News

Marquette's Hoffman, Seneca's Vroman run to victories at Catlin

Ottawa's Carroll earns runner-up finish in girls race

Image 1 of 3

OTTAWA — Although the cross country meet here at Catlin Park on Friday featured three schools — Ottawa, Marquette Academy and Seneca — the droves of cheering fans and followers, plus the beats provided by the Pirates band made the event feel much larger.

The Irish ran way with the win, scoring 26 points, well ahead of the Pirates [50] and Crusaders [58]. The Lady Irish also grabbed victory with 25 points, with the Lady Pirates followed close behind at 33 and the Lady Crusaders finishing with 73.

Marquette senior standout Lucas Hoffman produced another strong outing, finishing first in a time of 16 minutes, 15 seconds and just over a minute ahead of runner-up Billy Glasscock (17:18) of Seneca. The girls race was also one that saw the winner lead from start to finish as Seneca senior Amber Vroman took first in 19:58 with Ottawa sophomore Grace Carroll placing second in 20:11.

"It was a beautiful and great day to run." said Hoffman. "I couldn't have asked for better conditions today. I was looking get out fast and to break the course record today. I think it may have been 16:20 and I came in at 16:15 so I'm happy with that whether its the record or not. The last mile is a little bit up hill and the middle is curvy but overall its a great course."

The Irish adding to the scoring victory were: Austin Aldrich [3rd, 17:49], Brady Danek [6th, 18:50], Chris Poyner [7th,18:50], Levi Maierhofer [8th, 19:07], and Owen Feiner [9th, 19:13]. In the top 12 for Ottawa were Liam Tipple [4th, 18:12], Thomas Reinhardt [5th, 18:29], and Aaron Noble [12th, 19:25], while for Marquette Donnie Zitt [19:24] placed 11th and Will Fiesel [20:18] 14th.

Following Vroman were teammates Ashley Alsvig [3rd, 20:24], Audrey Jenkins [4th, 20:56], Marie Cheshareck [7th, 22:04], Delany Welsh [10th, 23:05], and Gracie Steffes [11th, 24:23].

"I've gained a lot of confidence this year and winning my first ever meet last week pushed that even higher," said Vroman. "To be honest, my goal today was to lead from start to finish and it worked. I ran out here my sophomore year and the course was a little different than today, but I felt like today I was just running at a very even pace all the way. I would have liked to be about 30 seconds quicker, but overall I'm happy with how a ran."

Placing inside the top 12 for the Lady Pirates after Carroll were, Lainey Billings [5th, 21:42], Eva Heimsoth [6th, 22:04], Lexi Jett [8th, 22:12], and Megan Smelko [12th, 24:45].

"I just really had a good feeling that I was going to run well today right from the start," said Carroll. "I knew there would be a few runners ahead of me at some point, but my focus was to catch them. Having a few runners ahead of me today and the great crowd we had out here really pushed me and helped me run as well as I did. I came into today wanting to stay in the top 5 and I was able to do that so I'm extremely happy."

The top two finishers for the Lady Crusaders were Lilly Craig [9th, 22:40] and Izzy Garkey [13th, 25:18].

Brian Hoxsey

Brian Hoxsey

I worked for 25 years as a CNC operator and in 2005 answered an ad in The Times for a freelance sports writer position. I became a full-time sports writer/columnist for The Times in February of 2016. I enjoy researching high school athletics history, and in my spare time like to do the same, but also play video games and watch Twitch.