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Results
photos and text by John Dye
sophomore Nikki Bohnsack, new leader of pre-season
US#4 Rockford MI,
sets the tone of the race by moving smartly to the lead immediately
after the start.
800 meters: Nikki Bohnsack
is in charge after 2:38.
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Ashley Urick, Carmel IN,
leads the chase group.
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1600 meters: Bohnsack further ahead
after 5:29 split.
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but Carmel signals it will be a factor in team
scoring by taking over 2nd and 3rd as Michelle Rafferty (R)
joins Urick.
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Rafferty moves alongside after 3200 meters
in 11:20 (left), but Bohnsack pulls away in last 300
meters to win by 6 seconds.
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After Rockford got five more runners across, everyone
peered up the chute for Carmel's fifth. Soon came sr Jaime Calhoun
in 25th place to nail down the 47-63 defeat of Rockford, last
year's co-national champion and this year's pre-season #4 in
The
Harrier's national rankings. |
"It had to end sometime," said Rockford coach Brad Prins,
who saw his team take their first regular season loss in 5 years.
A second place at a Michigan State Meet is the only loss in that
period that saw Rockford become one of the premier girls distance
programs in the US. The veteran runners who led that surge have
moved on to Division 1 college programs -- Emily Blakeslee, Nora
Colligan, Kalin Toedebusch, and Linsey Blaisdell.
Did Carmel think they could beat Rockford? Assistant coach Katie
Overbrook said, "We knew we matched up well on track times,
but we didn't know about the extra distance (5k)." Indiana
girls only run 4k in most meets. Actually, the extra distance seemed
to help, as Carmel was out of the picture after 1600 meters, but
came on strong in the last half of the race.
Only a sophomore, Bohnsack is now the leader of Rockford's still
formidable team. She has no specific goals for the year. "Have
fun and run fast," she said. But Coach Prins offered a goal
for Nikki -- top 8 in the Foot Locker Midwest regional to qualify
for the national finals at Disney World, Orlando in December.
Return to Meet of Champions results
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