by Anthony Bozarth

| Rimrock Farm |

Hesston Invitational Class Races
Over 25 teams competed in Class Races at the Hesston Invitational
Monday. In 6A-5A-4A boys action, Wichita Carroll edged city rival
Kaupan Mt. Carmel 31-38 for the boys title, with Newton third with 43,
and Salina South fourth at 55. Ellsworth edged Hillsboro 16-23 for the
3A-2A-1A title. with Salina Sacred Heart scoring 50 for third. (Team
scores determined by places in class races).
In a match-up of two of central Kansas' top runners, Evan Cox of
Minneapolis won the senior boys race in a time of 16:29, with Aaron
Yoder of Hillsboro second in 16:45. Brendan Ptacek (Ellsworth) was also
under 17:00 in third at 16:57.
Danny Rice of Wichita Carroll won the junior division by a wide
margin in 17;01, with Ben Histand (Newton) running 17:06 to win the
sophomore race and John McGreevy (Kaupan Mt. Carmel) turning in the best
freshman time at 17:26.
Wichita Kaupan Mt. Carmel ran to a smashing victory in the 6A-5A-4A
girls division, scoring only 9 point in class scoring, with Wichita
Carroll second with 52, and Newton third with 54. Kapaun swept to 1-2
finishes in both large school junior-senior and freshman-sophomore
divisions.
The Crusaders were led by the one-two punch of Ryan Ayers and
Courtney Johnson. The pair ran 12:04 and 12:17 for two miles to place
1-2 in the freshman-sophomore division and won by a wide margin.
Valerie Siemans (Towanda-Circle) placed third at 12:53, with Kapaun's
Erin Rodgers fourth (12:58). Beloit's Lauren Eck won the small school
frosh-soph race in 13:05.
Kapuan also placed 1-2 in the large school junior-senior race with
Betty Hagan (13:13) and Emily Dittemore (13:14) with team mate Erin
Floyd third (13:19) for good measure. Peabody's Jana Windsor (12:43)
and Tiana McGee (12:53) went 1-2 in the small school junior-senior
race.

Hugoton Invitational
Defending 4A state champ Brittany Hill ran 12:40 for a home course
victory at the Hugoton Invitational. Kristen Radcliffe of Forgan OK was
second at 13:00, with Sublette's Whitney Stevens third at 13:07.
Hugoton scored 48 for the win with Holcomb (79) and Meade (97) second
and third in the 10 team field.
Bryce Foward (Hugoton) also scored a win for the hosts, running
16:41. Garrett George (Pritchett CO) was second at 17:05 with Holcomb's
Jordan Ottaway third at 17;28. Hugoton won the boys title with 58
points. Holcomb (89) and Pritchett (107) followed in second and third.

Shawnee Mission North Invitatational @ SM Park
Olathe East swept to the boys and girls titles at SM Park, with many
squads running split due to the KU Invite Saturday. East's girls swept
the first five places and six of the first seven as the Hawks scored 15
points, with a split SMNW second at 44. Amanda Miller ran 16:10 and
Ashli Kelso 16:35 over a hilly 4k to lead East, as the Hawks ran a 45
second split 1-5. James Swartz (17:29) and Josh Laaser (17:31) ran 1-2
for East in the boys race, as the Hawks scored 18 to win from second
place Kansas City MO Rockhurst (58).

Buhler Invitational @ Prarie Hills MS, Buhler
Ross Wildin (Buhler) and Nick Nowack (McPherson) thrilled the crowd
with a fast race over Buhler's mostly flat 5k. Nowack kicked early to
gap Wildin, but Wilden covered the move in the last 100 to score a 16:00
win with Nowack second at 16:02. Wildin has now won his first three
meets. Newton's Ben Histand was third at 16:38
Buhler and Newton staged a great team battle with Wildin's last
second kick being key to a one point win. Buhler scored 36 to Newton's
37. Salina South was third with 78 in the ten team field.
Winfield's Emily Thompson ran to a 12:51 2 mile victory in the girls
race, wtih Natasha Esau of Buhler second at 13:00. Buhler edged Newton
40-42 for the girl's team title, with Hutchinson Trinity third at 95.

Rimrock Farm

Gold Boys Division: Des Moines Roosevelt came into the hills of Rimrock Farm with a national ranking from Harrier Magazine, and for two miles of the race lived up to that ranking, seemingly dominating the race. But KU is a course that requires not only toughness and skill, but also strategic planning, and lurking just off the white jerseyed Roosevelt pack was Liberty's (MO) blue brigade. Up The Narrows, a wooded hill about 800 yards from the finish that breaks many a runner and race wide open, coach Tim Nixon's Blue Jays made their move. As the runners crested the hill and were seen on the Jim Ryun Skyline, it became apparent that what had been a close race was turning into a Liberty rout. Packing their scorers into the top twenty-five, Liberty scored 71 points for a stunning and dominating victory over a national class field. Des Moines Roosevelt finished a still-impressive second with 90, while Blue Springs (MO), a Suburban Conference rival of Liberty, was third with 134 points.

Individually, state favorites Colby Wissell (Kearney NE) and Paul Hefferon (Blue Valley West KS) wore a large lead pack down by The Narrows, with Wissell pulling away over the last 800 to a solid 15:25 win. Wissell's run was so dominating that after the finish he continued running down the chute, before congratulating Hefferon (second in 15:38). Mark Buha (St. Louis Chaminade), an early pace-setter, was third at 16:01, followed by Adam Scrogham (Lee's Summit MO North) in fourth at 16:10, and Austin Williamson (Des Moines Roosevelt) in fifth, also 16;10.

TEAM SCORES: Liberty MO 38, Des Moines IA Roosevelt 90, Blue Springs MO 134, Kearney NE 158, Jenks OK 204, Fremont NE 225, Emporia 228, Kansas City MO Rockhurst 279, Lee's Summit MO North 290, St. Joseph MO Central 317, Omaha MO Creighton Prep 344, St. Louis MO Chaminade 349, Shawnee Mission East 375, Baldwin 409, Maize 425, Lawrence Free State 427, Blue Valley West 432, Evergreen CO 484, Gardner-Edgerton 488, Lawrence 512, Cheyenne Mountain CO 531, Great Bend 544, Bellevue NE West 554, Lexington NE 598, Wichita Carroll 604, Springfield MO Kickapoo 661, Lee's Summit MO 884, Independence MO Truman 854.

GOLD DIVISION GIRLS: Gary Kruger's Lee's Summit MO North girls once again packed tightly and intelligently to win the gold division girls race, while the individual race saw Jana Gwinn (Blue Valley North) crush a talented field with an a 14:42 4k clocking. Gwinn, a sub-11:00 3200 runner, ran in the lead pack throughout, and then began pressuring the field after the course's first major hill, just past the mile mark. Past the King's Bridge and Heffernan Dam, about 3000 meters into the race, Gwinn had established about a four second lead and was clearly in control. Up The Narrows and over the Jim Ryun Skyline, Gwinn opened up almost a 20 second lead, and held it to the finish. Second went to Blue Spring's MO Stephanie Lavin 15:09, edging Fremont NE's Josly Dalton (15:10). Alysha Valencia (Lawrence Free State) was fourth in 15:14, while Liberty's Whitney Danze (Liberty MO) was fifth at 15:25.
Lee's Summit North maintained a tight pack, and using controlled tactics moved well late in the race to run to an 88 point total, with Fremont NE second at 123,. Liberty (MO) placed third with 153, just ahead of Omaha Burke (156.)

TEAM SCORES: Lee's Summit MO North 88, Fremont NE 123, Liberty MO 153, Omaha NE Burke 156, St. Joseph MO Central 184, Warrensburg MO 196, Blue Springs MO 213, Baldwin 248, Lincoln MO Southwest 291, Jenks OK 328, Bellevue NE West 359, Lawrence 365, Springfield MO Kickapoo 390, Liberal 413, Lawrence Free State 421, Cheyenne Mountain CO 426, Great Bend 446, Shawnee Mission East 452, Lee's Summit MO 456, Branson MO 554, Independence MO Truman 556

CRIMSON DIVISION BOYS: Sadly, team scores and official results were unavailable at meet's end in this division due to chute and scoring problems. Nonetheless, a tight individual boys race saw a pack of Aaron Geary (Blue Valley North), Todd Prauner (Omaha Burke) , Ryan Whipple (Kearney MO), Micah Schmidt (Raytown MO), and Brock Phillips (Wichita East) jostle for the lead throughout the rolling hills and valleys of Rimrock Farm. At the end. At the end, Nebraskan Prauner pulled away from Raytown's Schmidt for the win. Whipple was third, followed by Geary and Phillips.

CRIMSON DIVISION GIRLS: Wichita rivals Kaupan Mount Carmel and Wichita East dueled for the girls title, and an exciting girls race among state champs came into the final homestretch undecided.
A tight lead pack of many runners traded the lead throughout the race, but Ponca City OK's Chelsie Baldwin was always near the lead, along side Kansas state champs Michelle Stueve (Olpe, class 2A-1A) and Trisa Nickoley (Topeka Shawnee Heights, 5A). As the runners crested The Narrows onto Jim Ryun Skyline, Baldwin moved away from the pack and steadily increased her lead down the final straightaway for 15:24 win, with Stueve an impressive second at 15:31. Emporia's Layne Moore was third at 15:31, with with Centennial league rival Nickoley fourth at 15:38. Kaupan's Courtney Johnson led her team to the title with a fifth place finish in 16:03.
Wichita Kaupan used a strong 1-2 punch from Johnson and Ryan Aryes to shade Wichita East 132 to 167. Topeka Washburn Rural was third at 173, edging Emporia's 174.

TEAM SCORES: Wichita Kaupan Mt. Carmel 132, Wichita East 167, Topeka Washburn Rural 173, Emporia 174, Clearwater 186, Hays 270, Blue Valley Northwest 286, Wichita Carroll 289, Leavenworth 313, Bishop Miege 339, Evergreen CO 340, Blue Springs MO South 353, Topeka High 354, Pittsburg 417, Shawnee Mission North 424, Wichita West 438, Maize 462, Raymore-Peculiar MO 463, Dodge City 479, Topeka Seaman 497, St. Louis MO Visitation 510, Topeka West 598, Ponca City OK 610, Derby 642, Lexington NE 661, Wichita South 668, Olathe North 691, Gardner-Edgerton 706, Valley Center 706

BLUE DIVISION BOYS: The small school boys division saw a duel for the team title between Nebraska rivals Lincoln Northstar and Omaha Skutt Catholic. Using a 1-2 finish from Chirs Clymer (16:52) and Eric Noel (17:01), Northstar edged Scutt 73-85, with Hillsboro third at 124. Aaron Yoder placed third in 17:07 for Hillsboro, with Casey Johnson (DeSoto) fourth at 17:07 and Jay Lindal (Clearwater) fifth at 17:15.

TEAM SCORES; Lincoln NE Northstar 73, Omaha NE Skutt Catholic 86, Hillsboro 124, Clearwater 138, Goddard 171, DeSoto 179, Topeka Hayden 200, Kansas City MO Pembroke Hill 206, Girard 214, Sabetha 219, Tonganoxie 221, Mission Valley 254, Pike Valley 272, Richmond MO 363, Reed Springs MO 369, St. Joseph MO Lafayette 503

BLUE DIVISION GIRLS: Sabetha, defending state 4A champ, put on a team running clinic, packing in for a 33 point total to defeat Omaha Skutt Catholic (52) for the team title. Topeka Hayden scored 117 for third, edging Kansas City Pembroke Hill's 120.
Individually Pembroke Hill's Hillary Foreman dominated the race, running to a 15:55 triumph. Hope Winkler led Sabetha, finishing second at 16:12. Christina Shumacker and Katelyn Talcott led Skutt Catholic, finishing 3-4 at 16:28 and 16:53. Chelsea Underwood (Independence MO Ft. Osage) was fifth at 16:55.

TEAM SCORES: Sabetha 33, Omaha NE Skutt Catholic 52, Topeka Hayden 117, Kansas City MO Pembroke Hill 120, Blue Valley 134, DeSoto 145, DeSoto Mill Valley 174, Kearney MO 188, Goddard 197, Tonganoxie 212

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