WAMEGO –– Three area runners competed at the 3A and 4A state cross country meet this weekend. Iola High School’s Kaster Trabuc finished 33rd in the boys’ 4A run. Humboldt High School’s McKenna Jones came in 57th in the girls’ 3A run. Humboldt’s Drew Wilhite finished 54th in the boys’ 3A run.
Trabuc finished with a time of 18:05, a little over 2:10 behind the winner. Trabuc was the 10th best junior in the 4A run.
“At the start I was nervous,” said Trabuc. “I feel like I worked my butt off throughout the season and after coming out of regionals, I was looking at this race for a lot of improvement.”
Trabuc pushed himself so hard in the meet that he got sick afterward, invoking a story.
“A really nice old man I know told me ‘I know I did the best I could if I’m throwing up at the end of the race,’” Trabuc remarked.
Jones finished with a time of 23:25, coming in 3:26 behind the winner.
Just making it to the state meet as a freshman is a big accomplishment. Jones was the 18th highest freshman in the meet.
“I came out and gave it my all,” Jones said. “It was a pretty tough course.”
Wilhite finished the course with a time of 18:49, coming in 2:40 behind the winner. The state meet marked the final time Wilhite, a senior, will run for Humboldt. Wilhite was the 15th highest senior in the meet.
The course’s hills took a toll on the runners.
“The hills were really bad compared to other races,” Trabuc said. “I’d say this is probably one of the hardest courses for any runner. Throughout the race, I felt calm, but those hills can really tire you out.”
“There were just long, steep hills,” Wilhite added. “It felt like we were either going uphill or downhill forever. It was terrible.”
