Thursday, October 23, 2008
When former Hopkins County Central runner Ashly Rodgers, now a freshman at Murray State, showed up for Saturday’s University of Evansville Invitational she discovered a familiar face among the competition.
Unknown to Rodgers, her former Lady Storm teammate, Morgan Whitney, who races for Kentucky Wesleyan was also in attendance.
“Our tents were just set up next to each other and I just kind of looked up and saw her standing there, so it was a good surprise,” Rodgers said. “It’s been a while of course since I’ve seen her, since she graduated, so it was nice to have her there.”
Whitney graduated two years before Rodgers, but it was the younger runner who finished higher on the day.
“It wasn’t a big deal really,” Rodgers said of edging Whitney. “It was mostly just good to see her, and of course, even though we’re on opposite teams, we still have that connection and we were still rooting for each other to do well.”
Both girls set personal records at the 6K invitational. Rodgers finished in 21:06.50 while Whitney came in at 22:53.60, beating her previous race by more than a minute.
After the meet, the pair met to do a cool-down run together.
Rodgers said it was nice to have the unexpected reunion and had fond memories of their time together at Central.
“I just remember that she was always a really good, key teammate for me whenever I ran with her,” Rodgers said. “She would always push me to do well. She was always the most positive girl on the team and when she graduated, I missed her a lot.”
Saturday’s race did not come without a bit of discomfort for Rodgers though as she ran her last meet of the year with a possible stress fracture in her left shin.
“I actually ran my race Saturday with a lot of pain,” Rodgers said. “It was really nice to have success from it. Now, I’m looking to get better for track season.”
Men’s cross country
Austin Peay State University men’s runner Tim Hall also participated in the UE Invitational and led the Governors cross country team to a fourth-place finish of the 22 attending schools.
Hall, who graduated from Madisonville-North Hopkins, finished the 8K race in a season-best time of 25:43.91 to claim 45th place overall.
Austin Peay will enjoy a bit of rest before running in the Ohio Valley Conference Championships 10 a.m. Nov. 1 at Southeast Missouri State University.
Football
Former North football player Blake Boyd recorded seven tackles, including a key fourth-quarter stop on Saturday for Western Kentucky University, but the Hilltoppers’ offense could not muster enough points to overcome the Florida Atlantic Owls, losing 24-20.
With four minutes left in the game and FAU facing a third-and-23, Boyd penetrated the backfield and tackled Rusty Smith for a 10-yard sack to give WKU the ball and an opportunity to drive for a game-winning score.
Boyd’s sack was the only on the day for the Hilltoppers, but unfortunately, the offense did not pull through, punting away after a three-and-out and the Owls ran the clock out for the win.
In the second quarter, Boyd also contributed on a big play, combining with teammates Travis Watters and company to take down the Owls’ Chris Bonner on fourth down near the goal line.
By game’s end, Boyd tallied seven tackles, good enough for second-best on the team.
The loss represented the fourth in a row for WKU, dropping the team’s record to 2-6.
The Hilltoppers will return to action 3:30 p.m. Nov. 1 for Homecoming against North Texas.
Men’s soccer
After making 11 stops and allowing just a single goal in two Southern College Athletic Conference games last week, Centre College goalkeeper Aaron Arndt earned the conference’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week award on Monday.
The Colonels hit the road for two conference matches, splitting a pair of 1-0 games, but Arndt, a 2006 North graduate, shined in both.
In Friday’s 1-0 defeat of Austin College (Texas), Arndt made two saves to collect his fourth shutout of the season placing him second in the SCAC.
On Sunday, Arndt finished with nine saves, but a lone goal proved to be the difference, losing 1-0 at Colorado College.
Centre returns home 7:30 p.m. Friday to play host to DePauw University (Ind).
Men’s swimming
Also at Centre, 2008 Central graduate Zach Ford swam in just his second collegiate event on Friday, but the Colonels narrowly lost to Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
Centre took on the D-I Jaguars team and swam strong yet ultimately lost 150-141.
Ford participated in the 100-yard breast stroke, finishing in a time of 1:14.39.
The Colonels’ next race is 6:30 p.m. Friday against the University of the Cumberlands.
Women’s swimming
Auburn University swimmer Emile Ewing began the 2008-09 season amid a field of tough competitors Saturday at the War Eagle Invitational in Auburn, Ala.
During the meet, Ewing finished in third place in the women’s 100 freestyle race with a time of :51.88, just six-hundreths of a second behind teammate Ava Ohlgren. Former 2004 Olympian Amanda Weir won the event.
The Tigers will be back in the pool Nov. 14 when the Auburn hosts SEC foe Georgia in the squad’s first dual meet.
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