By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
WICHITA -- On a rain soaked Saturday morning, four local teams (Topeka High, Washburn Rural, Seaman, Topeka West) headed to Wichita’s L.W. Clapp Park to run in the Class 5A and 6A regional cross country championships.
In 6A, both the girls and boys teams from Washburn Rural qualified for the state meet and will run next Saturday at Rim Rock Farm north of Lawrence.
Washburn Rural senior Emily Graf finished fifth in Saturday's Class 6A regional at Wichita, leading Rural to a runnerup team finish. [File photo/TSN]
The second-place Washburn Rural girls were led by a fifth-place finish from senior Emily Graf, who finished in a time of 20:19.10. Two freshmen teammates also finished in the top ten -- Alyson Hinck in eighth with a time of 20:34.75 and
Morgan Munson had a ninth place finish in 20:41.04.
The Washburn Rural boys tied Manhattan with 62 points, but Manhattan finished in first due to the tiebreaker of their sixth runner finishing four places ahead of Washburn Rural’s sixth-place runner.
Rural sophomore Duke Graf finished in second place in a time of 17:38.44 and was joined in the top 10 by fellow sophomore Clayton Fink with a time of 17:51.16.
Topeka High sophomore Easton Davis qualified for state individually based on his 14th-place finish in 18:09.80.
In Class 5A, the Seaman girls and boys will send one runner each to the state meet next Saturday.
Seaman junior Brynn Spencer was sixth in Saturday's Class 5A regional at Wichita, earning a state berth. [File photo/TSN]
Junior Brynn Spencer finished in sixth place with a time of 20:06.18 and commented on running in the rainy conditions,
“Knowing that everyone would be running in the same conditions, I wanted to go out and push the pace as much as I could,'' Spencer said. "All the puddles were fun to run through and I’m just really glad with how I did.”
In looking forward to next week’s state meet, Spencer said, “I’m kind of sad that the whole team didn’t qualify and I’ll have to run by myself, but it’s been a great season with all of them. My main goal for next week is to get a better time and place than last year at state. Coach (Rick) Brading wants me to push for the top 10 and into the elite runners group in our school.”
Seaman senior Brody Anderson finished second individually in Saturday's Class 5A cross country regional at Wichita. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman senior Brody Anderson finished the boys race in 16:55.76, just 0.07 seconds behind regional champion Daniel Enriquez of Kapaun-Mt. Carmel.
Anderson talked about running the rain-soaked course, “It was a fun day to get out and race, but the conditions never produce fast times and that wasn’t the goal today. Coach (Luke) Wiens and I planned all week to go out today and qualify and put up either one or two points for the team.”
He is aware of what will happen next week, “State will be more strategic and I’ll be fighting for the win.”
Team Scores & Individual Results
6A Girls
Manhattan 19, Washburn Rural 55, Free State 59, Derby 118, Junction City 121, Wichita East 180
Washburn Rural
5. Emily Graf 20:19.10; 8. Alyson Hinck 20:34.75; 9. Morgan Munson 20:41.04; 16. Kenzie Maddox 21:02.25; 17. Reese Beardslee 21:07.50; 21. Clara Dillon 21:48.34; 36. Lily Palmer 24:26.64
Topeka High
45. Lyzet Cortez-Castro 27:15.15; 46. Victoria Reynaga 27:46.51
6A Boys
Manhattan 62, Washburn Rural 62, Free State 72, Junction City 99, Derby 124, Wichita East 128, Wichita Southeast 194, Topeka High 217, Wichita Heights 255
Washburn Rural
2. Duke Graf 17:38.44; 7. Clayton Fink 17:51.16; 12. Henry Laubach 18:07.12; 19. Brooks Kehoe 18:19.71; 22. Jaxson Adam’s 18:31.83; 28. Wyatt Shorb 18:48.82; 29. Brady Meek 18:53.26
Topeka High
14. Easton Davis 18:09.80; 47. Oliver Snethen 20:38.42; 49. Will Toland 21:01.72; 53. Matthew Hanes 21:05.31; 54. Amir El-Jammal 21:15.18; 61. Nicholas McDonald 23:43.81; 63. Sam Stanton 24:18.66
5A Girls
Bishop Carroll 38, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 41, Andover Central 104, Andover 110, Emporia 132, Maize South 160, Seaman 179
Seaman
6. Brynn Spencer 20:06.18; 38. Kinley Robinson 22:51.78; 42. Avery Villines 23:37.07; 49. Kennedy Gatewood 25:59.77; 50. Zoey Gooden 26:16.02
Topeka West
43. Phebe Phelps 23:40.08
5A Boys
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 24, Bishop Carroll 56, Maize South 107, Seaman 120, Andover 135, Andover Central 148, Emporia 154
Seaman
2. Brody Anderson 16:55.76; 24. Conner Bloom 18:39.12; 27. Weston Kennedy 18:50.12; 35. Emmanuel Armstead 19:25.68; 36. Drake Spurlock 19:35.59; 45. Abe Heffley 20:11.78
Topeka West
29. Ezra Phelps 19:13.11; 30. Cameron Parrett 19:15.02; 41. Maks Rodriguez 19:53.79
