10/9/2008 9:27:00 AM Cross Country: Panthers' education continues
The Oregon cross country teams took to the Stoughton Invitational, looking to build towards the conference race.
Girls CC
With their eyes set squarely on winning a Badger South Conference title, the Oregon girls cross country team knew Saturday's Stoughton Invitational would provide them with good competition and a chance to see how they would match up against Fort Atkinson, which appears to be their most serious threat with two weeks remaining before hosting the conference race at Lake Farm Park.
When all was said and done, though, the Panthers saw there was still some catching up to be done, falling behind the Blackhawks 139-146 for fifth place.
Junior Morgan Engelhart led Oregon's pack, finishing 10th overall in 15 minutes, 39 seconds.
"Most of our hard work is done towards the beginning/middle of the season and over the summer," said Annie Heifner, who posted a personal best 16:02 to finish 22nd overall. "Now it's just a matter of taking care of our bodies, making sure we are healthy and staying focused on our goals."
Sister Allie Heifner followed four places later in 16:07, while sophomore Kali Jahn finished 30th with a time of 16:09.
"Our girls really brought up a nice group," head coach Doug Debroux said. "Kali had just an outstanding race and Morgan, Annie and Allie have been strong all year.
"That could have really been our best race of the year as a whole team."
Justine Bertler moved up to finish as the team's final varsity scorer in 58th place (16:54.97).
Boys CC
Senior Matt Mixdorf shaved 18 seconds off his lifetime best to lead Oregon's boys team with a 27th-place finish in 17:08.68.
"I kind of wanted to break 17 minutes, but I also wanted to beat my brother's (Patrick) PR to show him who's boss," Mixdorf said with a smile.
Matt Bakken placed 50th place in 17:37.15
Oregon's pack was scattered from that point as sophomore Luke Belanus came in 63rd in 18:02.68, while Gus Schermetzler took 82nd in 18:44.75.
The Panthers' final varsity scorer, Connor MacWilliams, finished 85th in 18:53.89 as Oregon placed 13th out of the 16 teams with 307 points, two behind Badger South rival Stoughton.
"Every one of these races, that's what it's for - to learn," Debroux said.
