Timp Sports Weekly
November 12, 2013
Publisher's Message
This is our annual issue covering the Pre-Footlocker Invitational that American Fork High hosts every November. We will look at an account of the invitational held Nov. 9. Let's run straight to that story.
Dean Von Memmott
Publisher
magnanovelist@gmail.com
Awesome AF Caveman and Herriman Pretty Pony Win First-Place Trophies at Pre-Footlocker Invitational Nov. 9
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher
An Awesome American Fork Caveman and a Herriman Pretty Pony won the boys and girls' division of the Pre-Footlocker Invitational hosted by American Fork Nov. 9.
American Fork's Connor McMillan wont the boys' title as a follow-up to his clinching the state 5-A boys individual title at the state cross cross championships held at Salt Lake City's Sugarhouse Park two weeks before. Herriman Pretty Pony Lucy Biles won the invitational's girls' division.
Although no team scores were kept at this post-state meet, the 14 participating schools present at it looked upon it as a tool for selecting runners that they wanted to take to out-of-state regional meets within the next few weeks.
American Fork head coach Bruno Hunziker hinted that fact. He said, "We used this meet to select which seven girls to send to Arizona to represent us at a sectional meet. Sammy Hollingsworth will definitely be one of them. She is a ninth-grader, but she's our No. 1 runner. She has beaten two of our girls who'll be running in college next year. It'll be great to have her with us for the next three years."
Holllingsworth was the only Awesome American Fork Cavewoman in among the girls' race's top 10 finishers. She took eighth. Among the other six fastest Awesome Cavewomen in the race, Diane Leah took 11th, Maddi Bench 13th, Nikki Smith 15th, McKayla Stepp 16th, and Hannah Kendrick 19th.
While American Fork did have the largest number of runners finish in the top 20 of the girls' race, the contest proved to be a showdown between Biles and Bingham Pickerf Marly Mitchell. As those two girls waited among 155 other racers at the starting line, they heard starter Timo Mostert said, "Girls, the course is the same as the one you ran at the Grass Relays two months ago, except we don't have any hay bales on the route today. The first-place finisher gets a big, honking trophy. The next 19 finishers will each get a medal."
Biles and Mitchell showed immediately how much each of them wanted the first-place trophy. They pulled way ahead of the other racers. The Pretty Pony and the Picker stayed within a few feet ahead of each other all through the race. Biles crossed the finish lline barely ahead of Mitchell.
The boys' race demonstrated why the Awesome Cavemen won their fifth consecutive state title two weeks ago. Three of the boys' division's top five finishers were American Forkers. While McMillan received the first-place award from Mostert, teammates Zach Jacklin and Casey Clinger finished second and fourth respectively.
Among the other Awesome Cavemen to finish in the top 20, Jacob Chase took 12th, Spencer Herzog took 14th, McKay Johns 15th, Dan Bentley 16th, Ty "Tinker" Bell 17th, and Caleb Thompson 20th.
American Fork boys' coach Mostert said, "We worked just before this meet. I'm glad that they showed as much eagerness today as they did tat the state meet. They wanted to show that they wanted to win as as team at a sectional meet in Arizona."
"Connor McMillan was one of the top 11 athletes at last year's sectional meet in Arizona. His first-place finishes at state and today's meet show why we expect him to place high again at the coming meet. Though he has received well-deserved accolades, he's not the only guy on the team. We have other great runners, and they want to qualify for nationals as a team. That's going to be our goal in a few weeks."
McMillan aid, "Today was a great tune-up for Arizona. It helped us to stay mentally ready for the sections after a two-week break from racing. It was awsome for me to win this year's state 5-A individual title and be on the squad that also took the state title again this year. Winning five straight state championships has created a great tradition for AF cross country."
While the Nov. 9 meet enabled American Fork to showcase why it's a cross country superpower, the invitational also gave the Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings a chance to compete in post-season racing after having to sit out this year's state meet. Pleasant Grove Coach Mack Morrison said, "Today had great weather for us to run in. Today's meet will get us ready for the Footlocker regional meet in Walnut Grove, Calif. All of our runners, save one, raced well today, and that racer was hurt."
Among the top five Ferocious Vikings in the girls' race, Faith Olsen finished 52nd, Annaliese Henninger 88th, Aspen Lucas 79th, Kimmy Frye 90th, Kindall Cowpower 1118th, and Elise Adamson 157th.
As for the Ferocious Vikings in the boys' race, Justin Couts took 55th, Johnny Penrod 94th, and Mark Hailstone 152nd.
Both the Lehi Pioneers (AKA the Froggies) and the Westlake Thunder (AKA the Shockers) had runners compete at Pre-Footlocker.
Among the Froggies in the girls' race, Maddie Kauffman took 10th, Kenzie Draper 27th, and Nicole Sscharman 45th.
As for Lehi runnners in the boys' race, Asutin Hinckley took 84th, Brady Taylor 89th, Jace Gurney 94th, and Connor Arnell 158th.
Cheyenny Larson finished 18th to become the fastest Shocker in the girls' race. Stephen "The Adventurer" Robbins finished 28th to become the highest--placing Westlake runner in the boys' division.
