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Detailed Results: Boys
Race of Champions - Girls Race of
Champions - Boys Open - Girls
Open - Boys Fr/Soph
Pix and quotes: Boys Race of Champions
- Girls Race of Champions -
DyeStat XC Leader List performances - 27
runners
High school runners show how to cope
Carmel IN girls upset Rockford
MI; Milford MI boys,
Nef Araia, Nikki
Bohnsack win great 3-state Race of Champions
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Right: Nikki Bohnsack
(R) led all the way, but was pushed by Michelle Rafferty,
whose Carmel IN team beat Bohnsack's Rockford MI
Below: Nef Araia (R) held off
Wesley Smith to win in 15:12, tied for US#1
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by John Dye
HILLIARD OH 915/01 -- The meet started with a minister asking why
we should run today, leading the young athletes in the pledge of
allegiance, and shouting, "RUN!" Then a very American
boy of Ethiopian descent answered the minister's question with the
most brilliant run of the day.
"I just wanted to run hard, run proud," said Nef Araia,
a junior from Lawrence North IN. "I wanted to show them (the
terrorists) that we can still lead normal lives in America."
Araia had just won the boys Race of Champions in 15:12 (5k), putting
away Wesley Smith, Hudson OH jr, by 8 seconds in the last 400 meters.
The girls race that followed was a carbon copy, with Rockford MI
soph Nikki Bohnsack duelling with Carmel IN sr Michelle Rafferty,
throughout the race before pulling away late, 17:52 to 17:58.
But Rafferty led Carmel to the biggest victory of the day, handing
Harrier
Magazine pre-season US#4 Rockford MI its first regular season
loss in 5 years. US#9 Carmel poured in 4 runners before Rockford's
second, all under 19 minutes. Then came a wave of Rockford girls,
and it was time to wait for Carmel's fifth runner. It was Jaime
Calhoun, and she came across 25th with 16 positions to spare to
give Carmel the victory, 47-63. Columbus IN North was a strong third
with 82 points and Cincinnati OH Turpin 4th with 99.
In the coaches meeting Friday night, there was a consensus that
the boys race was wide open. The coaches were right, especially
after favored US#12 Cincinnati OH LaSalle, winner of the Great Race
of the Great Bay in San Francisco a week ago, opted to run in a
lesser meet nearby in Columbus. US#20 Milford MI's 22-second pack
(4-5-13-16-22) made the absence of LaSalle seem irrelevant as they
won with 60 points over Hudson OH 73, Carmel IN 75, and host Hilliard
Davidson 85.
Meanwhile, LaSalle ran in nearby Columbus in the Central Ohio Invitational
and beat Cincinnati rival Colerain 26-74, with Allen Bader winning
the 5k race by 41 seconds in 15:38 and the next four LaSalle runners
in a 17-second pack (4-5-6-10).
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The Rev. Dave Mann, pastor of the "host"
Upper Arlington Lutheran Church adjacent to the course and
a track dad of two runners, donned a patriotic running suit
and led the athletes in the Pledge of Allegiance before the
races in respect to those who died earlier in the week in
the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
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DyeStat
XC Leader List performances
Boys
15:12 Araia, Nef 2003, Lawrence N. IN
15:20 Smith, Wesley 2003, Hudson OH
15:42 Shaw, Sammy , Carmel IN
15:49 Derusha, Dan , Milford MI
15:49 Kopczyk, Nicholas , Milford Highland MI
15:53 Barnes, Chris , Columbus N. IN
15:55 Schwartz, Kevin 2002, Cincinnati OH
15:56 Thomas, Justin , Carmel IN
15:58 McKinney, Joey , Davidson Hill OH
16:02 Kassouf, Matt , Hudson OH
16:05 Straka, Charlie , Hudson OH
16:05 Barnes, Casey , Milford MI
Girls
17:52 Bohnsack, Nikki 2004, Rockford MI
17:58 Rafferty, Michelle 2002, Carmel IN
18:23 Urick, Ashley 2002, Carmel IN
18:28 Rauen, Carolyn 2004, Turpin Cinci OH
18:30 Infeld, Maggie 2004, Beaumont CleveHts OH
18:38 Harrington, Katie 2004, Carmel IN
18:39 Homan, Jenny 2004, Anderson Cinci OH
18:41 Eckerly, Julie , Columbus N. IN
18:45 Danyko, Katie 2002, Sterling Hts MI
18:51 Free, Emily , Columbus N. IN
18:57 Kebert, Magin , Carmel IN
19:00 Pence, Lauren , Columbus N. IN
19:03 Powers, Kristy 2004, Rockford MI
19:03 Canty, Lisa , Milford Highl MI
19:05 Toedebusch, Kelsey 2003, Rockford MI
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