Wolverine runners fare well at Landrum cross country meet

Polk County’s boys and girls cross country squads took part Tuesday in a six-team meet at Landrum.

The Wolverine boys placed second, finishing behind the host Cardinals and ahead of Byrnes. The Polk girls placed third, with Carolina Homeschool taking the top spot and Greer Middle High School coming in second.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2NhYoFRoXg[/youtube]

Both squads next return to action on Sept. 3, competing at the Fletcher Park Preview Meet.

Here’s more on the races from Polk County assistant cross country coach Jenny Wolfe:

Polk County High traveled to Landrum on Tuesday to compete in its 5K cross country event.  The Wolverines lined up on the track against the host school, Byrnes, Carolina Home-School, Greer Middle College and Woodruff, facing 103 racers.  The Polk men’s team placed five in the top 25. It was a hot afternoon and a hilly course, but for early in the season several Wolverines showed marked improvement over their previous race on Saturday.

Sean Doyle lead the men’s race for the first half-mile and kept with key pace setters from GMC, BHS and CHS to finish fourth overall (17:55) and as one of only four competitors to break the 18:00 barrier. Mitchell Brown’s summer training miles paced him to a 10th-place finish in 18:52.  The next three Wolverines ran the 3.1 miles as a Polk pack lead by Caleb Brown.  In only his second 5K race, Brown shaved over a minute off his first performance to go 19:40 (18th).  The next four Wolverines across the line are veteran runners who are expected to lower their times to below 18: minutes this season: Mark Federman (19:56 22nd), Eli Hall (19:57 23rd)and Jacob Wolfe (20:06 25th) rounded out the top five scoring points for the Wolverines.  Other Polk competitors: Jake Russell (20:27 27th), Al Russell (21:11 39th), Will Sachse (21:20 40th), Connor Holtz 23:46 66th), and Luke Collins (30:36 94th).

Two Lady Wolverines got out of the starting blocks very quickly to lead the first quarter mile.  India Godlock placed third overall in 21:23 and teammate Emily Kocher, in only her second 5K, lowered her previous performance by over a minute to finish fourth overall in 22:33.  Polk will look for marked improvement from the following scorers: Hayley Kropp (24:54 18th), Savannah Robbins (25:10 21st), and Selena Chavez (25:19 23rd).  Also competing for the Lady Wolverines: Ashton Capozzi (26:14 28th), Haley Fowler (27:08 38th), Shelby Wells 28:53 43rd), Karli Wood (29:57 46th), Leah Hardin 30:09 49th), Colleen Burke (30:10 50th). Sophie Young (30:12 51st), Haven Dufford (31:40 54th), and Jessica Bailey (33:13 61st).