Bethel cross country squads cap season at KCAC meet
The women finished fifth as a team while the men finished sixth overall.
WINFIELD — On Saturday, the Bethel men’s and women’s cross country teams both competed at the KCAC Championships in Winfield. Both squads came in tenth in the KCAC preseason poll and finished better than their rankings — the women finished fifth and the men sixth.
On the women’s side, Elly Bertholf finished 59th after running a time of 28:14.23. Estefania Gonzalez, a fill-in runner so the women could compete as a team, finished 41st with a time of 26:12.68. In 39th, Taryn Paulino turned in a time of 25:54.76. Emma Graber finished 36th with a time of 25:41.08, and Bethany Schrag led with a time of 25:03.3, breaking her own school record by more than a minute to place 31st.
The women established a 6K school record with an average time of 26:14 as all finishers ran personal records in the race.
“It was a competitive race but it went really well,” Schrag from Valley Center said. “Overall, the team did really well despite all the adversity that we faced through the season. We were able to … end the season on a high note.”
The men's Nick Morgan rounded out the Thresher finishers in 110th place running a time of 33:23.30. Daniel Kaufman finished 93rd running a personal best time of 30:16.36. Robert Crager, the Thresher tiebreaker, finished in 88th with a time of 29:36.93. Matthew Fleck was Bethel’s next finisher in 84th with a time of 29:20.54. In 65th, Marcus Fiedler turned in a time of 28:02.58.
Luke Schmidt was the Threshers’ third finisher with a time of 27:19.25 to finish 54th. Tobin Wise finished second behind Bartel in 48th while also running a personal-best time of 27:04.44. Isaiah Bartel led the way, running a personal-best time of 26:59.20, finishing 44th and running his last race as the men finished in fifth place.
“I must admit I was not expecting such an emotional race,” Bartel from Andover said. “This season had been pretty rough for me but I knew I had to leave it all out there for me and my team. It’s sad to see the sport disappear between the start of the gun to 26 minutes and 59 seconds later.
“It felt good to finally lead the boys as I have not been able to do so all season. I am extremely grateful for my team and the way they stepped up to help place sixth when, in preseason, we were ranked 10th. That was the first time I ever broke the 27-minute barrier and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my career.”
Despite having a new coach in the middle of the season and the Thresher women having to bring some extra girls in, both teams ended their seasons on high notes.
“During my first few weeks, I did some research on the competition and came to the conclusion that if we put it all together, we could finish in the top five on both ends,” head men’s and women’s coach Julio Martinez said. “We had progress every week, and so the biggest factor was making sure we peaked at the right time.
“Our teams showed out and delivered, and coaches in the conference noticed as we upset multiple teams on both ends. A day full of season-bests, lifetime-bests, and school records — there’s not much more I can ask as a coach.
“Two runners I would like to recognize are Elly Bertholf and Robbie Crager. Elly had been battling an injury that required her to be in crutches most of the season and even two days before our conference we weren’t sure if she would be able to run. She showed up and even after starting to feel pain halfway through the race she continued on and finished helping us secure the highest finish in the last decade for the Lady Threshers.
“On the men's side, it was a close call for sixth place as we tied with Bethany with a score of 190 coming down to a tiebreaker. Robbie Crager had to have the best race of his career to make that happen. Not only did he break 30 minutes in the 8K for the first time, but that is what we needed to win the tiebreaker.”
The fifth-place finish for the women is their highest in the last decade. Most athletes had a personal record this season, all within a coaching change.