Published: October 31, 2009 11:28 pm      

Deer Creek girls take fifth at state

David Riden believed his Deer Creek girls could be a top five team, and they proved it Saturday afternoon. Senior Hillarie Kessler finished 11th overall to lead the Lady Antlers to a fifth-place finish at the Class 5A girls’ state cross country meet at Mitch Park.

“I was proud of our girls, they missed some weeks with injuries and sickness, and they still came together and gave it everything they had out here today,” Riden said.

Collinsville took the 5A girls title, topping five-time defending state champion Bishop McGuinness by 11 points. Coweta was next with 85 points, Bishop Kelley took fourth at 97, followed by Deer Creek with 133 points.

Tahlequah’s Jessica Hembree cruised to the individual title, clocking a time of 11:58.

Kessler, who was competing for just the second time since returning from a leg injury, finished the 3200-meter course in 12:41 to earn all-state honorable mention accolades. It marked the fourth year Kessler had finished in the top 15 at the state meet.

“I did my best and I’m happy with it because I knew I couldn’t have done any better and I gave it my all,” Kessler said. “And I spent all last night and today praying and during the race all I did was pray. It felt good to be out there again.”

“I can’t say enough about Hillarie she’s probably a little disappointed about being 11th, but for someone who didn’t run for five weeks and couldn’t’ run a step and then to come back out and gut two races like she did that’s pretty impressive. It speaks a lot to her character, her work ethic and toughness.

Freshman Courtney Maichak shined in her first state meet, finishing 24th with a time of 13:07. The Lady Antlers later had three runners come through the shoot together, with Kristiani Miller, Taylor Melchert and Brittany Ransom, finishing 39th, 40th and 41st. Robin Rainey was 53rd (14:01) and Makenna Rickner took 58th (14:09).