Liz Mosbach Wins Princeton Invite
Jared Bell- News Trib
September 14, 2009
Mosbach wills way past Sack for girls championship
Monday, September 14, 2009
By Jared Bell
PRINCETON — Hall’s Liz Mosbach figured, ‘Why not?’
When Mendota’s Haley Sack — the reigning NewsTribune Girls Cross
Country Runner of the Year — surged past Mosbach and Newman’s
Emilie Barton to take the lead with 400 yards left during
Saturday’s Princeton Invitational, the Red Devil sophomore figured
her chance at knocking off her NCIC Lincoln counterpart and winning
the PIT title was over.
Then she had a change of heart.
After hearing the crowd urge her on down the homestretch, Mosbach
kicked it into another gear. She caught and passed Sack with less
than 20 yards left in the race to edge the Mendota senior, who had
beaten Mosbach twice earlier this season.“She passed me and I
thought I was done,” Mosbach admitted. “I was like, ‘She’s going to
beat me. She’s a better runner than me.’ But then I saw everyone
cheering and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to try,’ and I
did it.”
Mosbach finished with a time of 19 minutes, 49.1 seconds, while
Sack, who admitted she died over the last mile of the race, turned
in a mark of 19:50.7.
“I could hear people yelling but I couldn’t really feel her,” Sack
said of the race down the homestretch. “She really flew. Whew.”
The win comes after Sack beat Mosbach at a five-team meet at
Mendota on Sept. 1 and then two days later at the Sandwich
Invitational, where Mosbach admitted that Sack “murdered” her.
“We’ve seen Sack twice already and the second time Elizabeth raced
against her at Sandwich it was a no-doubter,” Hall cross country
coach Tom Keegan said. “Haley looked incredible, so for her to come
out today, especially after Haley put that surge on her, to gut it
out, I’m proud of her.”
Sack and Mosbach ran together in the lead pack for most of the race
before Mosbach finally passed Sack at the two-mile mark. But Sack
laid in wait for the final stretch where she picked up the pace and
surged past the competition to set up the finish. “Before the race,
(Mendota coach Kevin) Whorley showed me the map and he showed me
where the 400 was, and he told me I should start sprinting there,”
Sack explained. “And he was over there during the race.”
As Sack raced towards the finish Mosbach began her push that won
her the race.
“I didn’t think Elizabeth was going to win. Seriously,” Keegan
said. “Just after the last time we saw Sack and all the other
competition that comes in here... But to her credit, she came out
and probably proved a lot of people wrong today.”
It proved to be a good day for runners on both of Keegan’s teams.
In addition to Mosbach taking the girls title, Hall’s Scott
Janusick finished second and T.J. Mosbach sixth in the boys race.
Janusick ran stride-for-stride with Newman’s Dylan Reyes for about
2 ½ miles of the 2.98-mile course, but Reyes — who is ranked No. 2
in the state — pulled away from the Red Devil strider to secure the
win with a time of 15:51.1, edging Janusick’s mark of 15:55.8.
“My big goal coming in was just top four,” Janusick said. “I got
fourth last year and just wanted to come in and work on that. I
felt really good, but I just couldn’t keep up with his kick.”
Mosbach was in the lead pack for the first half of the race and
fought through some discomfort to turn in a sixth-place time of
16:39.4. “I think he got a little bit of an (ache) in his side
today, and he fought through that,” Keegan said. “He was sixth, so
it was a great showing.”
Bureau Valley’s Derrick Johnson broke up the Hall contingent as the
Storm sophomore finished fourth with a time of 16:26.8. “We had a
tough week of practice last week. We weren’t planning on resting
for this, so it was just go out and do what I can, really,” Johnson
said. “I wasn’t planning on winning it or anything.”
Ryan Johnson (17:06.6) took 12th for the Storm (85), which finished
third despite missing one of its top harriers, Nate DeVenney.
Newman won the title with 47 points and Rock Falls (60) was second
followed by fourth-place Hall (125), seventh-place Princeton (140),
eighth-place St. Bede (205) and ninth-place Mendota (210).
“We didn’t have Nate, but whether we have Nate or Super Man we’re
not going to beat Newman,” Bureau Valley coach Dale Donner said.
“Newman is probably the best team in the state, but we ran real
well.”
Fieldcrest had its three varsity boys runners place in the top 15.
Guthrie Wyss (16:56.8) finished 11th, James Leigh (17:14.7) 14th
and Kinsly Tarmann (17:15.8) 15th.
On the girls side, Fieldcrest’s Katie Janssen (20:38.8) placed
10th, Princeton’s Emma Makransky (20:47.1) 12th and St. Bede’s Lucy
Stanke (20:53.8) 13th.
Princeton (108) was the area’s highest-placing girls team finishing
fourth behind champion Rock Falls (72), runner-up Orion (96) and
third-place Newman (98).
St. Bede (130) finished sixth, Bureau Valley (176) seventh, Hall
(207) ninth and Mendota (225) 11th.
Note: Hall’s Brandon Allen and Austin Pelszynski placed fourth and
fifth, highest amongst area runners, in the boys F/S race. Mendota
(78) finished third as a team, Hall (79) fourth, La Salle-Peru
(137) fifth and Princeton (150) sixth.
Jared Bell can be reached at 223-3200, ext. 139, or at
sports@newstrib.com.
