STATE TRACK: Lynx Ogg contends in 3A 3,200, settles for 4th; relay places 6th
By Troy Banning, DFJ Sports Editor
POSTED: May 16, 2008
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The Webster City senior broke his personal record in the 3,200-meter run by nine seconds on a sunshine-filled day inside Drake Stadium on Thursday during Day 1 of the 2008 state track meet. His finishing time of 9 minutes 40.99 seconds in the Class 3A race pushed him up seven spots from last spring and equaled his best ever finish in a state meet event.
But he wanted more. A lot more.
"No, I'm not really happy because I wanted to win it," Ogg said after he placed fourth, the same spot he occupied in the 2006 3,200. "It's better than I did last year, but I was hoping to do a lot better."
Sorry, Jesse, but your head coach, Tony Bussan, totally disagrees with your assessment.
"Jesse ran a tremendous race," Bussan said. "We always say just give yourself a chance and if it's your day then you can go for it. He gave himself an opportunity to be there, and that's all you can ask."
Ogg held the lead at various times, including at the 800-meter and mile marks. He slipped all the way back to sixth on the bell lap, but managed to pass two runners down the homestretch to pick up the fourth-place medal.
"After the first mile I got up to the front and I probably surged too much," Ogg said. "There were times when I sprinted to the front when it probably wasn't the best idea. I should have just stayed back and let it go over those last two laps."
A pair of freshman dynamos — Evan Selsor of Winterset and Ryan McMahon of Algona — went one-two in the 3,200. Selsor finished in 9:34.75 to nudge the hard-charging McMahon by less than two-tenths of a second.
"Credit Selsor and McMahon because they are two very special freshmen," Bussan said.
Jared Walker (9:35.84) of Mount Pleasant finished one spot ahead of Ogg.
Ogg's performance jump-started a solid day for Webster City that also included a sixth-place finish in the 4x800 relay. Ogg teamed up with Tanner Moen, Ben Lambert and Ethan Barnes to knock out a 8:10.26, which was a season's best clocking by two seconds.
"To be a senior and get a medal, that's real sweet," Barnes, who ran a 2:04 anchor for the Lynx, said. "We wanted to run better than we did at districts and we did that, so it was a good day."
Ogg — going on less than two hours rest following his 3,200 — shot off the starting line and pushed the Lynx to the front of the field. His opening split of 1:57 gave Webster City a 15-meter cushion.
"Jesse exceeded our expectations," Bussan said. "And I think that allowed the rest of our guys to relax."
Moen turned in a 2:03 split and had the Lynx in second after his 800 and Lambert clocked a 2:04.
The two medal-winning performances gave Webster City eight team points, good enough to sit in a four-way tie for 10th-place with Independence, Western Dubuque and Charles City.
Mount Pleasant and North Central Conference champion Algona shared the 3A lead with 18 points. Algona sophomore Chad Rutledge claimed his first state title in the 400.
The only blip on an otherwise successful day for the Lynx was a second disqualification in as many years for the shuttle hurdle relay. The foursome of Bret Hilpipre, Jared Wilaby, Colin Ryan and Ross Haren finished the race, but even without the DQ their time would not have been good enough to reach Saturday's finals.
