New Hampton runners bring home two medals

    Never underestimate the importance of a good start. A couple of Chickasaw runners ran well right from the beginning of the Saturday Crestwood Invitational, where the New Hampton’s girls were fourth of the seven schools at the meet and the boys were sixth of seven.    Following the junior high competition, all the high school girls ran as a group, as did all the high school boys. The results were then split, with the top seven runners counting as varsity. The Chickasaw JV girls had enough runners to score and were fourth of the five schools with enough runners to count a JV score as well.    “The weather was absolutely perfect to tackle some hills and bring home some medals,” coach Jamie Quass Ohrt said. “I was proud of all my athletes today, however, there's always room for improvement. One aspect we need to work on is consistency and maintaining throughout a race.”    But Nolan Usher did do well in that area as he finished fifth of 87 runners with an 18:28.    “All New Hampton boys got out fast, but Nolan really took advantage of the downhill start,” said Ohrt.
    For more results, please see the Oct. 3 Tribune.