RICHMOND — Another week of competition brought forth a number of top finishes for area cross country runners.
Iola, Crest, Marmaton Valley and Humboldt high schools were at the Central Heights Invite Thursday, where the Mustang contingent delivered 20 season- or personal-best times.
Leading the charge for Iola was Keegan Hill, who brought home the 11th place medal with a personal best time of 17 minutes, 27.55 seconds on the 5K course.
Not far behind was teammate Cole Moyer, who ran a season’s best 18:38.20 to earn the 20th-place medal.
OTHERS also continued to build on their lofty resumes.
The Crest High Lady Lancer runners — ranked second among all Class 1A girls teams — had three runners in the top eight and all four ranked in the top 22.
Because meet organizers take the top five individual finishes to determine team scores, Crest was ineligible because the Lady Lancers have only four runners. Had they scored the top four runners, Crest would have easily cruised home with a team trophy to go along with the individual medals for Josie Walter (third place), Peyton Schmidt (fourth) and Aubrey Allen (eighth).
Fortunately for Crest, the regional and state meet will count four runners for team scores, and not five.
MARMATON Valley’s youngest runners continue to shine as well.
Brayden Endicott and Emma Louk each took home third place in the eighth-grade boys and girls races, respectively. Jaren Curl finished fourth among seventh-grade boys.
The Crest seventh-grade girls also cruised to a team title, with five runners placing in the top 13: Lynnex Allen, who took second; Piper Schmidt, fifth; Aidynn Edgerton, seventh; Jordan Allen, 10th; and Klaire Nilges, 13th.
Full results follow.
Central Heights Invite
Varsity Boys (5K)
Team scores: 1. Central Heights, 34; 5. Iola, 110; 6. Crest, 142
