By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Freshman runner Levi Allen has been on a tear for Hillsboro all season and he continued that practice during Saturday’s regional race at Berean Academy.

Allen placed third in the boys race with a time of 17:14.6. Other state qualifiers for Hillsboro included Tristan Reed in 10th, Emersyn Funk 2nd in the girls race, and Moriah Jost in 9th.

Tristan Reed finished with a time of 18:21.2, followed by Caleb Diener in 19:33.8, Carson Linnens in 20:40.2, and Noah Bartel in 25:16.4.

Funk’s finish came with a finish of 21:19.9. Jost finished in 22:22.95, with Ainsley Duell close behind at 22:31.95 and Trudy Hein at 25:03.99.

He was one of four Trojans who qualified for next week’s state championship at Victoria.

Gavin Wasmuth led Marion during Saturday’s regional race at Berean Academy with a 12-place finish of 18:30.81. Of the team’s four runners who came after, each one finished under 22 minutes. Tristen Dye was next with a time of 19:04.9, with Christopher Beery 30.3 seconds behind. Hayden Mendoza finished in 20:23.52, and Cooper Bailey came in at 21:53.82.

Marion scored a fourth place finish out of 10 teams, but only the top three teams qualified for state. The Warriors’ excellent finish was thanks to having three runners finish between 12th and 19th places.

On the other hand, Goessel boys did secure a trip to state by placing second in their regional race. The Bluebirds were led by senior Dawson Duerksen’s 12th-place finish of 19.11.9. Jacob Schrag was next with his 19:27.8 good for 18th, followed by Ben Olson in 20th at 19:36.5, and Timothy Schrag in 25th at 19:59.9. David Sawyer came in at 21:29.5, and Javin Schmidt rounded out the group at 23:39.7. They will compete at the state meet Saturday in Victoria.

Cheyenne Sawyer was Goessel’s top finisher in the girls race. She placed 24th with a time of 25:07.7, with Braylyn Hoopes coming in at 27:58.2, and Alyssa at Boden 30:34.2.

Reporter Delbert Peters contributed to this story.