Hohenfels seniors Drew Martin, left, and Dan Cochran pace one another during a race Saturday in Bamberg. Martin finished first for the boys with a final time of 19 minutes, 10 seconds, three seconds ahead of Cochran. (Dan Blottenberger/Stars and Stripes)
BAMBERG, Germany — Hohenfels senior Drew Martin has been running cross country since middle school, and on Saturday he scored a first.
He won the race.
Taking advantage of the absence of Vilseck’s top runner, Martin won a duel with teammate Dan Cochran to capture the 5-kilometer race in 19 minutes, 10 seconds against a field of runners from Bamberg, Ansbach and Vilseck.
“This was a fantastic result because Drew Martin has been with this Hohenfels Tiger team since seventh grade and he is a senior now — so it is a great way to finish up a six-year career as a high school runner,” said Hohenfels coach Jay Danna.
Freshman Amanda Elliott made it a Hohenfels sweep of the individual titles by winning the girls race in 21:24. However, both team titles went to Vilseck, a Division I school, because none of the D-II teams were able to field a full team for boys or girls.
Vilseck’s top male runner Zane Kennedy, who ran an 18:15 in Hohenfels two weekends ago, was unable to attend the race because he was taking the SATs, said coach Kevin Anglin. Vilseck top female runner, Payton Bodecker, missed the race for family reasons.
But none of that appeared to take the shine off the Tigers’ individual wins.
Martin, who was at a loss for words after the race, could only describe his first win as “different” and “special.”
“Throughout the race we normally swap who’s ahead of who,” said Cochran referring to the way the top-two racers push each other throughout the race. “I was pushing him by trying to pass him, which made him go faster.”
Cochran finished just three seconds behind Martin, while Vilseck, led by Ben Nelson’s 19:20, swept the other top 10 spots.
Elliott separated from the pack early on in the girls race and never looked back, finishing 45 seconds ahead of runner-up Malia Carson of Vilseck. This was Elliott’s fastest official time of the season and her coach says she has gotten faster every race.
“It was pretty easy — it was really fun,” Elliott said. “I love running.”
Hohenfels’ Justice Moore, a middle-schooler, finished third overall with a time of 23:23, but since middle-school runners are not counted in the official results, third went to Zoey Riviera of Vilseck in 23:58.