CHS senior takes second place
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
A group of supporters was on hand Saturday to observe as Centre High School senior Justin Garrard finished second in a grueling 3.1 mile run at the state cross country meet at Wamego.
The 1A boys competition began with a steep uphill climb and continued in a meandering fashion up, down, and around the rolling hills of a beautifully- manicured green golf course.
Garrard and David Gibson of Blue Valley-Randolph took an early lead and maintained it throughout the race, trading places several times. A last-minute sprint by Gibson resulted in Garrard finishing second with a time of 17:19.84. Gibson's time was 17:13.05. There were 90 finishers.
"I was a little disappointed at not finishing first because I had a shot at it," Garrard said afterward. "But I felt I had a good season."
"I think I can take some credit for it because I chased him around a lot when he was little," joked his older brother Grant.
Garrard will be participating in track in spring and hopes to continue in cross country and track in college. He plans to attend a KCAC school, such as Southwestern, Ottawa, or Tabor.
Three CHS girls participated in the 1A girls' two-mile run. One member of their four-member team was not able to attend because of a scheduling conflict, so they were not able to compete as a team, but the others decided to run individually.
Junior Dani Hatfield finished 29th of 78 runners, with a time of 14:37. Freshman Justine Jennings finished 73rd, at 17:17, and sophomore Brittany Owens was 75th, at 17:21.
Coach Stahlecker said he was pleased with everyone's competitive spirit and the improvements they made throughout the year.
