4A Regional Meet – Wyandotte County Park – Bonner Springs – October 22, 2011

Boys Team – 5th place with 141 points

1. DeSoto – 42
2. Baldwin – 84
3. Tonganoxie – 91
4. Basehor – 123
5. SFT – 141
6. Bonner Springs – 148

Top 7 Finishers

• Dawson Colglazier – 17:21 – 9 – Individual State Qualifier
• Dallas Gloss – 18:17 – 26
• Derrick Zaldivar – 18:19 – 28
• Michael Tidball – 18:41 – 37 – PR by 7 seconds
• Tyler Beckman – 19:02 – 47 – Final race of SFT career
• Nate Pawley – 19:23 – 53
• Kyle Wechsler – 20:25 – 73

The streak has ended. The SFT boys run of state qualifying teams has ended at 4 in a row. Dawson ran well enough to qualify, but our gaps between our runners were just too big to overcome in this quality of a meet. The boys gave it all they had with PRs and almost PRs. They did an excellent job of fighting through adversity and doing the best they could. We are proud of all of them.

Girls Team – 7th place with 194 points

1. Baldwin – 29
2. DeSoto – 83
3. St. James Acadamy – 92
4. Hayden – 113
5. Spring Hill – 169
6. Basehor – 185
7. SFT – 194
8. Eudora – 223

Top 7 Finishers

• Kiersten Metzen – 16:57 – 29 – PR by 7 seconds
• Mak Herren – 17:14 – 37
• Jennifer Hall – 17:33 – 43
• Barbara Sue Branson – 17:34 – 44 – Final race of SFT career
• Devin DeShazer – 17:41 – 47
• Brihana Beckman – 17:45 – 50
• Rachael Forrestt – 18:44 – 67

The girls again ran a great race in what turned out to be their last of the season. They fell short of a repeat appearance in Wamego. Kiersten again led the team with a PR for the second consecutive week. The other girls were able to clump together again with only 18 places from first to fifth. We just needed each one to place higher to have a chance. Our top 6 were under 18:00 which is a great place to start next year.

Dawson Colglazier will be running in the 4A State Championships at the Wamego Country Club at 11:30 on Saturday, October 29. This will be his 3rd consecutive year running at state. He looks to improve on the 31st place that he got a year ago. Tickets are $7 for adults and $6 for students. Please come out and support him in his state appearance!

It seems early to be writing our season summary as we haven’t had to do it for another week in years past, but as we look to next year, things are very bright for Charger Cross Country family.

The boys will be losing Tyler Beckman to graduation. He is a kid that works his tail of every day. He isn’t a vocal leader, but his determination and dedication to our team shows through every day in practice. He will be missed. Josh Anguish will be counted on to take his spot next year as a freshman. He will have to earn that right though as everyone else on the team returns and our JV guys won’t let a freshman take that open varsity spot without a fight. We will again lean on the 3Ds of Dawson, Dallas, and Derrick to get us back to the state meet. Michael Tidball with also be a source of success. Our team will return with 5 upperclassmen. They will have big goals and return our program to the level we have come to expect at Santa Fe Trail.

On the girls’ side, it is the same song, different verse. We will lose two seniors, Barbara Sue Branson and Whitney Wilson. These two ladies are the most joyful people you will ever meet. But they have a tough side to them as well and they refuse to let the people around them not live up to their potential. We will miss their leadership and their contribution to our team. We don’t have any incoming freshmen to take their spots, but we do return a team that will be filled with upperclassmen. Devin will be the only lower classmen in the top 8. We will have 5 seniors and 2 juniors on the squad next season. The girls are planning on using that strength to return to the top of the Big 7 and making a return to Wamego.

Things are looking up for our program. This season feels like a letdown at first, but when you look closer you see kids that are building for success in the future. We will have 11 seniors on our team next year! It makes a coach’s life much easier when you have that kind of leadership coming back. We are sorry to see the 2011 season end, but are looking forward to 2012 with great anticipation! GO CHARGERS!!!

Big 7 League Meet – Hiawatha Country Club – October 13, 2011

Boys Team – 3rd place

1. Hiawatha – 36
2. Nemaha Valley – 88
3. SFT - 89

Top 7 Finishers

• Dawson Colgalzier – 16:47 – 2 – First Team All-League
• Derrick Zaldivar – 17:48 – 11 – Second Team All-League
• Dallas Gloss – 18:11 – 16 – All League Honorable Mention
• Michael Tidball – 19:01 – 29
• Tyler Beckman – 19:01 – 31
• Nate Pawley – 19:10 – 33 – PR by 9 seconds
• Kyle Wechsler – 19:39 – 4 – JV

The boys ran well today in their defense of their league title. Dawson closed the gap on Cale Heiniger (Hiawatha) from the last time we ran against them and Derrick and Dallas ran close with him. We had a big gap between our three and four guys which really hurt our team score. We also had two guys who got passed at the end of the race which may have let us take home second place. Nate Pawley continues to improve which will help us out in the long run.

Girls Team – 2nd place

1. Sabetha
2. SFT

Top 7 Finishers

• Kiersten Metzen – 17:04 – 10 – Second Team All-League – PR by 14 seconds
• Brihana Beckman – 17:06 – 11 – Second Team All-League
• Mak Herren – 17:13 – 13 – Second Team All-All League
• Barbara Sue Branson – 17:46 – 19
• Devin DeShazer – 17:54 - 22 Jennifer Hall – 17:58 - 23
• Rachael Forrestt – 17:58 – 24

The girls did an excellent job of defending their title. Led again by Kiersten, Mak, and Bri, all seven of the girls finished under 18:00 which they have only done one other time this season. The girls did a great job of running together finishing with 14 spots of each other. They came up short on bringing their trophy home, but ran one of their best meets of the year in doing so.

This was a great tune up race before our regional race next Saturday, October 22, at Wyandotte County Park in Bonner Springs. The 4A races will begin at 3:00. Both teams are looking to get back to the state meet again this year. They have a daunting task ahead of them with a number of perennial powers assigned to this regional. It can be done if both teams run as well as they are capable. Hope to see you all there. GO CHARGERS!!

Osage City Invitational – October 6th, 2011

SFTJH Results

• Josh Anguish – 13:30 – 2
• Wyatt Pryor – 6:11 – 2
• Dakota Hargett – 7:03 – 6 – PR by 9 seconds
• Aaron Bame – 7:46 - 8 - PR by 4 seconds
• Savannah Hinck – 7:29 – 3

SFTHS Results

Boys team – 1st with 37 points

1. SFT – 37
2. Osage – 49
3. Anderson County – 68

Top 7 Finishers

• Dawson Colglazier – 17:35 – 1 – 2nd consecutive victory
• Dallas Gloss – 18:24 – 3
• Derrick Zaldivar – 19:02 - 8
• Michael Tidball – 19:36 - 12
• Tyler Beckman – 19:42 - 15
• Nate Pawley – 19:46 - 17
• Wesley Bame – 20:00 – 1 (JV)

The boys ran well at this smaller meet. They battled headwinds that reached 25 mph at times. Almost half the race was directly into the wind! Dawson led the team with his third victory this season while Dallas finished with the top place of his career. We had 6 boys in the top 16 and finished very well. This meet sets our boys up very well as they head into league.

Girls Team – 2nd with 67 points

1. Osage City – 51
2. SFT – 55
3. Anderson County – 77

Top 7 Finishers

• Kiersten Metzen – 17:52 – 5 – First Career Top 5
• Mak Herren – 18:01 - 9
• Briahna Beckman – 18:19 - 12
• Barbara Sue Branson – 18:25 - 14
• Devin DeShazer – 18:33 - 15
• Jennifer Hall – 18:43 - 16
• Natasha Ward – 19:51 – 1 (JV)

The girls also battled the wind and it reflected in their times. Times were a bit slower, but the girls still put 6 into the top 16. They narrowly missed out on beating Osage City, but had a great performance from Kiersten who led the team for the first time this season. The girls are hoping to get Rachael Forrestt back from illness and defend their league title next week.

Temperatures were great, the course was rolling, and the wind was blowing! It was a decent day to run and the kids really came through. One the day we had a first place varsity boy, jv boy, and jv girl, a second place 7th grade and 8th grade boy, a third place varsity boy, jv boy, jv girl, 7th grade girl, and a first place boys team and a second place girls team. We got our names called a lot today! What a great way to tune up for our league meet next week. We will run at Hiawatha Country Club next Thursday, October 13th, starting at 4:00 with girls varsity. We are looking to defend both team titles and bring those trophies home. Hope to see you all there. GO CHARGERS!!!

Gardner Invitational – September 29th, 2011

SFTJH Results

• Josh Anguish – 5:54 – PR by 37 seconds
• Wyatt Pryor – 6:09 – PR by 7 seconds
• Dakota Hargett – 7:15
• Savannah Hinck – 7:24
• Aaron Bame – 8:04
  

SFTHS Results
Boys – 3rd place team finish

1. Mill Valley
2. Gardner
3. SFT
4. Independence

Top 7 Finishers

• Dawson Colglazier – 17:38 – 1
• Derrick Zaldivar – 19:02 –
• Dallas Gloss – 19:15
• Michael Tidball – 19:38
• Tyler Beckman – 20:10
• Nate Pawley – 20:34 (JV)
• Nick Costa – 20:42 (JV)

The boys team showed great effort tonight at this tough course. Their times were slower but they all placed very well. Dawson led the team with his 2nd victory of the season, while Nate Pawley and Nick Costa showed very well in the JV race. They were beat by two very solid 5A schools, who both look like they will qualify for state. The boys seem to be peaking at the right time.

Girls – 3rd place team finish with 70 points

1. Gardner – 39
2. Mill Valley – 55
3. SFT – 70

Top 7 Finishers

• Mak Herren – 18:09 – 8
• Devin Deshazer – 18:28 –
• Briahna Beckman – 18:30 –
• Kiersten Metzen – 18:36 –
• Jennifer Hall – 18:42 –19
• Barbara Sue Branson – 18:57
• Rachael Forrestt – 19:28 –

The girls team also placed very well, putting 5 runners in the top 20. This helped them to finish close to the 5A schools that beat them. Mak led the team with an 8th place finish and we had great performances by Devin, Kiersten, and Jennifer to help our score. The girls are also looking very strong as we head into our postseason. They have their eyes set on repeating as league champs and returning to the state meet.

This was a solid day for the Chargers on this hilly and rough course. We had good times across the board and the coaches are very pleased with the effort we are seeing from this team from top to bottom. We finish up our regular season next week at Osage City. This is a local meet that gives us a great tune up for our league meet in two weeks. The races will start with the junior high races at 4:00. Hope to see you all there, GO CHARGERS!!!

Tonganoxie Invitational – September 20, 2011

SFTJH Results

7th Grade Boys – Wyatt Pryor – 6:16 – 11 – PR by 4 seconds

• Dakota Hargett – 7:12 – 46 – PR by 40 seconds
• Aaron Bame – 7:50 – 73 – PR by 33 seconds
• 7th Grade Girls – Savannah Hinck – 7:36 - 34
• 8th Grade Boys – Cole Newman – 16:56 - 43
• Chris Corbin – 19:09 – 62 – PR by 2:14

SFTHS Results

Boys – 2nd place team finish with 79 points

1. Tonganoxie - 60
2. SFT - 79
3. Anderson County - 104

Top 7 Finishers

• Dawson Colglazier – 16:46 - 4
• Dallas Gloss – 17:41 – 15 – PR by 37 seconds
• Derrick Zaldivar – 17:49 – 16 – PR by 2 seconds
• Tyler Beckman – 18:30 – 26– PR by 19 seconds
• Kyle Wechsler – 18:44 - 31 - PR by 11 seconds
• Michael Tidball – 18:48 - 32 - PR by 6 seconds
• Wesley Bame – 19:08 – 34 - PR by 6 seconds

Another strong day for the Charger boys! Six of the top seven ran their best ever with Dawson missing by only 4 seconds. We had four boys in the top 26 at a bigger meet with some schools that we may see in our regional. The boys are ran very well, but our gap between 3 and 4 continues to hurt us. Andy Dennison led the charge for the JV boys improving his PR by 24 seconds while finishing 8th.

Girls – 2nd place team finish with 98 points

1. Hayden - 44
2. SFT - 98
3. Anderson County - 115

Top Finishers

• Mak Herren – 16:42 – 14 - PR by 7 seconds
• Barbara Sue Branson – 17:21 - 24
• Jennifer Hall – 17:22 – 25 – PR by 7 seconds
• Devin DeShazer – 17:30 - 27
• Rachael Forrestt – 17:54 - 35
• Kiersten Metzen – 18:00 - 37
• Briahna Beckman – 18:36 - 49

The girls ran very well tonight. They also got to see a team in Hayden that will be at our regional. This girls team is still looking for their best races all at the same time. Our times are continuing to drop which bodes well for the postseason in three weeks. We are clumping up runners 2 – 5, but continue to look for Mak and Bri to finish closer to the top.

Another great day for our program! We took home two second place trophies and continued to have PRs scattered across the board. With temperatures dropping along with our times we are looking to run strong into the postseason and defend our league titles and get both teams back to the state meet. Our next meet is Thursday, September 29th, at 4:30 starting with the JV boys. This meet will feature two 5A schools that have traditional running powers. We will be able to gauge our ability to run with the big guys on this favorite course of our athletes. GO CHARGERS!!

Hiawatha Invitational – September 15th, 2011

SFT Junior High runners did not attend this meet

SFTHS Results

Boys – 3rd place team finish with 70 points

• Hiawatha - 34
• Sabetha - 66
• SFT - 70
• Nemaha Valley - 99

Top 7 Finishers

• Dawson Colglazier – 16:42 – 2 - PR by 43 seconds
• Derrick Zaldivar – 17:51 - 9 - PR by 29 seconds
• Dallas Gloss – 18:25 - 15
• Tyler Beckman – 18:49 – 24– PR by 25 seconds
• Michael Tidball – 18:54 - 26 - PR by 9 seconds
• Kyle Wechsler – 18:56 - 28 - PR by 2 seconds
• Wesley Bame – 19:14 – 33 - PR by 19 seconds

Strong day for the Charger boys! Six of the top seven ran their best ever with Dallas missing by only a few seconds. We had four boys in the top 25 in what was probably a preview of our league meet with Sabetha and Hiawatha running today. Our boys were strong on a fast course, we just need to tighten up our spacing to have a chance at retaining the league title. The JV boys showed strong as well going 1, 2, and 5 with Nate Pawley winning followed by Nick Costa and Andy Dennison. These three also finshed with PRs.

Girls – 2nd place team finish with 60 points

• Sabetha - 54
• SFT - 66
• Savannah (NE) - 85
  

Top Finishers

• Mak Herren – 16:49 - PR by 40 seconds
• Briahna Beckman – 17:05
• Devin DeShazer – 17:14 - PR by 2:56
• Kiersten Metzen – 17:19 - PR by 45 seconds
• Barbara Sue Branson – 17:25 - PR by 30 seconds
• Jennifer Hall – 17:29 - PR by 2:37
• Rachael Forrestt – 17:57

The girls had a comeback run tonight at Hiawatha. This is the girls team that we expected to have and defend their league title from a year ago. They came out with a goal and worked hard to achieve it. Mak led the charge but the rest of the team wasnt that far behind with all seven runners within 1:08. We ran neck and neck with Sabetha the entire race and just came up short. The JV girls also ran very well going 1, 3, and 5, with Whitney Wilson, Natasha Ward, and Taylor Ostrander also finishing with PRs!

This was a great day for the Chargers! Out of the 29 kids running, 23 of them set a new PR, and out of the six left, 4 of them were within 10 seconds! That is a coach's dream day! We got a chance to see where our competition in league is going to come from and responded very well. Our next meet is on Tuesday, September 20th at Tonganoxie. The junior high will start at 3:30. This is another large meet with some 5A and bigger 4A schools attending. We are up for the challenge as we turn the halfway point on our regular season. GO CHARGERS!!

McBurney Invitational – September 8th, 2011

Top 7 Finishers

Dawson Colglazier – 17:23 – 1 – First Career victory – PR by 2 seconds
Dallas Gloss – 18:17 – 5 – First Career Top 5 – PR by 23 seconds
Derrick Zaldivar – 18:29 - 13
Tyler Beckman – 19:14 – 25 – PR by 46 seconds
Kyle Wechsler – 19:22 - 28
Michael Tidball – 19:32 – 34
Wesley Bame – 19:33 – 35 – First Career Varstiy Race

The boys were able to defend their home turf behind Dawson Colglazier’s first career victory. He also lowered his PR by 2 seconds and followed up his brother’s victory from last season. The boys did a great job of fighting for position throughout the entire race. They kept moving up one or two spot during the whole race. They were able to fight off the other schools in order to bring home the gold.

Girls – 5th place team finish with 111 points
Maranatha - 44
Basehor Linwood - 59
Osage City - 82
Anderson County - 95
SFT - 111

Top Finishers
Briahna Beckman – 18:20 - 14
Mak Herren – 18:42 – 20
Barbara Sue Branson – 18:58 - 23
Rachael Forrestt – 19:43 – 32
Kiersten Metzen – 19:55 - 36
Devin DeShazer – 20:10 - 41
Jennifer Hall – 20:28 - 44

The girls had a solid day on their home course. They finished fifth behind some really good teams in Basehor and Maranatha and Osage City. The girls are learning that expectations for success and be heavy on their shoulders. They continue to learn and train, and they have refocused their attention on their goals.

This was a solid day for Charger Cross Country. We have younger kids stepping up and learning from our upperclassmen. We have upperclassmen stepping into leadership roles. Our season is shaping up to be another great one. Our next meet is at Hiawatha on Thursday, September 15th starting at 4:30. We will go up against some schools from Nebraska and Missouri as well as some Big 7 schools. GO CHARGERS!!!