Archive: Sports

Summertime temperatures made a strong comeback in the third week of the cross-country season, with Lansing Bobcat racers experiencing the hottest running conditions since team practices began way back in early August. Even so, Lansing continued to rack up impressive team finishes in the past week, with a couple of Bobcats taking first-place in their respective divisions.

Last Saturday, Sept. 23, the Bobcat XC teams boarded a bus at 6:30 a.m. for the ride down to the Owego Cross-Country Invitational at Pheasant Hills Country Club. The golf course provided a beautiful backdrop with rolling forested hills, but that topography also played into the terrain for a race course with the most challenging climbs Lansing has seen all year. Throw in above-average temps hovering in the mid-80s, and the race became an endurance challenge.

The Owego Invitational is a big regional meet that draws more than 20 schools from as far away as Troy. All Lansing teams put up an impressive showing on the day. On the girls' side, the varsity Lady Bobcats finished sixth, with Mikaela Garcia posting a top-ten finish out of the field of 123 racers (#9, 20:52.5). Leigh Miller (23:18.2), Emmaline Jackson (23:19.8), and Allison Keefe (23:20.1) finished as a trio at places 48-49-50, and Teresa Garcia rounded out the scoring for the Bobcats at 68th place (24:19.5). Eden Jackson finished in 71st place and scored a 'push' (finishing above the top 5 finishers for another team, therefore pushing their scoring place higher). Hana Thibault also finished the race for the varsity girls. A couple of modified girls also traveled to Owego to compete in their division, and Kinsley Jacobs finished 6th out of the field of 118 racers. Loveta Geesey also finished the race for the modified girls.

In the varsity boys' division, Watkins Glen—the top-ranked boys' XC team in New York state at Class C—took first place out of 20 teams, with the Lansing varsity boys finishing 11th. Zoltan Csaki was the top finisher for the Bobcat boys at 40th place (18:57.5) out of 146 racers. Liam Hulsebosch (52nd, 19:18.0), Jack Thomas (58th, 19:26.3), Torsten Gartenberg (73rd, 20:09.0), and Teddy Brenner (118th, 21:53.0) rounded out the scoring for the team. David Pollack and Anders Axelson also finished the race. The modified Bobcat boys also finished 11th as a team, with Sam Bell finishing 12th out of a whopping field of more than 200 racers. Caden Michalec (50th), Charlie Miller (60th), Seth Riley (93rd), and Parker Vooris (94th) also scored for the Bobcats. Zachary Hwang, Jack Negley, Arfun Kodali, and Brandon Brotherton also finished the race for the modified Bobcat boys.

On Tuesday, Sept. 26, the Lansing Town Trail hosted the Bobcats' first home meet of the season on a sweltering day with bright blazing sun, 85 degree temps and a heat index over 90. Still, the Lansing home course is the jewel of the local XC circuit, with flat, winding trails that crisscross through grassy fields and along tree lines. The course runs fast, and Lansing put up some of their best times of the season in a meet that drew three other teams from the area.

In the varsity boys' race, the Bobcats beat Trumansburg and Southern Cayuga, but finished second to Dryden. Lansing's Zoltan Csaki (18:39.8) finished 3rd out of the field of 43 runners, with Liam Hulsebosch (19:48.5), Jack Thomas (19:50.2), and Torsten Gartenberg (20:23.1) finishing 6-7-8. Teddy Brenner (21:39.1) finished 17th as the Bobcats 5th scorer, and Anders Axelson (25:12.1) and David Pollack (25:40.2) recorded a couple of pushes. Ben Caveney and Dowain Geesey also finished the race for the Bobcat boys. In the modified boys' division, Sam Bell cruised to a 1st place finish in a field of 27 runners, and the modified Bobcats finished second to Trumansburg in the team competition. Caden Michalec (4th place finish), Thomas Stallone (6th), Charlie Miller (11th), and Seth Riley (12th) finished in the top tier for Lansing, with Zachary Hwang, Parker Vooris, Jack Negley, Arfun Kodali, Brandon Brotherton, and Bryce Dorer also finishing the race.


In the varsity girls' race, Lansing scored a team win over Trumansburg and Dryden, with Mikaela Garcia (21:37.9) taking 1st place and a quartet of Lady Bobcats (Leigh Miller, 24:15.0; Emmaline Jackson, 24:23.8; Teresa Garcia, 25:00.0; and Eden Jackson, 25:03.5) finishing 6-7-8-9. Allison Keefe (25:36.8) finished 10th and Hana Thibault (27:20.7) finished 15th to record pushes. Haley Sullivan also finished the race. Kinley Jacobs also sped to a 1st place finish in the modified girls' race, and Loveta Geesey finished the race for the Bobcats.

The home meet at the Lansing Town Trail was a total team effort, not just by the runners, but also by parent volunteers who came out in droves to serve as guides on the course, man the water stations, and direct traffic. Lansing head coach Becca Lovenheim was grateful for the community support.

"I'm feeling very proud and grateful," Lovenheim said.  "We have a beautiful course, but it requires many hands to bring it all together on race day, and we're so fortunate to have such an awesome community of athletes and their families."

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