The Sulphur boys and girls continued their strong performances in cross country last Saturday, each winning second place team titles at the East Central Tiger Chase meet in Ada.
The Sulphur boys competed on one of the more difficult courses of the season, said head coach, Emile Heitland.
“East Central University’s course features numerous hills and tight turns, making it difficult for runners to post personal-best times,” said Heitland. “Despite the challenging conditions, the Bulldogs turned in a strong performance, finishing just eight points behind Byng.
“I thought we ran well on a really difficult course. We knew going in that this is not a course that produces a lot of personal-best times, so I was really pleased with the way we competed.
Morgan Brown led the way for Sulphur, finishing second overall in 16:41 and earning a medal. Brown’s performance was particularly impressive, Heitland said, as he now sits at No. 2 on the East Central Tiger Chase all-time leaderboard for the 28 years the meet has been hosted.
“Morgan ran an outstanding race,” said Heitland. “He is as focused as I’ve ever seen him. At practice, he’s making sure he hits all of his splits and continues to put in extra work. His focus and dedication are really starting to show in his performances.”
Jake Mann also earned a medal with a fifth-place finish with a time of 17:07. Mann tied his personal best, which was especially impressive given the difficulty of the course.
“Jake and I have been talking about really working hard during the second mile of the race, and I thought he did a great job executing that plan,” said Heitland. “I really believe that effort in the second mile paid off in his time. I told Jake that on this course tying your PR is actually like PR’ing.” Keaton Seitz finished 14th overall in 18:01 to earn a medal, while Calvin Downey was 15th in 18:10, also earning a medal.
Heitland said Keaton and Calvin have been battling back and forth all year for that third and fourth spot. “It’s been fun watching them compete as teammates and push each other to get better. Their competition has made both of them stronger runners and has been a big benefit to our team.”
Rounding out Sulphur’s top seven were Banks Tucker, who finished 24th in 19:15; Dautry Smith, who placed 26th in 19:18; and Jagger Jennings, who finished 27th in 19:24 and set a new personal record by 10 seconds.
Jennings’ performance was another bright spot for the Bulldogs, as he posted a PR on a course where personal-best times are difficult to achieve, according to Heitland.
The youth of the Sulphur team has also been a major strength this season. Four of the Bulldogs’ top seven finishers at East Central were freshmen.
“I’ve been really impressed with a lot of these freshmen and the way they have competed at such a high level this year,” the coach said. “They continue to step up and compete.”
Smith and Tucker both finished in the team’s top seven and turned in strong races. Another freshman, Skyler Sloan, continued his recent improvement by running a personal-best 20:00. Sloan has lowered his time each of the past two weeks and is making a push to break into Sulphur’s top seven, said Heitland.
Senior Dacen Danford also recorded a personal best, finishing in 22:13.
The Bulldogs’ second-place finish came just one week after defeating Byng. This time, Byng edged Sulphur by only eight points.
“It will be interesting to see how we respond to this in the following weeks. We have to stay focused and keep putting in the work.”
Lady Bulldogs 2nd In ECU Run
The Sulphur High School girls won second as a team in last Saturday’s ECU Tiger Chase cross country run in Ada.
The Lady Bulldogs were led by Jayden Lee, a fourth place winner, with a time of 13:04.
Hensley Jarman was right behind her, also running 13:04 to finish 5th.
Jozi Gilliam placed 15th in 13:52, followed by Hannah Hail in 17th with a time of 14:01. Huntley Hatfield finished 21st in 14:23, just behind her was Hoda Garner, placing 22nd in 14:24. Mady Hatfield finished 26th with a time of 14:54.
“I can easily say that we faced the toughest course of the season so far at the ECU Tiger Chase in Ada on Saturday,” said head coach, Kari Seitz. “While the times weren’t quite as fast as what we have seen from the girls in recent weeks, the difficult course provided a great challenge, and more importantly, an opportunity for our runners to get a little tougher.
Seitz was pleased her team’s effort on a challenging track.
“Overall, I was pleased with the girls’performance Saturday as they battled through a challenging course from start to finish,” she said. “I was especially encouraged by Jozi and Huntley’s performances. They both showed a lot of determination and toughness, especially on such a challenging course.”
She said Saturday was a good reminder that not every race is going to be about running a personal best. “Sometimes, the toughest races are the ones that help make you a stronger runner.”
