Results at the State Cross Country Meet at Edmond Santa Fe on Saturday might not have told the whole story as the Newcastle boys ran to a 14th place finish out of 14 and the two girls who qualified did not place in the top runners.
Four of the Newcastle boys and both of the girls, however, did run their personal records. Head Coach Jerald Lewis said he was pleased.
“We’re young and I expect us to be back next year,” Lewis said, adding that the boys’ team qualifying for State was a surprise this year, as they ran well at Regionals to get there.
Lewis said, “We have four sophomores and one freshman returning from our state qualifying team, and we have eighth graders coming up who will help complete our team for varsity.”
The coach said the boys will lose Steven Whitmore and Collin Seely to graduation, and the girls will lose runners Bentlee Lindsey and Jaycen Lea.
Newcastle competed in Class 5A Saturday, a rainy and cold day. Junior Addyson Bush and sophomore Bella Allen both ran their personal record. Bella finished with a 22:46 and Addyson had a 22:27.
On the boys’ side, Sophomore Luke Perkins ran a 17:38; senior Collin Seely had an 18:02; sophomore Cole Albertson, 18:18; freshman Cooper Williams, 18:19; senior Steven Whitmore, 18:38; sophomore Jason Johnson, 19:36; and sophomore Blake Moslander, 20:31.
At the Regional Cross Country Meet at Wildhorse Park in Mustang on October 21, Bella Allen ran a 23:12 to place 24th and Addyson Bush ran a 23:12 to place 25th.
Newcastle’s boys finished seventh overall at the Regional CC meet with a total time of 1:33:04 for an average of 18:37.
Luke Perkins had the best time for the Racers finishing 20th with a time of 18:13. Collin Seely finished 26th with a time of 18:21. Cooper Williams finished 36th with a time of 18:40, and Steven Whitmore finished 37th with a time of 18:41.
Cole Albertson finished 49th with a time of 19:09. Jason Johnson finished 80th with a time of 21:08, and Blake Moslander finished 88th with a time of 22:13.
