Home Meet vs. Timothy Christian Recap

Home Meet vs. Timothy Christian
August 30, 2016

SPLITS | MILE SPLITS | UPDATED FINISH TIMES
CAREER BEST TIMES AT HOME: BOYS | GIRLS

For the 20th consecutive season, we opened our meet schedule with a dual meet against Timothy Christian at home. There has been only one time since 1997 where we haven't had the first meet of the season on our home course--2001, when we traveled to Timothy Christian.

Tuesday was a hot, sunny day for a cross country meet. For almost three weeks, 25 Westmont Cross Country boys and girls athletes have been putting in hard work to set themselves up for a successful season. Tuesday's home opener against Timothy Christian was the first opportunity for these athletes to put their training to the test (and then have some food after!).

In the girls race, Halle Nash broke away from the field early on and never looked back on the way to a win in 20:43--a very impressive time on our home course this early in the season. Her sister Peyton Nash made it a 1-2 finish for the Sentinels in 22:07. Timothy Christian would take third place to prevent at 1-2-3-4-5 sweep for the Sentinels, but then three lady Sentinels stormed home to take 4th, 5th and 6th place and shut the door on Timothy Christian. Lisa Niemiec led the trio to finish in 23:50, and Lily Arndt held off a charging Frankie Fabry down the stretch to take 5th and 6th, respectively, in identical 23:55 finishes. Ashley Eiermann was our sixth scorer on the day in 26:12 for 10th place. Our seventh runner, Hannah Abbatacola, was held out for the opener.

Four sophomores finished out the race for the Sentinels, led by newcomer Mollie Johnson. Mollie took 14th place in 32:34, followed by returning veteran Katie Schultz, in 33:55. Another returning sophomore, Whittney Ruiz recorded a career best time on our home course for 16th place in 39:20, and another sophomore newcomer, Anita Vazquez, completed her debut on the course in 44:49.

The lady Sentinels scored 1-2-4-5-6-(10)-(14) to bag an easy 18-38 win over Timothy Christian. The ladies are now 1-0 on the season.

In the boys race, we knew going in that we had a tough battle on our hands with Timothy Christian coming off a state qualifying season last year.

Timothy Christian proved that they will be a tough team to beat this year and beyond - they swept the top three individual spots. Sophomore Matt Gedraitis, making his Sentinel debut, and returning senior Sam Asa prevented the perfect 15 sweep for Timothy Christian by finishing in 4th and 5th place, respectively, in 18:30 and 18:41. Timothy Christian claimed 6th place, followed by Jasper in 7th in 19:01. Timothy Christian then claimed 8th and 9th places to finish off their scoring and claim the team win with 20 points. Kyle Casper made his cross country debut to finish 10th in 20:10.

A trio of Sentinel underclassmen then finished within three seconds of each other for 12th, 13th and 14th places. Returning sophomore Jake Dooley led the group to finish in 20:36, followed by two freshmen making their Sentinel debuts -- Jason Eiermann, 13th in 20:37, and Elias Hanba, 14th in 20:39. Another returning sophomore, Connor Alessi, took home 18th place in 22:24.

Returning veteran Tom Dea finished in 23:22 for 20th, with freshman Dominic Santore making his Sentinel debut in 24:31. A foreign exchange student, Yannis Wethkamp, finished 24th in 25:19, followed by returning sophomore Ben Padgitt in 25:47. Senior Jacob Nader finished in 28:47, followed by freshman Mark Naom in 34:42.

The boys would lose a tough one to Timothy Christian, 20 to 38. The boys are now 0-1 on the season.

After the races were done, the course was cleaned up, and all equipment was put away, we were able to head into the Commons to enjoy another fantastic family potluck/pasta dinner courtesy of our wonderful parents, the third year in a row we have held this event. Thank you, once again, to our parents for donating their time and effort to make this event a success. We could not have done it without you!