Marion runner goes top-10, Goessel 5th as team

By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Marion played host to Hillsboro, Goessel, and other schools last week, but it was Hillsboro who took the cake among county teams.

Freshman Levi Allen turned in a strong performance en route to a second-place finish, and he was followed by Tristan Reed in fifth.

The girls team also found success, most notably with Emersyn Funk’s in sixth place. The Trojans had a good hit-rate in the girls race, with three of their four runners placing top-20.

Marion runner Gavin Wasmuth finished hot on the heels of his Hillsboro counterparts, placing eighth with a time of 19:21.04. Tristen Dye came in a minute behind, just missing his chance at a medal.

Christopher Beery, Cooper Bailey, and Hayden Mendoza finished between 21:20 and 23:20, consistent with their previous times, while Wyatt Helmer came in less than a second under 26:30.

Two-time state qualifier Heidi Grimmett did not run, but her time on the course last year was among her best finishes.

Dawson Duerksen led Goessel finishers by placing 16th, with Jacob Schrag just seconds behind in 17th. Duerksen had a time of 19:59.49 and Schrag came in at 20:06.27, each good for a top-20 medal.

Ben Olsen finished nine seconds behind Jacob Schrag, and Timothy Schrag was 1½ minutes behind his brother. David Sawyer was the Bluebirds’ fifth finisher, coming in just over 23 minutes to secure a fifth-place team finish.

Cassandra Rust finished in 27:52.27 for the girls, with Braylyn Hoopes coming in at 30:51.89, and Alyssa Boden at 31:10.49.

Goessel will compete Thursday at Harvey County East Park.

Contributions to this story were made by Delbert Peters.