By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For the second straight week, Washburn Rural's girls cross country team posted a 1-2-3 individual finish and for the second straight week that was enough to enable the Junior Blues to edge Seaman for a team champioship.
After taking a close win over the Vikings in last week's Seaman Invitational, Rural and Seaman also waged a tight battle in Saturday's city championships at the Kanza Park Course, with the Junior Blues taking the city title by a 24-33 margin.
Junior Madeline Carter was the ring leader for the Junior Blues, repeating as the city individual champion in a five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 14.9 seconds, while senior Khloi Bird finished second in 18:29.1 and freshman Payton Fink was third in 18:42.3.
"You can't complain about that,'' Washburn Rural coach Matt Swedlund said. "We were very happy.
"We knew it was going to be a battle and you couldn't just show up and expect to win today. You were going to have to run a good race.''
Washburn Rural's Madeline Carter (left), Khloi Bird and Payton Fink set the pace in Saturday's city cross country meet en route to a 1-2-3 finish. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Sophomore Sydney Laster finished eighth for the Junior Blues (20:11.6) while freshman Rylee Ismert was 10th (20:26.0) to round out Washburn Rural's top five.
"That's the goal,'' Swedlund said. "We're working on making sure our 4 and 5 are not far behind.''
Carter ran with her teammates, Bird and Fink, and Seaman's Bethany Druse early on before pulling away as the race went on.
"I was definitely feeling the nerves this morning because it's been a goal of mine all season to come back and defend, so it was really good to get that and I'm feeling good about the work I put in,'' Carter said.
Druse, a junior, finished fourth individually (18:48.7) to lead runner-up Seaman, while freshman Joslynn Grace was fifth (19:39.0), senior Emma Schultz sixth (19:50.8), freshman Stella Appelhanz seventh (19:58.4), freshman Anna Becker 11th (20:42.9) and junior Leah Spurlock 12th (20:47.9) for the Vikings.
Hayden freshman Elliot Wrench led the Wildcats to a third-place team finish, taking ninth (20:19.6).
CITY GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Team scores
Washburn Rural 24, Seaman 33, Hayden 94, Shawnee Heights 114, Topeka West 115.
Individual results
1. Madeline Carter, Washburn Rural, 18:14.9; 2. Khloi Bird, Washburn Rural, 18:29.1; 3. Payton Fink, Washburn Rural, 18:42.3; 4. Bethany Druse, Seaman, 18:48.7; 5. Joslynn Grace, Seaman, 19:39.0; 6. Emma Schultz, Seaman, 19:50.8; 7. Stella Appelhanz, Seaman, 19:58.4; 8. Sydney Laster, Washburn Rural, 20:11.6; 9. Elliot Wrench, Hayden, 20:19.6; 10. Rylee Ismert, Washburn Rural, 20:26.0.
Other Washburn Rural -- 14. Brooklyn Nolte, 21:13.5; 15. Christine Gutierrez, 21:21.3.
Other Seaman -- 11. Anna Becker, 20:42.9; 12. Leah Spurlock, 20:47.9.
Other Hayden -- 21. Elaina Wolff, 22:19.2; 33. Riley Schmidtlein, 23:48.1; 38. Catherine Doyle, 24:14.4; 40. Hayden Haas, 24:18.8; 53. Vicki Sims, 29:27.5; 54. Brianna Ramirez, 29:37.7.
Shawnee Heights -- 30. Shea Marney, 23:12.0; 35. Brynne Liedtke, 23:52.8; 36. Elizabeth Hogan, 24:08.8; 42. Mae Jordan, 25:04.2; 44. Ella Myers, 25:28.1; 50. Isabelle Hogan, 28:36.1; 51. McKenna Haltom, 28:41.0.
Cair Paravel Latin -- 25. Zahra Lewis, 22:29.3; 29. Katherine Keys, 23:02.6; 43. Jaley Barkley, 25:24.0; 58. Amelia Bowling, 30:56.6.
Topeka West -- 13. Anna Phelps, 20:59.0; 32. Chloe Phelps, 23:38.1; 39. Mikayla Jefferies, 24:18.6; 47. Braya Bogart, 26:43.1; 52. Hannah Allen, 29:06.4.
Topeka High -- 28. Marilena Zuniga, 22:53.0; 45. Erika Cabral, 25:35.0; 49. Emma Ludlum, 27:27.1.
Highland Park -- 46. Jimena Alvarez, 26:23.6; 59. Katelyn Brown, 31:08.8; 61. Garcia-Hernandez, 33:40.8; 62. Gissele Aguilera, 36:34.0.
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