MHS girls' cross country ties for first
Pace by Danielle Cope's second-place individual finish, the Marion High School girls' varsity cross country team finished in a three-way tie for first place Thursday at the Mid — Central Activities Association league meet.
The team finish was the highest for Marion at the league meet since the school began fielding a cross country team.
The Lady Warriors tied with Halstead, ranked fourth in Class 3-A by the Kansas Cross Country Track & Field Coaches Association, and Smoky Valley. All three had 57 points.
A tie-breaking system was needed to determine the ultimate team winner. Halstead was declared league champion, with Smoky Valley second and Marion third.
Ellinwood was the host school for the event, which was contested on an undeveloped, undulating section of the Lake Barton Golf Course, north of Great Bend.
Cope bolted to the lead at the outset of the race, with Halstead's Emma Hawkins in hot pursuit.
The pair quickly separated themselves from the pack, and dueled until a late burst by Hawkins in the final quarter mile propelled her past Cope to the win, clocking in at 16:34. Cope crossed the line with a time of 16:56.
Marion's Camille Christensen was close behind, capturing fourth place in the 44-person race, finishing in 17:12.
Tacy Taylor (13th, 17:54), Jaclyn DeForest (17th, 18:03), Brooke Johnson (29th, 19:10), and Katie Hett (35th, 19:45) rounded out the Lady Warrior contingent.
On the varsity boys' side, state-ranked Sterling (1st, Class 2-A) and Hillsboro (5th, Class 3-A) headlined a strong overall field.
Marion's Daniel Goentzel settled into seventh position in the early portion of the race. He climbed up to fifth by the finish, with a time of 17:37, 65 seconds behind winner Kaleb Humphreys, of Sterling.
Warrior Louis Holt nailed down 17th place, running a time of 18:27. Ryan Jones was close behind in 19th position, posting an 18:44 mark.
Luke Bowers; (24th, 18:58), Matt Kirkpatrick (46th, 19:47), and Ben Leppke (60th, 21:35) completed the team scoring for Marion.
Sterling was the class of the men's field, outdistancing runner-up Hillsboro by 24 points. Marion finished fifth in the team standings.
Marion will travel Saturday to Wichita to compete in the sub-state meet to be held at Cessna Activity Center. The girls' race starts at noon, with the boys to follow at 12:30.
The top three boys' and girls' teams, as well as the top 10 runners, will advance to state competition in Wamego the following week.
