RISING TIDE: BHS pacers to test progress at pre-state meet

For the Bartlesville High cross country program, it’s not been a smooth-as-a-kitten’s-purr season so far.

injuries, illness and rival commitments have taken their toll on the varsity lineup every meet, including last week’s gritty outing at Holland Hall.

But, veteran head coach David Ayres hopes Saturday’s pre-state meet in Edmond will begin to stabilize the lineup for the October stretch through the conference, regional and state meets.

He has set his varsity girls roster for the pre-state meet with Emily Lechuga, Lauren Shoesmith, Kate Manley, Reese Savage, Emma Perry, Kara Stose and Rachael Landers.

Shoesmith and Savage weren’t available for last week’s meet at Holland Hall, in which the Lady Bruins finished fourth.

Bartlesville’s No. 1 runner coming into the season, Gentry Turner, will run junior varsity at pre-state to focus on getting back to full strength, Ayres said. Turner earned All-State at last season’s Class 6A championships.

Landers and Stose will be competing to see who gets the No. 8 spot on the team for next week’s Chili Pepper Run in Arkansas, Ayres said.

On the boys side, the Bruins’ varsity lineup at pre-state will include Tanner John, Russell Miller, Tehi Chibitty, Reed Gorman, Jackson Boudreaux, Ashton Lindsay-Brothers and Kayden Reyes.

John sat out last week due to illness.

Overall, the pre-state competition “is going to be a huge meet,” Ayres said. “We’ll see a lot of western schools we haven’t seen and find out how we match up against them.”

Following are the top 10 varsity times for Bartlesville girls and boys so far this season.

Note: Jayvee runner Maryann Alvey has turned in two of the Lady Bruins’ top five times. Alvey, a veteran All-State runner and track medalist from Wesleyan Christian School, has to sit out this season from varsity competition after transferring to Bartlesville High.

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Lady Bruins top 10 varsity 5K times 2022

1 — 20:20.82 (Emily Lechuga)

2 — 20:56.24 (Emily Lechuga)

3 — 22:02.2 (Katharine Manley)

4 — 22:18.62 (Katharine Manley)

5 — 22:22.45 (Lauren Shoesmith)

6 — 22:54.15 (Reese Savage)

7 — 23:07.54 (Emma Perry)

8 — 23:43.96 (Emma Perry)

9 — 24:51.78 (Olivia Ontiveros)

10— 25:24.24 (Kara Stose)

(Note: Maryann Alvey has posted times of 20:53.15 and 22:02.46 in junior varsity competition).

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Bruins top 10 varsity 5K times 2022

1 — 18:34.76 (Tehi Chibitty)

2— 18:35.55 (Tanner John)

3 — 18:41.52 (Russell Miller)

4 — 19:05.35 (Russell Miller)

5 — 19:05.38 (Tehi Chibitty)

6 — 19:43.47 (Kayden Reyes)

7 — 19:52.14 (Kayden Reyes)

8 — 20:30.76 (Cade Winter)

9 — 20:34.48 (Reed Gorman)

10 — 20:39.29 (Jesse Espinal-Cruz)

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville High cross country runners surge into pre-state meet