Multiple Teams and Athletes Headed to State Cross Country
A large number of nckssports.com area athletes are headed to the KSHSAA State Cross Country Championships this coming Saturday, October 28.
In Class 3A, Southeast of Saline took the team championship on both the boys and girls side at the 3A Regional in Council Grove on Saturday. The boys had 19 points, which was 103 points better than second place West Franklin with 122. The girls team race was a bit closer as Southeast won by 43 points, scoring 41 ahead of second place West Franklin with 84. All team members qualified for State for the Trojans. Southeast of Saline had the top four finishers in the boys race as Brayden Walker won the regional championship with a time of 16:30.60, followed by teammates Levi Allen (2nd), Cayden Walker (3rd) and Jacob Bircher (4th). Ben Grauerholz also finished top ten in ninth place. In the girls race, Anna Jackson (7th), Piper Brown (8th) and Abby Commerford (9th) were all in the top ten.
Also in 3A, Beloit's Lance Lundine finished 5th place at the Great Bend Regional to qualify for State for the fourth straight year. Joel Abell of Minneapolis finished tenth place at the Sabetha 3A Regional to qualify for State at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence as well. On the girls side in Sabetha, Serenity Knoll of Minneapolis finished 11th to punch her ticket to the State meet.
In Class 1A at Sabetha, two area schools took home team championships as the St. John's boys and Osborne girls finished first. The St. John's boys finished with 50 points, 29 points ahead of second place Axtell. The Osborne girls won by the slimmest of margins with 59 points to 60 for second place Northern Heights. Top ten area finishers on the boys side were Jonny Hamel of Osborne (4th), Aiden Conrad of Osborne (5th) and Nicholas Niewald of St. John's (10th). Gabriel Roderick of St. John's finished 11th, while Harlan Pancost of Sylvan-Lucas (13th) and Luke Hollerich of Tipton (14th) also qualified for 1A State at Wamego. In the girls race at Sabetha, Osborne's Ryah Bertuccelli was the top area finisher in second place, while Kate Kendig finished fifth for the Bulldogs. St. John's also qualified their full girls team with a fourth place finish. Their top individual finisher was Christiana Niewald in sixth place. Codie Huehl of Sylvan-Lucas (4th) and Breanna Reeves of Pike Valley (7th) also qualified for 1A State.
In Class 2A, the Sacred Heart girls team took the championship at the Buhler Regional in Hutchinson. The Lady Knights had 38 points ahead of second place Sterling with 49. Gracy Dorzweiler was the top individual finisher for Sacred Heart in third place, while Mia Hamilton finished fifth place. Republic County finished third to qualify their entire team as well. Their top individual finisher wasEllie Callaway in second place, while Dakota Clausen-Peters finished fourth. Olivia Dail of Lincoln (11th) also qualfied for State on the girls side. On the boys side in Hutchinson, Sacred Heart's Brady Wells finished seventh to qualify for State at Wamego.
At the 2A Regional in Great Bend, Smith Center freshman Madison Howland continued her dominant season with a championship in the girls race, finishing with a time of 18:58.26, 39 seconds better than the second place finisher Avery Boydston of Ellis. Serrena Armknecht also qualified for State for Smith Center with a ninth place finish. In the boys race, Gavin Hickert of Smith Center finished in 11th place to qualify for State.
The full results from Regionals and all the info for State Cross Country can be found at the links below.
KSHSAA Regional Cross Country Assignments & Results
KSHSAA State Cross Country Qualifiers and Information