PORTOFEE

The young members on a team are often a good indicator of the team’s future successes. This year, the Emporia State cross country team has four senior leaders but will need some younger members to step up, like sophomore runner Marcus Portofee.

“He is a very good up and coming runner,” said head coach Steve Blocker. “From last season to now, he has matured not only as an athlete but as a leader. His leadership is a vital building block to the future of the Hornets cross country team.”

Portofee, a pre-physical therapy major, began running cross country in junior high. He also competed in track and in baseball. Although he was successful all three sports, he knew he enjoyed cross country the most. Portofee stated that he always had really good mile times when running, which led to his decision to run cross country in college.

“I was always too skinny to play football or sports like that in high school,” Portofee said. “My junior high coach pushed me into cross country. That is when I became interested in running cross country. I have liked to run ever since I was young. I always did really well at long distance runs.”

Portofee said he tries not to think about anything while he runs.

“You can break yourself and it can be tough on you mentally,” Portofee said. “I just do it (run).”

With a senior led squad this season, Portofee will transition into a leadership role. With the influx of young runners, Portofee is taking the lead. He will try to keep the other young runners focused, mentally tough and keep their confidence high.

“Marcus is making the transition into a leadership role very smoothly,” said assistant coach Eric Wellman. “He has gotten a lot stronger and become a better runner. His leadership will be greatly needed moving into next season.”

Last season at the Mid America Athletic Association cross country championship in Hays, Portofee, ran a personal 26:13.00 in the 8K, finishing in 44th place overall as a freshman, while helping the team finish in eighth place.

Portofee has high hopes for himself and the team this season.

“I hope to get my 8K to under 26 minutes this season,” Portofee said. “I want to help lead this team and continue to push us to constantly be better.”

The first cross country meet on Sept. 2 was cancelled due to heat. The next meet is at 10 a.m. on Sept. 17 in Lincoln, Neb.

Marcus Hix

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Emporia State’s cross country teams got off to a running start last Friday when they hosted Newman in the ESU Intersquad/Open.

The women ran a 3200 meter race with a total of 16 runners competing, and started the season off on the right track as they had the top four finishers. Kathryn Davison, a senior from Topeka, won her first race with a time of 12:16.

“It felt great to just get out there and compete again,” Davison said. “Sydney (Oltjen) got her second wind, and I just tried to stick with her. With the four of us sticking together, I think that it really broke down our opponents.”

ESU had only six of the 16 runners, but five of them would crack the top 10 for the women.

Freshman runner Sydney Oltjen finished second with a time of 12:18 to start her collegiate career.

“I felt good all day, didn’t really know anything about Newman, and just wanted to run a good race,” Oltjen said.

Amy Feldkamp and Courtney Maddux rounded out the top five for the women’s team, finishing five seconds ahead of fifth place Taylor Carlson of Newman.

The ESU men also showed a strong debut in the 5K. Of the 29 runners, junior Asher Delmott led the way with a time of 15:45. The Hornets were able to place nine of the top 15 runners.

“I felt good the whole course, really pushed the pace, and my only thought was when I got to the final stretch was that the wind was going to be at my back the rest of the way,” Delmott said. “We really had some freshmen that stepped up today.”

Freshman Jacob Bull had a finishing time of 16:20 for his first collegiate meet, while William Hohmeier, Marcus Portofee and Skyler Delmott rounded out the top five with times of 16:24, 16:26 and 16:29 respectively.

Head Coach Dave Harris was very pleased out of what he saw out of both teams.

“This was a perfect way to start the season, with a low-key meet here at home to see where our runners are right now,” Harris said. “We have only been together about three weeks, and it is only going to get tougher, so we need to raise the intensity. This race was used as a measuring stick, and we really had people in both races step up.”

Chris Hopkins/The Bulletin

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