By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee County teams didn't necessarily get the day they were looking for in Saturday's state cross country meets, but 10 county runners earned state medals and a pair of teams narrowly missed top-three finishes.
Here's a look at Shawnee County's state highlights.
Tanner Newkirk finished third in the Class 4A state cross country meet, earning his fourth state medal. [File photo/TSN]
-- Hayden senior Tanner Newkirk came up short in his bid for a second straight Class 4A boys state title, but Newkirk posted a county best third-place finish in a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 24.3 seconds at Wamego Country Club.
Newkirk earned his fourth straight 4A state medal and posted his third top-three finish, previously finishing second as a sophomore and first as a junior
Newkirk led Hayden to a sixth-place team finish.
-- Washburn Rural placed fourth as a team in Saturday's 6A girls race at the 4-Mile Creek Resort, with three Junior Blues earning state medals.
Junior Madeline Carter placed seventh individually in 18:35.2, while senior Khloi Bird was 14th (10:15.5) and freshman Payton Fink 19th (19:35.4).
Carter earned an eighth-place state medal as a sophomore.
Washburn Rural's Madeline Carter (left), Khloi Bird and Payton Fink all earned medals in the 6A state meet, led by Madeline Carter (left), who placed seventh. [File photo/TSN]
Rural senior boys standout Alex Holmes placed 13th in the 6A boys race (16:13.3), leading the Junior Blues to an eighth-place team finish.
Seaman junior Bethany Druse finished sixth in the 5A state girls meet, leading the VIkings to a fourth-place team finish. [File photo /TSN]
-- Seaman junior Bethany Druse posted a sixth-place individual finish in 19:10.4 as the Vikings finished fourth as a team in the 5A girls meet at 4-Mile Creek Resort.
Druse posted a second straight top-10 state finish, taking ninth as a sophomore.
-- Cair Paravel's girls earned a pair of state medals en route to a fifth-place team finish in the 1A state meet at Victoria.
Freshman Zahra Lewis earned a ninth-place finish in 21:29.0 while sophomore Katherine Keys placed 19th in 21:48.0.
The Cair Paravel boys also advanced to state as a team, finishing seventh.
-- Shawnee Heights sophomore Jackson Esquibel and junior Kory Sutton both posted top-20 state finishes in Saturday's 5A boys meet.
Esquibel finished 13th in 16:27.4 while Sutton was 20th in 16:38.9 as Heights finished seventh as a team.
