Sonderman wins Harlan Invitational by five seconds
Cyclone Junior Lindsey Sonderman continues to dominate the sport of running with yet another first place finish of 18:55.90 at the Harlan Invitational, just five seconds ahead of Junior Charlotte Gregor from Omaha South who finished with 19:00.64.
“It was good for her to get back out there after her race at Tri-Center, not being able to finish,” said Cyclone Head Coach Zach Klaassen. “Mentally for her to overcome that hurdle was amazing. She [Gregor] really closed in and Lindsey didn’t let her get any closer. She was working hard to keep that lead and had enough to get it done.”
It wasn’t just Sonderman who ran well for the girls as the Cyclones had four girls finish in the top 25. Brylee Schechinger finished 12th with a time of 20:27.15, Allie Anderson took 14th place with 20:51.10, and Taylor Bieker came in 25th with 21:53.62.
“I think Brylee is just coming on,” Klaassen said. “Holy cow, her last two races have been really good. The rest of them getting in that top 25 is pretty crazy. They are starting to get a little bit closer and tighter like we want them to, and that’s without Lindsey slowing down.”
For the boys, Ian Shelton was the top Cyclone taking an overall finish of 19th place with a time of 17:29.83, just two minutes behind the overall leader, Ethan Eichhorn from Lewis Central, who finished with 15:26.20.
“He [Shelton] has been obviously our number one runner every race and I think he really questions himself sometimes. I think now he’s really starting to believing in himself, just putting the questions behind and just performing and not overthinking things,” Klaassen added. “I’m very happy with where he’s at and he’s gaining confidence again. He looked like a confident runner yesterday and we really like to see that.”
With the season more than halfway over, Klaassen spoke on behalf of what he’s most proud of.
“I think we’re growing as a team,” he said. “We’re getting faster. On the girls side, we’re getting healthier, so that’s good to see. I think the potential is there. We just need to get healthy. After Tuesday, we’ll start getting more gaps in between our races, so that’ll help with the healing process and maybe taking a couple days off here and there if we need to.”
The Cyclones next event will be Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Monarch Invitational at the Majestic Hills Golf Course in Denison where they will be one of 15 schools competing.
“We have actually never been on this course before,” Klaassen said. “I know the golf course is really hilly in the back nine, so hopefully we’re running on the front nine. There will be some fast individuals there that will push us a little that we’ll get to see. We’re looking forward to it.”