By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls cross country team rode a three-four-five individual finish in Saturday's Allie-T Invitational at Augusta to capture the team championship by a 55-68 margin over Great Bend.
Junior Madeline Carter led the Junior Blues with a third-place finish among 84 runners in a five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 54.8 seconds while senior Khloi Bird finished fourth (19:23.3) and freshman Payton Fink fifth (19:25.6).
Rural also got a 17th-place finish from sophomore Sydney Laster (20:25.5) and a 27th-place showing from freshman Rylee Ismert (20:59.0) to round out its top five.
Washburn Rural's girls cross country team won the team title and the Junior Blue boys finished second in the Allie-T Invitational at Augusta Saturday. [Submitted]
Senior Anna Phelps paced Topeka West, placing 19th in 20:32.9.
Washburn Rural's boys posted a second-place team finish behind Olathe South (26-89), with senior Alex Holmes leading the Junior Blues with a sixth-place finish (16:35.5).
Sophomore Hayden Keller finished 15th for Rural (17:00.2), while senior Spencer Haddock was 19th (17:05.4), junior Davin Johnson 26th (17:35.2) and Grayson Fink 29th (17:42.5).
Topeka West's boys were led by senior Louis Wilson, who placed 28th (17.39.6).
DRUSE, ESQUIBEL, NEWKIRK SHINE IN RIM ROCK CLASSIC
Seaman junior Bethany Druse and Shawnee Heights sophomore Jackson Esquibel posted top-five finishes in the Crimson division of Saturday's Rim Rock Farm Classic, leading their teams to top-three finishes, while Hayden senior Tanner Newkirk placed seventh in the Gold division, featuring the premier runners in the multi-state meet.
Esquibel placed fourth in the boys Crimson division in a five-kilometer time of 16:26.5 while his T-Bird teammate, junior Kory Sutton was sixth in 16:40.2 in the field of 203 runners as the T-Birds finished third in the team standings.
Senior Jace Moore led Seaman with a 22nd-place showing (17:01.8) while Topeka High was led by junior Michael Christoper, who finished 60th (17:54.2).
Druse placed fifth individually among 155 runners in the Crimson girls division, posting a time of 19:24.9 as Seaman finished second as a team.
Freshmen Joslynn Grace (20:23.0) and Stella Appelhanz (20:43.0) finished 13th and 20th for the Vikings, who also got a 23rd-place finish from senior Emma Schultz (20:46.6) and a 31rd-place finish from freshmn Anna Becker (21:03.4).
Newkirk, the defending Class 4A state champion, competed in the top division at Rim Rock, placing seventh among 178 runners in a season-best time of 15:39.80.
Hayden freshman Elliot Wrench competed in the Blue division, finishing 39th among 239 runners in 22:00.4.
