By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After finishing third in last year's city meet as as a freshman, Washburn Rural's Payton Fink had her sights set on a title Saturday at Rural and delivered a wire-to-wire win, leading the Junior Blues to a successful defense of their team championship.
Fink jumped out in front early en route to a decisive 30-second victory in a five-kilometer personal-record time of 18 minutes, 10.9 seconds to lead five Junior Blues in the top seven as Rural took the team title by a 21-35 margin over Seaman.
Washburn Rural sophomore Payton Fink won her first city individual cross country title Saturday, leading the Junior Blues to the team crown. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural's girls cross country team poses with its team trophy after winning the city championship by a 21-35 margin over Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I've been working for this for awhile and it just feels great to finally be here,'' Fink said. "Honestly, I just wanted to come out and see what I could do. I didn't really expect to PR today but obviously a PR is always great.''
Seaman got a runner-up individual finish from freshman Ryin Miller (18:40.7) and a fifth from senior Bethany Druse (19:31.2), but Rural rode its depth to the championship, with sophomore Rylee Ismert finishing third (18:54.3), senior Madeline Carter fourth (18:55.4), freshman Vilde Tronstad sixth (19:44.9) and junior Sydney Laster seventh (19:54.9) to round out the Junior Blues' top five.
"Our team is incredible,'' Fink said. "We have so many girls that are just up there strong, work hard every practice and we all do our workouts together. Everyone is in great shape for a good end of the season.''
"That's the kind of day we hoped for and they all just came out and did it,'' Washburn Rural coach Matt Swedlund said.
The top 20 medalists in Saturday's city girls cross country championships at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Sophomore Brooklyn Nolte added a 10th-place showing for the Junior Blues (20:24.6) while Seaman's had four runners in the top 10, with sophomore Stella Appelhanz taking eighth (20:08.8) and senior Leah Spurlock ninth (20:13.2).
Seaman junior Savannah Sampson rounded out Seaman's top five with an 11th-place finish (20:32.7).
Shawnee Heights finished third in the team standings with 95 points, one point in front of fourth-place Hayden.
Verena Trollman finished 15th (21:07.0) to pace the T-Birds while Elliot Wrench led Hayden with a 12th-place finish (20:45.1).
CITY GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Team scores
Washburn Rural 21, Seaman 35, Shawnee Heights 95, Hayden 96, Highland Park 150.
Individual results
1. Payton Fink, Washburn Rural, 18:10.9; 2. Ryin Miller, Seaman, 18:40.7; 3. Rylee Ismert, Washburn Rural, 18:54.3; 4. Madeline Carter, Washburn Rural, 18:55.4; 5. Bethany Druse, Seaman, 19:31.2; 6. Vilde Tronstad, Washburn Rural, 19:44.9; 7. Sydney Laster, Washburn Rural, 19:54.9; 8. Stella Appelhanz, Seaman, 20:08.8; 9. Leah Spurlock, Seaman, 20:13.2; 10. Brooklyn Nolte, Washburn Rural, 20:24.6; 11. Savannah Sampson, Seaman, 20:32.7; 12.Elliot Wrench, Hayden, 20:45.1; 13. Anna Becker, Seaman, 20:58.1; 14. Christine Gutierrez, Washburn Rural, 20:59.1; 15. Verena Trollman, Shawnee Heights, 21:07.0; 16. Elinor Stallbaumer, Seaman, 21:17.2; 17. Maria Christensen, Washburn Rural, 21:24.0; 18. Payton Rice, Topeka West, 21:26.4; 19. Joslynn Grace, Seaman, 21:39.3; 20. Megan Christenen, Washburn Rural, 21:43.3.
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