Subscribe
Patch runners Clair Shumacher (42) and Caitlin Gamble (36) and Heidelberg’s Maggie Cutler (1) lead the Big Schools girls field up the first hill Saturday during the European high school cross country championships at Schwetzingen, Germany. Shumacher finished fourth among the Division I runners in 21:02.66 for the 5,000-meter course; Cutler was next in D-I at 21:12.07 and Gamble 14th in 21:49.64.

Patch runners Clair Shumacher (42) and Caitlin Gamble (36) and Heidelberg’s Maggie Cutler (1) lead the Big Schools girls field up the first hill Saturday during the European high school cross country championships at Schwetzingen, Germany. Shumacher finished fourth among the Division I runners in 21:02.66 for the 5,000-meter course; Cutler was next in D-I at 21:12.07 and Gamble 14th in 21:49.64. (Rusty Bryan / S&S)

Patch runners Clair Shumacher (42) and Caitlin Gamble (36) and Heidelberg’s Maggie Cutler (1) lead the Big Schools girls field up the first hill Saturday during the European high school cross country championships at Schwetzingen, Germany. Shumacher finished fourth among the Division I runners in 21:02.66 for the 5,000-meter course; Cutler was next in D-I at 21:12.07 and Gamble 14th in 21:49.64.

Patch runners Clair Shumacher (42) and Caitlin Gamble (36) and Heidelberg’s Maggie Cutler (1) lead the Big Schools girls field up the first hill Saturday during the European high school cross country championships at Schwetzingen, Germany. Shumacher finished fourth among the Division I runners in 21:02.66 for the 5,000-meter course; Cutler was next in D-I at 21:12.07 and Gamble 14th in 21:49.64. (Rusty Bryan / S&S)

Sigonella’s Katie Hancock completes her triumph in the Small Schools girls cross country championship race. Hancock finished the 5,000-meter event in 22 minutes 14.69 seconds.

Sigonella’s Katie Hancock completes her triumph in the Small Schools girls cross country championship race. Hancock finished the 5,000-meter event in 22 minutes 14.69 seconds. (Rusty Bryan / S&S)

Ramstein's Kel Secrest leads his team to the championship.

Ramstein's Kel Secrest leads his team to the championship. (Rusty Bryan / S&S)

SCHWETZINGEN, Germany — Kel Secrest outdueled International School of Brussels’ Baudoin Fort on Saturday to repeat as the European Big Schools cross country champion and help his Ramstein Royals to their ninth straight European title.

Secrest was joined in the winner’s circle by SHAPE’s Veronica Siversten, the Big Schools girls champ, and Katie Hancock of Sigonella and Aaron Ellis of Brussels, who took the Small School titles.

"Me and Baudoin raced the whole way," Secrest said after covering the 5,000-meter layout in the sand hills of Schwetzingen in 16 minutes, 25.53 seconds. "You ought to go talk to him. He gave me a good race."

Fort finished in 16:31.58, and although both he and Secrest were well slower than the course record of 15:52 set in 2006 by Greg Billington of Lakenheath, the tight duel between the ISB junior and the Ramstein senior on this cloudless day with temperatures in the 60s made things appear to unfold faster than they did.

"This race seemed much faster than last year," said Secrest, who won in 16:21.96 last time around. "I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to hold him."

Secrest was in emphatic agreement with the notion that repeating is difficult.

"By winning, you’ve set a high standard that you have to keep up," he said. "And people get faster."

Ramstein coach Dennis Edwards, whose re-count last week fixed the number of consecutive European titles Ramstein’s boys have won at eight rather than the nine he previously reported, said there was more to Secrest’s repeat than mere physical improvement.

"He’s been planning for the race all year," Edwards said, "ever since the 3,000 at Europeans last May."

Secrest was upset in that race by Wiesbaden freshman Kyle Murray, who ran 9:13.18 to Secrest’s 9:15.39.

"After running Euros, I came up with some stuff that I thought would help me out today," said Secrest, who hopes to attend the Naval Academy next fall.

College is a long way in the future for Veronica Siversten, just a freshman at SHAPE. In her first European championship, Siversten ran 20:26.96 to outpace Shelby Yoakum of Aviano by nearly 11 seconds. Most of that margin came on a punishing finishing kick that Yoakum and third-place finisher Natalie Pecoraro, a Frankfurt International School sophomore who ran 20:41.34, were unable to counter.

"This was a very good course," said Siversten, who was running it for the first time. "It was kind of hard."

Siversten’s effort led SHAPE to the Division II team title; Heidelberg’s girls took the D-I team title, 55-63, over defending champion Ramstein.

Small schools winner Hancock, third here last year, supplanted teammate Jen Patron as the Division IV champion, but not without assistance, the new champion said.

"Jen Patron has helped me so much," Hancock said after her clocking of 22:14.69. Patron was second in D-IV this year in 23:24.18. "She’s a great team captain."

Hancock, whose Jaguars edged Lajes 20-27 for the D-IV team title, said she also was helped by a competitive field. Bahrain’s Jessica Buck, who claimed the D-III crown in 22:49.62, was among those who helped push her. "There was a lot of good competition," she said. "I love this course and I love my team."

Buck’s finish helped Bahrain take the D-III team title, 17-24 over Baumholder.

Like Hancock, Small Schools boys champion Ellis led his team to a Division IV crown. Brussels prevailed 23-36 over Rota, helped by the way Ellis, who clocked 18:20.58, ran down Alconbury’s Ernestas Tyminas on the downhill home stretch to claim the title.

Baumholder’s Sigifredo Adriano won the D-III boys individual title in 18:52.60, although the American Overseas School of Rome retained the D-III team title that it won last year.

Wiesbaden’s boys romped to the D-II team title behind the 16:50.25 run by Daniel Parker, the D-II champion.

European championships(Saturday at Schwetzingen, Germany; 5,000 meters. Five runners must finish for a team score.)

Boys

Big Schools

Division I

Team scoring—Ramstein 25, Patch 81, Vilseck 110, Heidelberg 119, International School of Brussels 125, Lakenheath 128, Kaiserslautern 140, Frankfurt International School 171

Individual leaders—1, Kelis Secrest (Rams) 16:25.53; 2, Baudoin Fort (ISB) 16:31.58; 3, John Rynecki (Heid) 16:54.38; 4, Will Barnes (Rams) 16:59.62; 5, Laz Ramos (Rams) 17:19.32; 6, Zane Kennedy (Vils) 17:25.28; 7, Matt Lein (Rams) 17:30.10; 8, Dillon Wadsack (Rams) 17:32.14; 9, Thomas Amrine (Rams) 17:42.38; 10, Jordan LeBouef (Vils) 17:45.64; 11, Joe Anderson (Pat) 17:48.52; 12, Ross Paxton (Pat) 17:51.26; 13, Trevor Snapp (Lake) 17:52.04; 14, Arley Morelock (FIS) 17:53.69; 15, Cole Garraghty (Pat) 18:13.06; 16, Brandt Langford (Heid) 18:13.35; 17, Sean Whealton (Kais) 18:18.77; 18, Miles Bason (ISB) 18:27.37; 19, Gustav Meyners (Rams) 18:28.54; 20, Ryan McDonnell (Lake) 18:29.42

Division II

Team scoring—Wiesbaden 38, Aviano 57, Naples 78, SHAPE 91, Ansbach 112

Individual leaders—1, Daniel Parker (Wies) 16:50.25; 2, Kristian Alegado (Ansb) 16:52.28; 3, John Markman (Napl) 17:09.02; 4, Alex Cornelius (Mannheim) 17:10.92; 5, Sean Wilson (Avi) 17:31.93; 6, Daniel Slade (Avi) 17:38.30; 7, Jarrett Wallace (SHP) 18:16.26; 8, Lawrence Vandervoort (St. John’s of Brussels) 18:20.53; 9, Logan Shelton (Wies) 18:25.69; 10, Mike Marshall (Napl) 18:35.51; 11, Theo Lequesne (StJ) 18:38.78; 12, Tyler Denzine (Wies) 18:40.89; 13, James Denzine (Wies) 18:41.14; 14, Patrick Giblin (StJ) 18:43.84; 15, Zach Winnie (Wies) 18:52.62; 16, Alan Gray (Wies) 19:00.22; 17, Jerard Graham (Mann) 19:08.08; 18, Adam Cornelius (Mann) 19:10.45; 19, Mackenzie Kleven (Napl) 19:12.55; 20, Michael Brown (Avi) 19:17.22

Division III

Team scoring—American Overseas School of Rome 32, Hohenfels 35, Bahrain 48, Milan 49, Marymount 50

Individual leaders—1, Sigifredo Adriano (Baumholder) 18:52.60; 2, Christian Austen (Hoh) 19:16.12; 3, Pietro Dinmore (AOSR) 19:18.38; 4, Alex Appetiti (Mmt) 19:26.35; 5, Hirotaka Katayama (Mil) 19:30.11; 6, Drew Martin (Hoh) 19:52.13; 7, Sky Seliquini (AOSR) 19:57.17; 8, Niko Harris (Hoh) 20:06.95; 9, Jeronimo Silvaneto (Bah) 20:15.74; 10, Jacopo Larenzi (AOSR) 20:20.90

Division IV

Team scoring—Brussels 23, Rota 36, Alconbury 40, Sigonella 48

Individual leaders—1, Aaron Ellis (Brus) 18:20.58; 2, Ernestas Tyminas (Alc) 18:22.51; 3, Christian Roman (Rota) 18:31.50; 4, Jordan Rettie (Sig) 18:45.37; 5, Brandon Geronimo (Alc) 18:52.82; 6, David Westland (Brus) 18:54.06; 7, Scott LaBelle (Brus) 19:02.02; 8, Stephen Schaefer (Rota) 19:08.16; 9, Hunter Baudoindajoux (Brus) 19:16.32; 10, Ben Bigelow (Brus) 19:39.87

Girls

Division I

Team scoring—Heidelberg 55, Ramstein 63, Patch 69, Kaiserslautern 89, Lakenheath 127, Vilseck 163, International School of Brussels 171, Frankfurt International School 178

Individual leaders—1, Natalie Pecoraro (FIS) 20:41.31; 2, Elizabeth Doe (Rams) 20:45.57; 3, Shelby Whatley (Lake) 20:50.16; 4, Clarie Shumacher (Pat) 21:02.66; 5, Maggie Cutler (Heid) 21:12.77; 6, Colleen Davis (Kais) 21:14.36; 7, Felicia Gonzalez (Rams) 21:20.28; 8, Lindsey Duckworth (Heid) 21:21.37; 9, Morgan Lawrence (Kais) 21:32.03; 10, Olivia Darrow (Heid) 21:34.14; 11, Kelsey Collier (Rams) 21:39.26; 12, Kristine Bremer (Heid) 21:47.52; 13, Mary Hickox (Kais) 21:47.80; 14, Caitlin Gamble (Pat) 21:49.64; 15, Lindsey Johnson (Pat) 21:51.20; 16, Amber Core (Vils) 21:58.29; 17, Alexis Harrison (Pat) 21:59.12; 18, Alexis Gomez (Rams) 22:04.15; 19, Sarah Higgins (Pat) 22:07.33; 20, Kerry O’Brien (Heid) 22:15.46

Division II

Team scoring—SHAPE 27, Wiesbaden 59, Aviano 60, Naples 77, Bitburg 132

Individual leaders—1, Veronica Siversten (SHP) 20:26,96; 2, Shelby Yoakum (Avi) 20:37.93; 3, Tammy Northshield (SHP) 21:23.99; 4, Haylea Witz (Napl) 21:30.06; 5, Miriam Siversten (SHP) 21:30.06; 6, Shannon Cuthbert (Napl) 22:09.28; 7, Hillary Lynde (St. John’s of Brussels) 22:09.74; 8, Mackenzie Lowery (StJ) 22:19.47; 9, Sasia Salter-Mack (Avi) 22:21.07; 10, Anne Briggs (SHP) 22:24.03; 11, Dani Hill (Wies) 22:25.08; 12, Erin Beckman (SHP)22:27.67; 13, Alison Ochoa (Wies) 22:30.23; 14, Catherine Leknes (Wies) 22:46.64; 15, Aubree Reichel (Wies) 22:51.94; 16, Susan Grunt (Mannheim) 22:58.88; 17, Celina Ponte (Wies) 23:01.86; 18, Kaylee Gumm-Johnson (Avi) 23:27.72; 19, Loren Jobe (Bitb) 23:30.76; 20, Jessica Renshaw (StJ) 23:39.95

Division III

Team scoring—Bahrain 17, Baumholder 24, Marymount 37

Individual leaders—1, Jessica Buck (Bah) 22:49.62; 2, Sarah Money (Baum) 23:24.18; 3, Mishal Cotugno (Vicenza) 23:30.57; 4, Sydney Skoudas (Baum) 23:58.59; 5, Molly Hayes (Bah) 24:33.37; 6, Renee Van Diemen (Bah) 25:15.03; 7, Gabriela Bacon (Mmt) 26:04.83; 8, Lara Levat (Bah) 25:20.78; 9, Isabella Vento (Mmt) 26:04.83; 10, Zandria Hooks (Baum) 26:29.03

Division IV

Team scoring—Sigonella 20, Lajes 27, Rota 31

Individual leaders—1, Katie Hancock (Sig) 22:14.69; 2, Jen Patron (Sig) 22:38.76); 3, Cisalee Oldham (Lajes) 23:37.12; 4, Courtney Pfalzer (Brussels) 23:54.74; 5, Nicole Berry (Lajes) 24:01.17; 6, Brianna Campbell (Rota) 24:08.89; 7, Liz Ventura (Sig) 24:35.28; 8, Isabel DiFranco (Menwith Hill) 24:57.81; 9, Lauren Bachand (Rota) 25:01.30; 10, Emily McClain (Lajes) 25:27.07

Sign Up for Daily Headlines

Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets from around the world.

Sign Up Now