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Local teams win titles
Collinsville, BA take team medals; Jenks, Tahlequah have top individual finishers.

Jenks' Jacquelynn Skocik races to the finish line while winning the Class 6A girls cross country championship. Paul Hellstern/The Oklahoman

 
By MIKE MOGUIN World Correspondent
Published: 11/1/2009  2:28 AM
Last Modified: 12/23/2009  10:48 AM

 EDMOND — Tears of joy flowed from local athletes as they earned championships at the state cross country meets for Classes 4A, 5A and 6A Saturday at Mitch Park.

Top individual medalist awards went to Jenks' Jacquelynn Skocik (6A girls), Ponca City's Victor Others (6A boys) and Tahlequah's Jessica Hembree (5A girls). It was a first for all three.

When she crossed the finish line, Skocik, a senior who finished with a time of 11 minutes, 49.11 seconds, was exhausted and had to be helped by friends and family on her way to the scorers' table.

"I just lifted my arms and thanked the Lord," Skocik said. "... I've been working hard for four years."

Skocik surged at the start of the race, with Taylor Painter of Westmoore and Sarah Daggett of Union in front. Painter finished second (11:54.96) while Daggett took fifth (12:07.26). Skocik's teammate Paige Barnes was third (12:03.30), and Edmond Memorial's Tara Lewis took fourth (12:03.74).

Others, also a senior, finished at 16:09.80. He was Ponca City's first state winner since Greg Avery in 1978. He was in the lead from the start and edged Westmoore's Toby Bothwell (16:13.22).

Others was emotional after the race.

"(Bothwell) passed me briefly, but I was not going to give that lead up. He's been my main competitor all year. It's been me and him back and forth, and I didn't want him to pass me."

The state win is Others' eighth of the season.

"Where I'm at, we don't get state championships very often, and I'm glad I could get one for the school."

Hembree, a freshman, crossed the finish line with a time of 11:58.95, outdistancing second-place finisher Christi Dougherty of Coweta (12:10.75). She became the second local freshman to capture a state championship for the year. Beggs' Regan Ward won the 3A state meet last week.

"I feel great," Hembree said. "I didn't expect to do so good this time, because I only placed second at regionals."

Hembree finished runner-up last week in the regional meet to Collinsville's Jenny Dyer, who took third in the state meet (12:13.68).

"I tried to go out strong and not get boxed in," Hembree said. "I just stayed with the leader and tried to pull ahead."

Eventually she did just that. The race began with her trailing two other runners. She took the lead near the half-mile marker.

With three more years of high school ahead, Hembree got a boost of confidence.

"(Winning state) makes me feel a lot better at progressing," she said. "At the beginning of the year, I didn't know how good I would do."

Collinsville took home the girls 5A team championship with 55 points, while Broken Arrow was the boys' champion in 6A with 86.

Collinsville grabbed a state title in just its third season as a program, finishing 11 points better than runner-up Oklahoma City Bishop McGuinness, which got 66.

"The girls stepped up today and finished stronger than they had finished all year," Collinsville coach Arlin Stacy said.

The theme for Collinsville through the season was "Failure isn't possible."

"And we really believed that," Stacy said.

And it reflected in the results.

Broken Arrow coach Shane Messinger said that other than getting married and having a child, winning a state title was the best day in his life.

Adam Johnson (16:39.80) and Justin Swake (16:43.53) landed in the top 10 at seventh and eighth, respectively. Edmond North won the 6A girls title with 56 points.

In 5A boys, Taler Buck of Edmond Deer Creek (16:33.92) took first place while Guthrie (43) won the team championship. Bishop Kelley was the highest local finisher at fourth with 123.

Zach Harper of Coweta was the highest individual finisher from the Tulsa metro area, taking sixth (16:54.81).

In 4A, Metro Christian was runner-up in both meets, finishing second to Madill (65) with 106 points on the girls side and to Santa Fe South (51) with 56 in the boys competition.

Kenzie Henderson of Berryhill was the highest Tulsa-area finisher at fourth, with a time of 12:19.07.

Martin Calderon of Blackwell won the boys title with a time of 16:30.75. Will Spears and David Annett of Metro Christian finished third and fourth respectively, with times of 16:52.79 and 16:58.33.

State champions

Class 6A boys team: Broken Arrow

Class 6A boys individual: Victor Others, Ponca City

Class 6A girls team: Edmond North

Class 6A girls individual: Jacquelynn Skocik, Jenks

Class 5A boys team: Guthrie

Class 5A boys individual:Taler Buck, Edmond Deer Creek

Class 5A girls team: Collinsville

Class 5A girls individual: Jessica Hembree, Tahlequah

Class 4A boys team: Santa Fe South

Class 4A boys individual:Martin Calderon, Blackwell

Class 4A girls team: Madill

Class 4A girls individual:Jori Davis, Piedmont
By MIKE MOGUIN World Correspondent

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