Published: October 10, 2008 10:10 pm            

Maquoketa’s Miller receives

By Jon Gremmels

Herald Sports Editor

DE WITT — Trisha Miller admits that she lacks confidence on cross country courses. That seems hard to believe because of her success.

She shouldn’t lack confidence now after racing past previously unbeaten Morgan Casey and winning the Saber Invitational girls cross country race by 12 seconds Thursday.

“I’m definitely happy with this,” Miller, a senior at Maquoketa, said. “It’s probably one of the best races I’ve run strategically as well as time. This probably wasn’t the biggest meet, but it had the most competition for me.”

Miller, who is ranked sixth individually in Class 3A, won in 14 minutes, 57 seconds. Casey, the junior from Northeast who is ranked second in 2A, was second in 15:09; with Davenport North’s Kelsey Regan, who has finished 11th, second and ninth the past three years at the Class 4A state meet, third in 15:19; and Davenport Assumption’s Mary Menster (No. 5 in 3A) fourth in 15:25.

“I tried to make a couple of moves in there, and I finally got it,” Miller said. “I surged a little at the mile mark, and in the last half-mile I surged.”

The latter surge put her ahead of Menster and Casey, and she pulled away. Still, she wasn’t certain she would win.

“Not until the finish line,” she said.

Casey, who broke the 15-minute mark Saturday in winning the Clinton Invitational, said it just wasn’t her day.

“I kind of fell apart there at the end,” she said. “Something just happened. She and I were coming down the hill, and I was feeling really good, then something in me blew and I thought it would be a battle for second today.

“But I couldn’t have come in behind a better girl.”

Bellevue Marquette put three runners in the top 15 and won the team title with 91 points. Katie Flogel led the Mohawks with a sixth-place finish, followed by Andrea Frank (12th) and Anna Lampe (15th). North Scott was second with 103, with Davenport Assumption one point back.

        

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