Marion cross country takes 2nd at home meet
Staff writer
Placing fourth as a team and finishing three runners in the top 20, the girls’ squad weaved between a few sparse raindrops Tuesday at Marion’s home cross-country invitational at Marion Country Club.
Junior McKenzee Remmers was at the helm for Marion, establishing an early lead, second only to Celia Biel of Hutch Trinity, and followed closely by Shae Ware of Sedgwick.
For much of the race Remmers kept pace with Biel conserving energy by drafting behind her on the windy fairways, while fending off Ware, who remained hot on her heels.
Biel eventually pulled away from Remmers during the second mile, and Remmers managed to push a comfortable distance ahead of Ware to finish second out of 45 runners, with a time of 16 minutes and 23 seconds.
“I’m very proud of McKenzee,” coach Rebecca Hofer said. “Ware beat her last week at Herington. But McKenzee pulled way ahead of her and beat her by 10 seconds this time.”
Hoffer said the rest of her team ran hard, too.
“Some junior varsity girls stepped up and ran varsity,” Hofer said. “They helped us place fourth out of five teams.”
Freshman Meggan Freese was next across the finish line, placing 13th for Marion with a time of 17:48. Sophmore Emily Hague followed in 17th place with a time of 18:17.
Senior Kaylie Waner and junior Shyla Harris took 41st and 42nd with close times of 22:17 and 22:22.
Marion runners Rune Hagenmeister, Brittany Hett, and Kaitlyn Goebel placed 8th, 11th, and 12th in the junior varsity run.
For the boys, freshman Logan Waner placed 30th at 21:26, sophomore Taylor Fahey was 41st at 22:26, and senior Quinton Hett was 45th at 22:43.
Herington
Although there were fewer personal records set than last week, all three girls’ varsity runners finished in the top 20 runners Thursday at Herington.
Waiting for the junior varsity boys to finish, the varsity girls had a long wait.
“I feel like it was a slower course,” Hoffer said. “It was frustrating for all involved.”
Remmers placed third overall with a time of 17:01.
Finishing in 11th place, sophomore Hague was next for Marion, with a time of 18:37, followed by Freese who ran the course in 20:05 and came in 18th.
Girls’ junior varsity runners finished in a close knit pack. Excluding the 12th position, they finished sequentially from 9th to 15th place.
Waner came in 9th place with a time of 22:58, Hagemeister was 10th at 23:16, Harris was 11th at 22:33, Hett finished in 13th at 24:59, Goebel was 14th at 25:57, and Sam Fugitt brought up the rear in 15th with a time of 26:02.
For the boys, varsity runners Waner and Fahey came in 21st and 22nd with times of 21:48 and 21:58, followed by Hett who placed 25th, running the course in 22.08.
Last modified Sept. 25, 2014