John Yoder at Carol Williams 5k

Yoder wins Carol Williams 5k for third consecutive year

Complete Results

John Yoder, 33, of Houston, was again the overall winner of the Carol Williams 5k in a time of 17:20. The overall female winner was Vicki Danielson, also of Houston, finishing in 20:08. Danielson was 10th overall. Eva Luckey was the Female Masters winner in 21:59 and Willie Henderson placed 3rd overall to win the Male Masters category in a fast 18:02.

The Cougars had a pretty good showing led by Eric Sheppard's 2nd place overall finish and 1st in the 15-19 age group in a time of 17:50. The men's 15-19 age group was dominated by Kempner runners. Chris Pine, Evan Wilson, Bernardo Palomera, James Currie, and Brian Zita swept the top 6 places along with Sheppard. Double Dog and Snoop Dalal finished 2nd and 3rd in the 14 and under group. The lady Coogs swept the top 5 places in the 15-19 age group with Elizabeth Westlake, Veronica Rodriguez, Amy Machemehl, Nikki Gifford, and Elena O'Bryan. Elizabeth's sister Katherine Westlake also won a 3rd place medal in the 14 and under group.

Coach Dote Williams of Kempner won the men's 20-29 age group in his first 5k ever!

Overall the event was a success and the 4th Annual Carol Williams 5k Run and 1.5 Mile Walk is scheduled for September 24th, 2005. Thank you to all who participated and volunteered. We hope to double or triple in size next year, so get the word out and bring a friend!

Special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Steve Pine

The Pine's were extremely helpful at the Carol Williams 5k handling all of the Chip Timing responsibilities. The Pine's have also been very generous to the Cougar Cross Country team. KXC would like to give a special thank you to Chris' parents. We really appreciate everything you do for the team and we hope to have your continued support after Chris graduates. Thank you so much.

Sophomore Nicole Schinderle 

Cougars roll out 800s this morning

The team was out early Friday morning running 800 meter repeats. It was a beautiful morning with temperatures in the high 70s, and it was just right for running. The girls' team looked awesome today as a group, but the performance of the morning came from junior Tommi Higgins. Higgins ran a conservative workout but finished hard. She steadily dropped from 3:50 to 3:36 then 3:35, 3:27, and finished with a fast 3:13. Running right with Higgins was sophomore Nicole Schinderle who dropped from 3:50 to 3:16 over 5 repeats. Great job to both of these girls.

The entire team had a fantastic workout this morning and are showing great progress. Today we are exactly 4 weeks from the district meet. The Cougars have laid the foundation for success, now we are going to start allowing them to get some rest and recovery and work on speed.

Packet pick-up starts today for Carol Williams 5k

Come by Finish Line Sports in Sugar Land to pick-up your packet today and tomorrow starting at 3:30pm until 6:30pm. If you haven't signed up you can sign up at the store tonight and tomorrow, online at www.signmeupsports.com (online sign up will end Friday at 7:00pm) or race day at the Sugar Land Little League Fields. The store is located at 59 Southwest Freeway and Sugar Creek Blvd. in the Gerland's shopping Center. Special thanks go out to Mary Westlake, Sandy Machemehl and Carol Rainbolt for organizing and working the packet pick-up. For more information about the store click here.

V-Rod 

V-Rod speaks with KXC

Senior Veronica Rodriguez is probably one of the most well-rounded people on the team. As well as being a team leader, she is involved with several campus organizations including Student Council, FCA and Yes Club. She also studies film and statistics and is enrolled in several AP classes. During track season she focuses on the 800 and pole vaulting! She is hoping to make a big impact on the cross country world this year. We had a chance to talk to her about the 80s, meatballs and district.

Kempner XC: So Veronica how do you feel?
Veronica Rodriguez: I feel good, oh, I feel so good, uhh.

KXC: Alright, uhm, let's get started with a few no brainers. Tell our readers, what is your favorite movie?
V-Rod: Sixteen Candles with Molly Ringwald. I love the 80s!

KXC: What is you favorite food?
V-Rod: I love spaghetti with meatballs. I usually eat spaghetti or pizza the night before a race.

KXC: What's your favorite cross country workout?
V-Rod: 30 times 200 meters. Painful, I know but, it feels good to go fast.

KXC: What were your goals coming into your senior season?
V-Rod: My ultimate goal is to get a college scholarship. I would like to break 12 minutes for 2 miles and finish with a good place at regionals.

KXC: Looking back to last year, what were some of the things that held you back?
V-Rod: I think not knowing exactly what I'm capable of doing. I still have that problem but I'm working on that.

KXC: Which meet are you most looking forward to this year?
V-Rod: District! I can't wait to win this year as a team again, and this year its going to be a perfect score!!

KXC: What do you need to do to make it to the state championship?
V-Rod: Stay healthy, be competitive, and work!

KXC: How is this year different from last year?
V-Rod: The workouts are a lot more challenging and waking up at 5:30 am is getting tougher everyday, but hey, if that's what it takes I'm up for the challenge.

Veronica and the rest of the Cougars will be either running or volunteering at the Carol Williams 5k in Sugar Land on Saturday. The 5k race is at 7:30 am and the 1.5 mile walk begins at 8am. Hit us again next week when we talk with Chris Pine.

Sophomore Nikki Gifford

Gifford shines in mile repeats

Sophomore Nikki Gifford had the workout of the day on Monday. She had a target time of 8 minutes and was the only person on the team to make her goal time throughout the workout. Gifford started out with a 7:52, ran 7:54 on her second interval, then held on for a 7:58 last mile. She is making big improvements in her running and looks to be a big factor in the future of Kempner cross country. Good job Nikki.

The sophomore girls

Texas A&M a tough lesson for the Coogs

The varstiy boys started out the A&M Invitational and were led again by senior Eric Sheppard. Sheppard finished 17th with a time of 17:01. Eric said he was happy with his finish, he just wished his time were a little faster. Senior Chris Pine was again the number 2 man for the team finishing 46th in 17:58. Chris said he went out hard and just couldn't hang on. Pine went through his first mile in 5:15 just behind Sheppard who ran 5:08. Bernardo Palomera was the team's 3rd man this week, finishing 90th with a PR of 19:44. The Coogs did struggle in their first 5k of the season. The team faced some of the toughest competition of the year including the winning team Kingwood, who are ranked 3rd in the south region by the Nike Team National ranking system. They also got to see the second place team South Lake Carroll, who had the overall winner, Senior Kevin Ondrasek. Ondrasek is one of the favorites to win the 5A state title this year. The boys did not bode well in the team totals but were missing Sophomore Evan Wilson, Juniors Jacob Charlez and Kenneth Clark, and Senior Jay Gary; all of whom had been in the top seven runners proir to this meet.

The varsity girls were up next in the seeded race, which covered 5000 meters (the only time the girls will run this distance in a high school meet). The girls also faced some brutal competition in very hot conditions. Sophomore Elizabeth Westlake led the team for the third consecutive week. Westlake finished 31st in a time of 21:22. Senior Veronica Rodriguez moved up in the rotation and was running very well early in the race. Veronica was just seconds behind Westlake through 2 miles. V-Rod finished 46th. The performance of the meet would have to go to Sophomore Brittany Moreno who ran very tough over the 5000 meter course and was only 2 places behind V-Rod. Amy Machemehl, who had been running like super girl through the first two meets, showed her first sign of weakness at A&M. She finished 51st and ran 4th man for the team. The varsity girls were missing Ashley Longoria, who has been running 5th man at the Cougar Classic and 4th man at the Rice Invitational.

The program will host the Carol Williams 5k on Saturday, September 25th at 7:30am. A lot of the team will be racing and some will be helping out race management.

Texas A&M Meet Results

Follow the links below for results from Saturday's meet in College Station:

Varsity Boys
Varsity Girls
JV Boys
JV Girls