MOUND CITY — Spearheaded by Drake Busteed’s fourth-place finish, Yates Center High’s cross country team qualified for the Class 2A state meet Saturday by taking second overall at their regional competition. MEANWHILE, Humboldt High’s Tanner Orth came agonizingly short of a state berth — about 20 seconds worth — in the Class 3A race, also at Sugar Valley.
The Wildcats finished behind Berean Academy with 55 points.
Yates Center had two top-10 runners. Busteed, who ran the 5K course at Sugar Valley Golf Course in 17 minutes, 36.36 seconds, and Brett Holloway, who was seventh at 17:52.62.
Others running for the Wildcats were Tyler Kennan, who took 19th, Hayden Splechter in 23rd, Matt Youngsic in 27th and Eli Spencer in 33rd.
The Yates Center runners will be at the Class 2A state meet in Wamego. Their race begins at 12:30 p.m.
Orth finished 13th out of 81 runners, finishing in 18:20.
The top 11 runners qualified for state. The 11th-place runner finished in 17:58. Ethan Bartlett finished in 21st, Joe Kline in 22nd, Ronny Jarred in 41st, Jules Jones in 54th, Rayden Goltry in 56th and James Mangold in 81st.
The Cubs finished sixth of 11 schools.
On the girls’ side, Humboldt’s Padyne Durand finished 15th in 18:08. The top 10 runners on the girls’ side will attend state.
Class 2A Regional Meet
Boys (5k)
4. Drake Busteed, 17:36
7. Brett Holloway, 17:52
19. Tyler Keenan, 19:48
23. Hayden Splechter, 19:58
27. Matt Youngsic, 20:05
33. Eli Spencer, 20:49.
Class 3A
Boys (5k)
13. Tanner Orth, 18:20
21. Ethan Bartlett, 19:27
22. Joe Kline, 19:28
41. Ronny Jarred, 20:19
54. Jules Jones, 21:09
56. Rayden Goltry, 21:35
81. James Mangold, 35:03
Girls (4k)
15. Padyne Durand, 18:08
39. Morgan Lea, 20:25
43. Kolbyn Allen, 20:35
Wildcat runners take second
