Staff writer
Marion High School cross-country runners Ryan Jones and Jordan Hett both placed in the top 15 at a national qualifying race in Garnett and earned the right to compete in the national cross-country meet, Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
Hett and Jones joined the Brocaw Blazers, a team of runners from all over Kansas and Western Missouri based in Kansas City, after the high school cross-country season ended. Both runners were invited by Blazers coach David Ramsey after medaling at the 3A state championship meet at Wamego: Hett finished ninth with a time of 17 minutes, 40.07 seconds and Jones finished 18th with a time of 18:02.63.
At Garnett, Hett finished 10th in the 15 to 16-year-old age group and Jones finished 12th in the 17 to 18 age group. The top 15 runners in each age each won medals and medal winners were invited to the national meet.
Jones said the competition at Garnett was fierce — the top competitors finished with times around 16:30 — but there were fewer runners, only about 30 high school-aged competitors. At the state competition they competed with 100 runners. The course at Garnett was not as difficult as Wamego, Jones said.
“It’s funny; my time was actually a little worse than at Wamego,” Jones said. “I ran an 18:30.”
Jones will run with the Blazers in Nashville. The Blazers have won 80 national cross-country team championships, including eight of 12 age divisions last year. The Young Men’s division, 17-to 18-year-olds, is one of the divisions where the Blazers are looking to repeat as champions.
“The results from previous years speak for themselves,” Ramsey said of the Blazers success. “I want them to keep getting better as they get older and older. That’s why we have so many kids participating in college.”
Jones’ and Hett’s invitations to join the Blazers are unprecedented territory for Marion cross-country.
“I’ve never had an athlete compete outside of the season,” Marion head coach Bethany Carlson said.
Hett has decided not to compete at nationals. He will focus instead on the upcoming basketball season.