Staff writer
The Marion High School cross-country team had six runners win medals in the 1A through 3A bracket Thursday at the Hesston Swather Special. The Hesston Swather Special separates each race by class and gender but has runners from classes 1A through 6A.
Overall, the boys team finished fifth.
Jordan Hett had the team’s best time and best finish. He was third among 1A through 3A sophomores with a time of 17 minutes, 37 seconds. He improved his time by 30 seconds from last year, but won the freshman race last year.
Hett’s plan was to stay with the front pack of runners for as long as he could. The pack started separating after the first turn of the race. Hett found himself racing with a runner from Hutchinson Trinity during the last section of the race. The Hutch Trinity runner broke for the finish line earlier than Hett expected and the Marion racer was unable to keep up. Hett said if he saw the Hutch Trinity runner again, he would be able to anticipate his move.
Patrick McCarty and Jacob Cope crossed the finish line in short succession with the second group in the sophomore race. McCarty finished ninth and Cope finished 11th. Both runners had an official time of 18:51, McCarty defeating Cope by just tenths of a second.
“Jacob Cope and Patrick McCarty pushed each other the entire race,” coach Bethany Carlson said. “They were both surprised by their finishing time of 18:51. They were both a little over two minutes faster than last year.
The sophomore race was also strong for Elizabeth Goentzel. She finished eighth with a time of 17:31. “Elizabeth has been working hard in practice and her work is paying off,” Carlson said. “She is starting the 2010 cross-country season two seconds from reaching her personal record last year.”
Continuing the Warriors trend of improved times seniors Michael Kirkpatrick and Derek Stuchlik improved their times from Hesston last year by almost a minute. Kirkpatrick finished 20th with a time of 19:54 and Stuchlik finished 25th with a time of 21:17. Senior Brandon Meierhoff was unable to complete the race after twisting an ankle.
Freshman Timothy Knolla also earned a medal, finishing 14th with at time of 21:30.
The Warriors run again Thursday in Peabody.
finishes
Girls
21. Sarah Eurit, 20:16
Boys — Sophomores
42. Nicholas Davies, 31:20.
Boys — Freshmen
28. Clark Kroupa, 21:07; 28. Jared Hague, 26:10