By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka schools swept the boys titles in Saturday's Class 5A cross country regional at Kanza Park, with Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge posting a 30-second individual win and Shawnee Heights placing three runners in the top eight places en route to winning the team title by a 53-61 margin over Lansing.
Shawnee Heights won the boys team championship in Saturday's Class 5A cross country regional at Kanza Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge and Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel finished one-two in Saturday's Class 5A cross country regional at Kanza Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Njoroge, who also plays soccer for the Chargers, continued his dominant season, posting a winning five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 17.04 seconds while earning his third 5A state berth in as many tries.
"I felt so good,'' said Njoroge, a two-time state placer. "I was ready, I felt prepared. We only had one (soccer) game this whole week so I had time to recover and relax.
"Coming into this race I was really ready and happy.''
Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel (15:47.09) and senior Kory Sutton (16:04.25) finished second and third behind Njoroge and senior Andrew Emerson (16:55.86) added an eighth-place finish as the Heights trio powered the T-Birds to the eight-point win in the team race.
Evan Carter finished 13th (17:16.88) and Landon Staniec 27th (18:29.42) to round out the T-Birds' top five.
"I'm real excited about how our team's developed and I hope we can get top-five at state,'' Esquibel said.
Sutton was also thrilled with the T-Birds' team win Saturday.
"That was the goal. That's what we were all looking to do today,'' Sutton said. "I felt like everybody did their part, everybody did well. We've been working towards doing well at regionals and then hopefully doing the best we can next week and compete with some of the top teams.''
Seaman narrowly missed a team berth for state, finishing six points behind Leavenworth (66-72) for the third and final spot, but three Vikings earned individual berths.
Zach Jowers finished fourth (16:18.04) to give city runners a sweep of the top four individual places, while Branen Moore finished 10th (17:05.96) and Adrian Swain 16th (17:48.75).
The Class 5A state meet will be contested next Saturday at Rim Rock Farm, north of Lawrence, with the 5A boys race set for 12:55 p.m.
CLASS 5A REGIONAL BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
At Kanza Park
Team scores
Shawnee Heights 53, Lansing 61, Leavenworth 66, Seaman 72, Topeka West 119, Basehor-Linwood 137, Piper 161.
Individual results
1. Lenny Njoroge, Topeka West, 15:17.04; 2. Jackson Esquibel, Shawnee Heights, 15:47.09; 3. Kory Sutton, Shawnee Heights, 16:04.25; 4. Zach Jowers, Seaman, 16:18.04; 5. Jonathan :Purvis, Leavenworth, 16:20.55; 6. Shawn Sullivan, Leavenworth, 16:31.16; 7. Jackson Steger, Lansing, 16:38.16; 8. Andrew Emerson, Shawnee Heights, 16:55.86; 9. Tamiret Rookard, Lansing, 17:03.47; 10. Branen Moore, Seaman, 17:05.96.
Other Shawnee Heights -- 13. Evan Carter, 17:16.88; 27. Landon Staniec, 18:29.42; 35. Isaac Song, 18:58.68; 37. Cash Reitcheck, 19:01.60.
Other Seaman -- 16. Adrian Swain, 17:48.75; 17. Landon Stuke, 17:57.65. 25. Joseph Yorkey, 18:24.37; 28. Tristan Vila, 18:33.68; 31. Corbin Murrow, 18:47.37.
Other Topeka West -- 24. Morris Blick, 18:22.80; 26. Mark Wilkie, 18:25.62; 32. Gregory Njoroge, 18:49.19; 36. Elijah Phelps, 19:01.54; 47. Brady Clark, 19:47.97.
Highland Park -- 40. Myles Curry, 19:27.15; 52. LaShawn McFarland, 22:30.84.
Individual state qualifiers -- Lenny Njoroge, Topeka West; Zach Jowers, Seaman; Branen Moore, Seaman; Cody Ford, Basehor-Linwood; Adrian Swaim, Seaman.
