Panther harriers hold their own among big boys

• Ellsworth Panthers

Ellsworth Panthers

Talk about it

Ellsworth juniors Jaylen Pavloski and Isaac Taplin both ribboned and helped the Panthers finish sixth out of 15 schools in the Rice Lake Invitational's large school division Tuesday.

Pavloski came in 15th (17 minutes, 27.2 seconds) and Taplin finished one spot behind him (17:33.8). The top 20 runners were recognized as place winners.

"They put in a lot of miles this summer and they're working really hard and it's paying off," Ellswort head coach Jon Dodge said.

The Panthers finished two spots and 20 points behind fellow Middle Border Conference member Amery. The Warriors boast a pair of strong runners in Stephen Monette and Caleb Andrews who finished sixth and 11th, respectively.

At a race with a smaller field, such as the conference meet, Dodge said he doesn't think there will be as many runners between Amery's top two and his top two.

"I think points wise they'll be right next to each other at the end of the season," Dodge said, adding that he thinks Ellsworth has the edge because it's fourth and fifth runners are better than the Warriors'.

That wasn't the case in Rice Lake. Sam Mahaffey, an Ellsworth junior, finished in 18:41.5 and was the team's No. 4 runner. Sophomore Lucas Green was the next Panthers runner to complete the race, clocking in at 19:15.7.

Amery's Nos. 4 and 5 runners finished in 18:40.9 and 18:47.6.

Ellsworth junior Matt Priest's 29th place finish (18:02.7) also counted toward the team score.

The Panthers are back in action Saturday at Osceola. All the other Middle Border Conference schools will be in attendance.

Tags: track and cross country, sports, prep, ellsworth