FORT SCOTT — Cross country runners from Iola, Marmaton Valley and Crest met at the Fort Scott Invitational Thursday afternoon.
Josie Walter finished highest of all local runners, coming in second in the varsity girls 5000-meter run.Marmaton Valley’s Sophia Heim came in third place in the junior varsity girls 5000-meter run.
“Josie’s a workaholic. Her focus now is working on not starting so fast in races,” Crest head coach Kaitlyn Cummings said. “She’s learning she can gradually get faster, save energy and be able to use it more toward the middle and end of races.”
Rankings in the varsity boys 5000-meter race were: 10. Gunner Ellington, Crest, 19:06.72; 12. Cole Moyer, Iola, 19:15.44; 26. Keegan Hill, Iola, 20:32.14; 31. Brennen Coffield, Iola, 21:02.05; 33. Elijah Taylor, Crest, 21:11.34; 49. Ryan West, Crest, 23:52.11.
“The varsity boys have always done a great job of finding their teammates in races and closing the gap between them,” said Iola head coach Brittany Daugharthy. “It’s always exciting to see how their race strategies help each other. These guys are able to focus on the race at hand, but be thinking of ways to push each other.”
Placings in the JV boys 5000-meter race were: 19. Kaiden Vega, Iola, 24:34.21; 27. Brendon Newman, Marmaton Valley, 25:09.89; 33. Joshua Wanker, Iola, 26:13.27.
“There is a great atmosphere with this team,” said Daugharthy. “They are a positive group, usually laughing while pushing each other. In the six years I’ve coached, this is by far the youngest team we’ve had. But our veterans are doing a great job of making cross country a positive experience for our new runners.”
Placings in the varsity girls 5000-meter run were: 2. Josie Walter, Crest, 20:54.13; 4. Peyton Schmidt, Crest, 22:22.19; 14. Aubrey Allen, Crest, 25:11.66; 21. Kaylee Allen, Crest, 27:05.26.
“We’re progressing the way we want to this season, each course changes and I was really impressed last night,” Crest head coach Kaitlyn Cummings said. “It’s not going to happen all at once. To get better you have to put forth the effort and want to get better.”
Placings in the JV girls 5000-meter were: 3. Sophia Heim, Marmaton Valley, 27:14.07; 4. Lynsie Fehr, Iola, 27:32.65; 8. Mahaile Genoble, Iola, 28:28.82.
Iola travels to Parsons while Marmaton Valley and Crest are both at Wellsville next Thursday.
