New London’s one-of-a-kind cross country course at Hatten Park is notorious for catering to rubber shoes.
Runners prefer wearing metal spikes because the penetration gives them a sturdier grip, and the lightness of the shoe takes weight off of every single step.
Factors such as the gravel loop and strait along Hatten Stadium and the back woodchip trails created challenging friction for the majority that switched to rubber at last Saturday’s Bulldog Invitational.
Through frequent training at Hatten Park, however, some New London athletes have grown accustomed to the obstacles their home course offers.
Junior Annalise Schroeder slipped on her spikes without them impacting her fifth place finish in the girl’s varsity 4K. “Last year I didn’t wear the spikes, and this year I did. I don’t think I slowed down any. The gravel was still hard to run on if you wore spikes or if you didn’t.”
“It seemed just fine on this course with spikes on,” boys’ varsity junior Andrew Philippon said. “There is quite a bit of gravel and woodchips, but I have never had a spike problem.”
Both team members have adapted to the state of the course, but that isn’t to say the conditions that day provided completely smooth sailing. Both agreed that the woodchip trails were a disaster, having been trampled by two JV races before their respective varsity races rolled around.
“On the trails there were certain parts that were really mucky and your feet would suction in. Being the third race to run on the trails definitely made it worse,” Schroeder said. Philippon said the woodchips were “really soggy and wet” and ankle-deep at one spot.
The varsity girls finished third overall and the boys finished seventh out of twelve teams. Shifts in the rosters had to be made due to a handful of circumstances that created some absences. Freshman Anna Malueg did not run due to a slight concussion, sophomore Brad Binder was off due to a sinus infection, senior Dan Bessette suffered from strep throat and senior Scott Bellile is out due to two broken feet.
The Bulldogs compete at the Polar Bear Invite at Lyons Park in Greenville this Saturday morning. Teams will return to town October 14 when New London hosts the Bay Conference cross country meet. The races will take place at Shamrock Heights Golf Club, where a completely new course will be designed for conference runners.
JV Boys 5K (of 116 runners)
7 Andrew Schlais – 19:29
21 Brandon Stibb – 20:41
34 Alex Elliott – 21:04
37 Luke Listle – 21:15
41 Beau Briner – 21:19
85 Drew Phillips – 23:38
Varsity Boys 5K (of 84 runners)
10 Michael Heise – 17:32
27 Ian Wetzel – 18:42
28 Andrew Philippon – 18:43
50 Kevin Urban – 19:25
51 Dan Bosquez – 19:27
62 Chris Steingraber – 19:58
63 Brock Herzfeldt – 19:58
73 Andrew Moser – 20:52
JV Girls 4K (of 91 runners)
5 Kara Hoier – 18:14
13 Kayla Raschke – 19:01
17 Samantha Christian – 19:06
24 Coral Managan – 19:37
34 Hannah Cross – 20:12
38 Victoria Philippon – 20:21
58 Emilee Kerscher – 21:24
77 Victoria Zahn – 23:17
Varsity Girls 4K (of 89 runners)
4 Macy Egan – 16:20
5 Annalise Schroeder – 16:21
21 Brenna Heise – 17:00
22 Anna Staudenmaier – 17:03
43 Amber Pethke – 17:46
50 Bridget Pethke – 17:57
51 Madison Cooley – 17:59
52 Cassandra Philippon – 18:00