CHEROKEE — The Crest girls were named Three Rivers League cross country champions Thursday.
Marmaton Valley and Yates Center also participated in the crowded field.
Four Crest Lancers placed in the top 15 in the varsity race. The last time Crest won a league title was 13 years ago in 2009.
Josie Walter, a freshman, took first place with a time of 20:25 for her Lady Lancers. Peyton Schmidt came in second with a time of 22:08 and Aubrey Allen made the top five with a 22:21 finish for fifth place overall.
Kyree Puckett came in 15th place with a mark of 25:41 to round out the varsity team.
“This didn’t happen overnight,” said Crest head coach Kaitlyn Cummings. “I’ve been building this program for over four years and it’s paying off. I was thoroughly impressed with how all my girls finished.”
For the boys, Breakin Jones was the lone Lancer to compete in the race and finished with a time of 20:16 for 12th overall.
“Breakin had some tough competition in the boys race,” said Cummings. “They were solid between all of the boys out there. He worked hard as the only boy” on the team.
“They are exceeding my expectations of how we did at league,” said Cummings. “We’ve been putting in miles since the summer so all the training doesn’t just happen in one day.”
In the junior varsity race, Dagon Denny, Jimmy Ayers and Wyatt Francis ran the 2 miles. Denny came in fourth place with a 14:20 time, Ayers finished in fifth with a 14:21 mark and Francis finished in 12th overall after a 16:44 finish.
Marmaton Valley
The Wildcats were represented by two varsity boys runners, one varsity girl runner, two eighth-graders and five seventh grade runners.
Marmaton Valley’s Kiowa Bloemer led the pack in the varsity boys race with a time of 19:59 for 11th place overall. Zach Allee came in 17th place with a time of 20:55.
Sophia Heim was the lone runner in the varsity girls race. She finished in 17th place with a time of 25:56.
Max Wehry was named TRL champion in the eighth grade race. Wehry crossed the finish line in 13:18 for the 2-mile race.
