By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior Brooks Kehoe claimed the boys individual Centennial League cross country championship Saturday at Jones Park in Emporia, leading the Washburn Rural boys to the league team title.
Kehoe took the league crown in a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 21.11 seconds as the Junior Blues put all of their top five scoring runners in the top 14 places individually.
Senior Brooks Kehoe won the Centennial League individual cross country title on Saturday in Emporia, pacing the Junior Blues to the team crown. [File photo/TSN]
Rural sophomore Clayton Fink posted a fourth-place finish in 16:56.01 while sophomore Henry Laubach was seventh in 17:03.26, sophomore Jaxson Adams ninth in 17:19.15 and sophomore Duke Graf 14th in 17:30.63 as the Junior Blues won the team title by a 35-54 margin over Manhattan and Junction City.
Emporia was fourth as a team with 111 points, followed by Hayden (138) and Topeka High (145).
Sophomore Nick Newkirk led Hayden with an 18th-place finish in 17:36.65 while sophomore Easton Davis placed 19th in 17:41.16 to pace Topeka High.
Manhattan posted a perfect team score of 15 to win the girls championship, led by junior individual champion Gabrielle Converse, who clocked a winning time of 18:37.56.
Freshman Alyson Hinck placed sixth in the Centennial League cross country meet to lead Washburn Rural to a runnerup team finish. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural freshman Alyson Hinck was the first non-Manhattan runner to cross the finish line, taking sixth in 20:00.93 to lead runnerup Rural (49 points).
The Junior Blues also got a an eighth-place showing from senior Emily Graf (20:05.52), while freshman Morgan Munson was 10th (20:17.43), sophomore Reese Beardslee 11th (20:26.07) and senior Kenzie Maddox 14th (20:40.39) to round out Washburn Rural's top five.
Junior Sofia Harper placed 16th (21:08.15) to lead Hayden.
Emporia placed third with 82 points while Junction City was fourth as a team with 95 points. Hayden and Topeka High did not field full girls teams.
All Shawnee County teams will compete in regional meets next Saturday at various sites.
Washburn Rural and Topeka High in Class 6A and Seaman and Topeka West in 5A will all compete at Wichita's Clapp Park while Shawnee Heights and Highland Park will take part in a 5A regional at Lawrence's Haskell University, Hayden will compete in the 4A Riley County regional at Leonardville Golf Course and Rossville will compete in the 2A regional at Marion.
