Oak Ridge hosts cross-country meet
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Oak Ridge’s Lillian Tice was the No. 2 finisher on The Mounds course in Oak Ridge. - Tony Cox
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Aaron Fiscor (4541) finished The Mounds course with a time of 19:18.76. - Tony Cox
For the first time in more than two decades, Oak Ridge High School hosted a cross country meet last weekend at The Mounds, a new 5,000-meter course designed by the school’s cross-country team and Coach Ed Wright.
Wright acknowledged the significance of hosting the event.
“It was important, but it was like I told the kids, I didn’t know how important it was until I did it,” he said. “It was a lot of work.”
The Oak Ridge boys team won the meet, edging the Knoxville Ambassadors, a team of home-schooled athletes, 44-65.
Oak Ridge’s Rhett Hovater was the Wildcats’ top finisher, coming in second with a time of 17:07.42.
Teammates Nolan Riden (10th, 18:14.91), Patrik Vodopivec (12th, 18:19.68), William Hetrick (13th, 18:21.42), Evan Biewer (14th, 18:29.67), Cooper Bell (16th, 18:35.92), Zachary Ibanez (21st, 18:52.91), James Phillips (27th, 19:08.17), and Aaron Fiscor (30th, 19:18.76) contributed to the team’s victory.
“Rhett Hovater had a good day for us,” Wright said.
In the girls’ race, the Lady Wildcats finished second, losing to the Knoxville Ambassadors by five points. Oak Ridge swept first and second place, with Dylan Job winning at 19:43.18, and Lillian Tice finishing second in 20:32.91. Natalie Adams was ninth (21:55.42), Emily Edwards was 15th (22:51.17), Brooke Taylor was 17th (22:52.33), Elly Hartman 20th (23:23.42), and Olivia Kneiser 33rd (25:20.42).
“Dylan and Lillian each did well for us, and so did Natalie and Emily,” Wright said. “We look forward to hosting more meets out there.”
Oak Ridge will take a break before hosting another meet at The Mounds on Oct. 19.