A pair of Eastern runners over Marietta’s Ezra Minard (109) and Casey Science (112) as part of the lead pack during the first half of the Jeremy Anderson Invitational Men’s Cross Country Tournament at Fort Fry High School in Beverly on Saturday. Minard was runner-up and Science was sixth as the Tigers won the team championship.

BEVERLY — If perseverance were to be awarded a medal, Marietta Jr.’s Ezra Minard would be the rock. put your hands down

A week after giving Marietta High School’s cross-country family a big scare, Minard returned to training this week and finished in the semis at the Jeremy Anderson Invitational on Saturday’s Fort Fly High School campus while leading the Tigers to a team title. Won.

At the Scenic Hills Invitational at Warren High School last Saturday, Minard collapsed from exhaustion after falling several times on the course before crossing the finish line.

“Doctors think I’m dehydrated, so it’s not permanent or long-term.” Minard clocked a time of 15:31, a second slower than Portsmouth’s Charles Putnam. “I took him two days off and then two days of easy running. He did a day of light training and he felt better.

“I was nervous today. I lost confidence after the last race, but today I regained that confidence.

Despite Minard telling doctors and Marietta’s coaching staff that she was ready to return, Tiger head coach Abby Ketersen quickly raised the warning flag and said her first runner was not working out. I made her presence known every time I did.

“I was in contact with Ezra several times a week and it bothered him a lot.” Ketersen said. “We did some light training on Thursday to test him out and he was great. He said he felt 100% better and better than ever.

“After last week we opened the door for more communication. I trusted him because I knew he would scare us. He wanted to go out.” I told him it’s okay to get the feeling he’s running probably third on our team. I think I have proved that

A total of three Marietta runners made it into the top 10, including Kasy Science (15:59) in 6th and Ben Bauserman (17:42) in 10th. As a team, the Tigers scored his 30 points, well ahead of second place Warren’s 69 points.

As with last week, Minard was caught in pursuit by two men in the final 300 meters to the football stadium. 2nd place for 2 weeks in a row. On Saturday, Minard looked much more alert and had good spirits on his feet as he reached the finish line.

“We are working on the speed job later in the year. My top speed is not there yet.” Minard said. “When it comes to championship season, you get there when it counts.”

As is his style with a sprinter background, Science beat the homestretch with a time of 15:59.

“I’ve been coaching Kasy on the track for four years. He’s a whole new long-distance runner.” Ketersen said. “I always tell him, ‘Kasy, you’re a sprinter turned long-distance runner. This is him one of the best we have. Your kicks are your best quality.’

“And every race I ask him if he can start a little earlier. is what he does and it works for him.”

Kelly Patrick can be reached at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com.