New faces emerge for Cameron XC
The Cameron Dragon and Lady Dragon cross country teams continue shaving minutes off of their times following a strong performance at the Grain Valley Invitational Saturday.
With eighth-place medalist senior Tyler Husch leading the way, the Dragons took sixth overall - just 5 points out of fifth place - while the girls did not have enough runners to compose a team with some out due to COVID-19 quarantine.
“Everybody there had times faster than last year by anywhere from 20 seconds to a couple of minutes,” Cameron coach Kurt Dickkut said. “That’s probably the toughest course they will run on … They all did well. We had a few medalists and, if we had a few more girls, they would have got second, maybe first, but second for sure.”
Husch’s eighth-place finish with a time of 18:43 was best among the Cameron male competitors. Senior Caden Hanrahan shaved more than a minute off of his 2019 run with a time of 20:31 for 30th, followed by Jacob Bryant at 49th (21:27), then sophomore Deacon Bell at 50th (21:30), sophomore Caleb Husch took 51st (21:48), freshman Gavin Pinkston at 60th (22:52) and Kaden Turner rounded out Cameron’s male competitors at 64th (22:52).
“I did OK. I shaved a minute off my (2019) time, but most people did,” Hanrahan said. “It was mostly downhill at beginning so you think it’s easy. Until you hit the back stretch, then it’s mostly hills and more hills.”
As for the Lady Dragons, freshman Bailey Robinson continues turning heads following a fifth-place finish with a time of 22:42, only 17 seconds slower than her time at the Odessa Invitational despite running on a much steeper course Saturday. Sophomore Katelyn Riddle, a 2019 state competitor, took 10th despite continuing to nurse a knee injury while senior Haley Wilson took 19th (25:24) and junior Natalie Huff took 39th (28:09).
“Getting back into to it, it still hurts pretty bad but I’m working on it,” Riddle said. “I think I’m doing pretty good. I think I can do a little bit better, but I’m still trying to push … I’m trying to get back to my 21 (minute) times. I’ll have to push myself, but I think I can get there.”
