Sickness came at a bad time for the Baker University women’s cross country team.
Head coach Zach Kindler said he received a call Saturday morning before the Heart of America Athletic Conference meet in Olathe from freshman Chelsea Twietmeyer with the news that she had strep throat.
With the absence of Twietmeyer, the team placed fifth, two places below its predicted placing.
“That was definitely tough to lose her,” Kindler said. “It’s hard to replace one of your top runners. Our ladies ran hard, it’s just with dropping Chelsea and having another girl with a hip injury it makes it hard. It was a new course and a windy day, but everyone had to deal with that.”
Read Tweitmeyer's cross country blog.<a href="http://www.bakerxc.blogspot.com" target="_blank"> Read Tweitmeyer's cross country blog.</a> Read Tweitmeyer’s cross country blog.
Junior Amber Keith stepped up for the ‘Cats placing 16th overall with a time of 21:31.
“Amber was one spot away from being all-conference, and I think she was disappointed,” Kindler said.
Although the team didn’t reach its goal of placing third in the conference meet, Keith said the team tried as hard as it could.
“When we made our goals at the beginning of the year, we had no doubt that we could reach them,” Keith said. “(Sickness and injury) just came at the wrong time.”
Upperclassmen made the top two for the ‘Cats as junior Ari Penner finished with a time of 21:55. Sophomore Kelsey Heckathorne, freshman Mary Loveland and junior Katie James also finished in the top five for the ‘Cats.
Penner said the team is going to focus on preparing for the Regional V meet.
“Right now, as a team we definitely want to beat some of the teams that beat us at conference and show them we can do better,” she said. “Personally, I’d like to break 20 (minutes) or make low 20s.”
On the men’s side, freshman Nick Wagoner crossed the line first for the ‘Cats and placed 47th overall with a time of 30:43.
Kindler said although the team was coming off injuries, he was disappointed in its showing. The team placed ninth at the meet, four places shy of its goal.
“We had a few guys coming off injuries, and a few off a three-week break, and we just didn’t take care of business,” Kindler said.
The ‘Cats’ top five consisted of Wagoner, freshman Chris Scheideman, senior Andrew McGregor, freshman Justin Hill and junior Zac Towns.
After a weekend off, both teams will be competing in the Region V meet Nov. 3 at Lamoni, Iowa.
