Priddy, Ramstein teammates take more strides
Published: October 4, 2011
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – Ramstein cross country aces Anna Priddy, Jessica Kafer and Lexy Vermeire all bettered the previous course record Saturday on the school’s traditional course, Ramstein coach Dennis Edwards reported.
Priddy won for the second straight week by covering the 5,000-meter layout next to the high school in 19 minutes, 48.06 seconds, Edwards reported. The time shattered the previous course record, 20:53, set by former European champion Maggie Redmond of Patch in 2007.
Also surpassing Redmond’s previous mark on Saturday were Kafer, the defending European cross country silver medalist who clocked 20:24.69, and newcomer Vermeire, who ran 20:41.75.
The podium sweep led the Lady Royals, the defending European Division I team champions, to a 23-48 victory Saturday over Heidelberg’s Lady Lions. Ramstein’s fourth- and fifth-place finishers, Tallie Elbert and Lauren Codina, placed sixth and 11th overall Saturday in 21:33.06 and 22:03.78, respectively. Those perfromances gave the team’s five scorers an average time of 20:54.27, just a mere 1.27 seconds behind Redmond’s old individual mark.
That kind of quality running should whet everyone’s appetite for the European championships, where a battle between the unbeaten Patch and Ramstein girls figures to dominate the doings Oct. 29 at Tompkins Barracks in the Heidelberg suburb of Schwetzingen.
The Patch girls are led by defending European individual champion Morgan Mahlock. The champ has set two course records this season but sat out Saturday’s race, run on college testing day.
Patch, however, never missed a beat. Christina Hamilton, Baileigh Sessions, Julia Lockridge, Samantha Barglof, Hannah Rose and Sarah Thaden came across the finish line 1-2-3-4-5-6 Saturday at home for a perfect 15 score in a meet against Ansbach, Hohenfels, Munich International School and Vilseck.
