Trojan girls, Bluebird boys among 15 qualifying for state

By NICHOLAS KIMBALL and DELBERT PETERS

Staff writers

The Lady Trojans placed second as a cross-county team at regionals Saturday, qualifying them to run as a team this coming Saturday at state.

Quinlyn Funk came in third, and teammate Riley Richert was right behind her in fourth. Jaidyn Frantz placed 20th, and Nora Hein placed 33rd.

Mariah LaPlante came in 35th, Trudy Hein 41st, and Grace Hein 54th.

The Lady Trojans will be at the Wamego Country Club this Saturday morning for the state competition.

Goessel

With a fifth place finish in a time of 19:04.95, freshman Eli Gaeddert led Goessel’s boys to a tie for first place Saturday as a team.

“I feel good about medaling,” Gaeddert said, “but I wasn’t feeling my best when racing.”

The temperatures were approaching 80 degrees with clear skies at race time. But the excitement at the regional meet in Wichita continued with the possibility that the four Goessel runners might do well enough to qualify as a team for the state meet this coming Saturday in Wamego .

Levi Olson came in 13th with Javin Schmidt and Aidan Impson finishing 25th and 26th. Not only did the boys team qualify for state; they finished in a tie for first place as a team.

The performance of a fifth runner is used to break a tie. Since the Bluebirds did not have a fifth runner, they were awarded second place.

Delaney Gibson qualified for state from the Goessel girls, as she finished in 17th place in a time of 23:22.04, her fastest of the season. Finnja Kula came in 39th, and Braylyn Hoopes finished in 41st place.

The Goessel boys race will begins at 11:10 am and the Goessel girl will race at 12:55 pm

Marion

The Warriors will be taking two individuals , Eli Klenda and Luke Wessel, to state Saturday.

The team’s leader and only senior, Gavin Wasmuth, was unable to compete at regionals Saturday because of illness.

“It was hard not having him out on the course with us today, and it’s hard to think what could have been, but Gavin had one heck of a career as a part of this team and has lots to be proud of,” coach Jason Hett said.

Gavin is a three time state qualifier, state medalist, and has been team leader for four years.

“He will be missed, but I thank him for his hard work and leadership over the past couple seasons,” Hett said.

Wessel and Klenda will compete Saturday morning at Wamego Country Club.

Centre

Kaitlynn Bina is the sole runner for Centre heading to state.

Bina finished fourth out of 42 runners Saturday at regionals in Wichita with a time of 21:33.31.

“It feels good going back for a consecutive season,” Bina said. “The work that I’ve put in is showing and I keep proving what I’m capable of.”

Bina will be a senior next year and has run at state her entire high school career.

“Usually, during big meets, I’m trying not to think about time, more placement,” she said. “Since it’s championship season, I really think about pushing through the race and finishing strong.

“The end goal is always to get to the final race.”

And she has done so two years in a row.

She will run Saturday morning at Wamego Country Club.