The Great Pumpkin Chase Results-October 25 th 2008
On a very windy and rainy day our small group headed out to City Island for a
5K race to test our improvement from Grings Mill race at beginning of the
season. Cole and Tim both ran about 2:30 minutes faster. The rain stopped
just before the start, but the wind did not. After a loop around the island,
we headed across the bridge and then down river for a mile right into the
wind. Turned around and finished back at the bridge. It was great to have 4
Jr. High runners and parents come to this event. We will have to do it again
next year.
Hannah came in 19th w/a time of 23:32.93 out of 186 women
Michael came in 32nd w/a time of 20:25.04
Tim in 64th w/a time of 23:09.83
Cole in 105th w/a time of 25:23.38
Hannah was 3rd for 14 & under
Michael placed 7th for 14 & under, Tim 13th and Cole 16th.
Duane came in 9th overall w/a time of 17:39.60.
States A Success for Jess
Jess McDonald placed 54th out of 180+ runners at the AAA State Championships in Hershey. She ran a perfect race going out in 5:59 for the 1st mile at 111th place. From there she moved up to around 70th at the 2 mile and 60th with 600 meters to go. Jess beat several runners who beat her at districts, finishing as the 3rd League runner to finish and 11th district 3 athlete.
6 race at Districts, 1 qualifies for States
6 Donegal runners qualified and raced at districts. The quickly found out that the district course was indeed a hilly course with 3 of the 6 hills falling in the last mile. Aaron Spoonhour lead the boys with his 132nd place finish out of 354 runners and time of 18:24. Rory Frey ran 19:43 and Cody Wert ran 21:07.
Jess McDonald lead the girls with her time of 20:22 finishing 22nd overall and earning a district medal and trip to states. Jen Ensminger ran 23:00 and Kayleigh Hershey ran 23:26 to round out the Donegal runners, and both finishing 199th and 224 respectively out of 318.
LLL Race-McDonald runs her way to 4th Overall
Tuesday turned out to be a little warmer than expected with temperatures about 10-15 degrees warmer than usual for this time of year. It didn't seem to stop Jess McDonald from running a great race. Jess finished 4th overall behind Kayleigh Perry (ELCO), Emily Martin (GS), last year's league champ, and Becca Brandt (CC). "Jess ran a very strategic race. She placed herself in position at the mile to move into the place she wanted to finish by the 2nd mile. And hung on for dear life," said Coach Koser
Her performance and the performance of the other 4 girls, Jen Ensminger, Kayleigh Hershey, Emily Sadler, and Anna Kenner, paced the girls to a 14th place finish, 1 place ahead of their team goal. "All 5 girls ran very well. Jen in particular may have ran the best race of the 5, dropping her best time by almost 30 seconds and running the last mile in 6:36," commented Coach Koser.
The boys team was lead by Aaron Spoonhour and finished 19th overall. "The boys seemed to struggle with the heat today. They did race an hour before the girls before it started to cool down. They ran solid races and gave everything they had," said Coach Koser. "They should be proud of their efforts." Complete race results can be found at www.runhigh.com
Jr. High Finishes the Season with Personal Bests
It started out to be a chilly morning, but by race time hearts were pumping and temperature warmed up for The Iron Bridge Invitational. Nearly everyone ran a personal best to finish the season. With our focus on a strong second half finish, many of the runners were able to drop their last mile, to run even or better then the first. Way to Junior High!!
The boys were lead by Michael Hiestand with a sub 13min performance, 12:53, 54 th place. Holly Hoffmaster was the first Donegal girl with a time of 14:37, good for 52 nd. For everyone's time click here.
DHS Girls just miss beating LMH
What a beautiful day on the last meet of the year. The sun was shining and the challenging course had great rolling hills. The girls' team took advantage of the near perfect conditions and almost pulled of an upset of LMH. They were lead by Jess McDonald's 3rd place finish overall against 2-3 of the top 5 runners in the league. The next 3 girls also stepped it up each beating their oppossing team's respectively numbered runner. The score came down to a 29-29 tie. Unfortunately the win went to LMH due to Donegal's lack of a 6th runner.
The boys were again lead by Aaron Spoonhour. Leading the way for the jr.high runners were Holly Hoffmaster and Michael Heistand.
@ Conestoga Valley
On Tuesday the girls charged into the meet looking for a win against section rival Northern Lebanon. Behind the 2nd place finish overall of Jess McDonald they picked up that win. "All 5 girls, Emily, Jess, Kayleigh, Jen, and Anna ran extremely tough," said Coach Koser. Anna Keener and Jen Ensminger both ran PR's. The girls also picked up a win against section 1 Lebanon.
The boys were not so fortunate as the girls, beating lebanon but losing to NL. They were lead by the 3rd place overall performance of Aaron Spoonhour. Aaron ran a great race against 2 great runners from Solanco. Running a PR on the boys team was Cody Wert.
Carlisle HS Invite
On Saturday over 80 teams converged on the Carlisle High Schoool grounds for one of the best meets around. It was a sloppy course, but that didn't hold back the tough minded cross country runners. Leading the way for the boys was Aaron spoonhour and for the girls Jen Ensminger. Click here for the Official Meet Website here for results.
Home Meet 2- A chance to run PR's
Several student athletes took advantage of the great weather and set out to improve their times from last week. In the girls' race Jess McDonald lead the way with her 2nd place finish over all. Improving their time this meet was Anna Keener, 25:30, and Jen Ensminger, 22:05.
In the boys race Cody Wert lead the group of runners dropping their time with a time of 19:44. Others run their best time were, Jeremy Gall, 20:27, Shane Perry, 21:56, and Zachk Bunn with a huge drop in time to 22:20. Aaron Spoonhour was the 1st place finisher for the boys.
Jr. High runners improving their times were Jon Martini, 15:48, Holly Hoffmaster, 14:49, Chloe Beaulieu, 17:14, and Alicia Foehlinger, 19:18.
Home Meet 1- McDonald Runs School Record
It was a tough day over all for both the boys' and girls' squads as they dropped all 4 meets to their opponents. The bright spot was the outstanding individual performances. Every runner ran their best time of the season and for many the best 5K time of their lives.
Leading the way with a new school record was Jess McDonald. Jess completed the course in 19:35 breaking the school record by about 50 seconds. She was 3rd overall behind 2 of the top runners in the league, maybe even in the district. The other 4 female team members, Emily Sadler (left), Jen Ensminger, Kayleigh Hershey, and Anna Keener also dropped their times.
The athlete with possibly the greatest drop in personal best time was Zack Bunn. Zack ran 23:25, dropping his time by about 4 min. Coach Koser was really excited by the fact that Zack went through the 2 mile in 14:52, just over 2 minutes faster than last years' best 2 mile. Way to go. Look for times to drop more next week.
Annville Jr. High Meet- Hiestand leads the way
The jr. high boys and girls had a great day Saturday, 9/12, running in the Annville Jr. High Invite at South Hills Park. Micheal Hiestand lead the way pacing the boys with his 18th place finishing running the course in a time of 13:30. Also medaling for the boys was Josh LeBoon with a time of 13:59. Rounding out the finishes were Terry Bitner (left),15:07 , Tim Daly (left),15:16 , Andrew Reed,16:30 , Cole Rinehart,16:53 , and Jon Martini (left), 16:57.
Medaling for the girls was 8th grader Hannah Spoonhour. She placed 24th with a time of 15:00. Missing a medal by 1 place and finishing 31st in a time of 15:27 was Holly Hoffmaster. The other girls were Elizabeth Keener,17:59 , Chloe Beaulieu, 19:07, Jorden Reese, 19:08, and Alicia Foehlinger, 22:11.
Meet 2: @ Garden Spot
On one of the nicest cross country courses we may see this year, Jess McDonald (left) ran a superb race Tuesday to finish 3rd, and just a few seconds back from the course record set by 1st place finisher Hillary Jones. Jones, teammate Erin Ruhl, and McDonald were neck and neck for the whole race. After a missed flag by Jones in the last 800m, McDonald took the lead. Unfortunatly Jess fell victim to the same mishap and Jones and Ruhl finished the last 400 meters strong to place 1-2.
The girls team ran great races and inked a win against McCaskey. The boys were lead by Aaron Spoonhour's 4th place finish of 18:36. Aaron was a little dissappointed with his time, but ran the race with decreased lung capacity due to bronchitis. Rounding out the top 5 for the boys this week were Rory Frey, athlete of the meet and a top 10 finisher, Jeremy Gall, Cody Wert, and Chris Foehlinger.
The jr high were paced by Hannah Spoonhour and Micheal Hiestand.
2008 Season off to a Start at Manheim Township
Both the boys and girls started out the 2008 season with a win over section opponent Lancaster Catholic. The boys and girls were lead by front runners Aaron Spoonhour and Jessica McDonald. Both Kayleigh Hershey and Cody Wert were chosen as athletes of the meet for their solid performances in the middle of the pack leading the team to their 1-0 record in section 2.
The junior high team also "weathered" the heat in a longer than normal 2.3 mile race. Despite the heat the team ran well in their first race and were paced by Micheal Heistand and Hannah Spoonhour.
Reminder: Click on the pictures link above to share photos
2008 Summer Races
Tim Russell Memorial 5K - August 23
Rory Frey -18:25 -29th overall, 12th in age group
Coach Koser- 18:58- 36th overall
Shane Perry- 22:07-107th overall, 30th in age group
Coach Kim-
click here for race website and results
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