not on qualifying teams in the top 20, moved on to Boardman. Jackson won the meet with 67 points, followed by Green (98), Boardman (103), Louisville (110) and North Canton (134). Perry nipped Wooster, 152-153, to account for the next two spots. “I would say we did not run as well as we were capable,” said Bennett. “We had individual performances that were quite good throughout the team, but not as far as everyone coming together at the same time. It was not for a lack of trying. We might have wanted it a little too much and as a coach I have to own that a little bit. “Perhaps that may have caused us to be a bit anxious. I am happy for Kevin, a freshman, going out blissfully ignorant of everyone and everything around him. He was actually leading the race 800 meters in. It didn’t end that way, but I love that innocence to compete and not worrying. He was willing to risk. “Cody was pretty much in the top-10 from the get-go. He fell off a little in the middle, but the kid runs such great tenacity he pulled back into the top-10. That’s a big deal.” Neidig, a senior, led the Generals with a tenth-place finish as he nearly matched his career best with a 17:01. White was four spots and 13 seconds behind him as he turned a personal-best on a water-logged course with a 17:14. “I’m really excited for me and Kevin, but I guess it wasn’t in the cards for the team this year,” said Neidig, who was a regional qualifier last season as well. “I decided to stick with the top-10 and be in it by the end of the race. It was real difficult to do that – I had to catch two kids in the last 10 meters. “The course was a little muddy, but I didn’t have a real problem. I ran straight through the mud and I just dealt with it. (At regionals) I’m going to have to sit in the top 16 and go with them when they go and make sure I’m right there (to make state).” “We wanted the team to go,” said White. “The top five advance to regionals and I thought if I ran well I could get the team to go. That was my goal -- to go out and help the team go to regionals and score real low. “I felt comfortable before the race and really confident. I went out hard at the beginning and relaxed and just kept going. I started to know I was running well when I saw the big tall senior people running with me. Towards two miles, I had a ‘Holy smokes’ feeling (about being towards the front), but I did feel I also deserved to be up here and I had what it takes to finish the race.” Running toward the front during the sixth race of the day allowed the duo to avoid some of the pitfalls of the course. “The course was muddy and slow,” said Bennett. “This a really good team. My heart aches for them that it turned out this way at the end, but I can’t place sum and substance this year on one meet. That’s not fair to the kids or me. They did nothing but get better all season long. “The good news is we graduate three seniors, but of our top seven, we have four back – Kalten (Walter), Zach (Humrichouser), Paul Wood and Kevin. That’s good. It’s a team to be built from. That is something we’ve been able to accomplish reasonably well over the past 10 years or so. We’ve never been left dry.” Seniors Brock Berlin (17:46, 33rd), who was a regional qualifier last year, and Ian Parry (17:58, 46th) were the next two runners in for the Generals, while Walter was four spots behind with his 18:04. Humrichouser turned in an 18:08 (53rd) while Wood rounded out the varsity effort with an 18:50 (75th) in the 126-runner field. “This was one race and the end of the season is here,” said Bennett. “One of our seniors gets to keep going. Brock, I think, is at peace now. This is what athletics is all about. It teaches great lessons. Nineteen points seems like a lot in a sport unless you are talking cross. If each of the seven guys passes one person we go down seven and the teams around us go up seven. If a few pass two guys, we drop and the others go up. “This is undoubtedly one of our better teams in terms of starting in one place and finishing in another. When we started our average team time was 17:57 and on a fair and regulation course at the end it was 17:11. That’s a lot of growth and we don’t usually see that kind of growth. “I feel good in many aspects. Like all things, we need a little time to mourn. You’re upset. You’re mourning and not happy, but that shows you care and want to do better. We’ll put that aside and move on and get better. We tried and I have tremendous respect for them.” Neidig and White will run at 2:50 p.m. October 29 at Boardman.


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