WAMEGO — Yates Center High’s Drake Busteed pulled in a state medal by taking 20th place to lead the Wildcat contingent Saturday at the Class 2A State Cross Country Meet.
Busteed, a junior, completed the hilly 5k course at the Wamego Country Club in 18 minutes, 12.63 seconds.
He was followed by sophomore Brett Holloway in 57th at 19:38.28, sophomore Youngsic Kim in 88th at 21:27.98, junior Eli Spencer in 95th at 22:42.7 and sophomore Hayden Splechter at 22:43.74.
Yates Center head coach Rex McVey said the Wildcats were happy with their accomplishments this season, but disappointed at Saturday’s results.
“We didn’t run close to the times we wanted,” he said, attributable to Wamego’s hilly course.
“We walked the course beforehand, but we didn’t realize how tough it was until we started running it,” he said. “It was mostly incline running.”
The Wildcats, with 267 points, finished 11th at the state meet.
Ellinwood took home both the team and individual championships. Pedro Montoya, an Ellinwood senior, won the race at 16:22.71. Ellinwood had 47 points, ahead of runner-up Maranatha Academy’s 82.
“I’m happy for the kids,” McVey said, noting Yates Center returns its entire squad in 2014 and will include a crop of talented incoming freshmen. “I told them to learn from this race, so that in 365 days we can come back and do better. There’s a lot to be excited about.”
Wildcat runners compete at state cross country meet
