Hinkelman continues winning at Covington Invitational

The cross country teams were back early in the morning at the annual Covington Buccaneer FOE 3998 Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 30. Junior Colin Hinkelman walked away with his second first place win of the season and third top five finish.

Hinkelman finished the race in a time of 16:27.1, finishing nearly 14 seconds faster than second place. Not far behind was his younger brother, freshman Grant Hinkelman, finishing in fourth with a time of 16:54.3. 

Next in for the boys was senior Andrew Oaks, who placed 14th in a time of 17:43.0. Another senior, Chase Parsons, came next in 18th at a time of 18:00.2. And rounding out the top five for the ‘dogs was senior Tyler Shoemaker, who placed 39th in a time of 19:17.1. 

These times dropped significantly from their race just the weekend prior. The boys also placed second overall behind non-conference team Russia. At just this invitational, they beat out five of their conference opponents, which gives the team hope that they will achieve their goal of a 3-peat in mid-October. 

The girls team also dropped their times in comparison to their performances at the Bob Schul Invitational. Aubree Bates finished in fourth place with a time of 20:44.9, leading her team. Next in was Madlayn Korte who placed 24th in a time of 23:04.6 and only a few seconds behind her was Sydnie Bartlett who placed 27th with a time of 23:07.2. Amelia Iddings came in right behind, in a placement of 29th and a time of 23:19.4. And finally rounding out the top five for the girls side was senior Alaina Manning who placed 38th in a time of 24:36.9. 

The girls’ team placed third overall, only falling to conference opponent Miami East. Head coach Mike Meredith shared in early summer that his goal was for both teams to achieve a 3-peat, so it is key that the ‘dogs work to outrun the Vikings within the next month. 

With much improvement on both sides in just seven days, the rest of the season is looking bright for the cross country teams. They will be racing at the Brookville Invitational on September 6 and at Troy’s Twilight Meet on September 13.