LAWRENCE — The Iola, Humboldt and Crest High cross country teams competed at the annual Rim Rock Classic at the University of Kansas in Lawrence Monday.
Iola’s varsity boys team came in 36th place, while Humboldt’s boys team placed 43rd in the 5,000-meter run. Humboldt’s varsity girls came in 30th place in the girls 5,000-meter run. Both boys and girls races consisted of 60 total teams from 1-4A schools in Kansas.
Crest’s Josie Walter placed the highest out of all local runners, taking an astounding third place out of 258 runners in the girls 5,000-meter run in 20:05.
Iola
Cole Moyer led the pack of Mustangs with a 76th place finish in 18:50, Keegan Hill followed in 171st place with a time of 20:14, and Brennen Coffield came in 176th place with a finish of 20:18. There were 327 runners in the boys’ race.
“I was so proud of how hard they pushed themselves,” Iola head coach Brittany Daugharthy said. “Everyone had season-best times. Our returning athletes had improvements on their times from previous years. I was also proud of how they pushed their teammates in a positive way. Overall, there was a lot of excitement going into the meet.”
Kaiden Vega came in 298th place overall with a finish of 22:50.80. Joshua Wanker placed 301st with a time of 23:06.10. Caden Coltrane followed in 310th place with a finish of 23:49.70.
“The main focus is just doing their best,” said Daugharthy. “We are always looking to improve on times from meet to meet, or year to year if you’re a returning athlete. We were also focusing on hill training.”
On the girls side, Lynsie Fehr came in 156th place with a mark of 25:10. Mahailie Genoble finished in 190th place with a time of 26:10.
“This meet provides so many things. There’s great competition, a large field, and a course that challenges our athletes,” Daugharthy said.
Humboldt
Kreed Jones led Humboldt’s boys with a 183rd place finish in 20:23.
Thatcher Mueller placed 285th with a time of 22:15. Brigg Shannon came in 312th with a time of 23:56. Jack Works followed in 316th place with a time of 24:08, and Nathan Swogar placed 326th with a finish of 25:35.
“This is a pretty tough course, but almost all of our kids who have competed here before improved their time,” Humboldt head coach Eric Carlson said. “Thatcher ran a good race and almost equaled his time from our home meet, a much easier course.”
Maxtyn Mueller rounded out Humboldt’s boys in 339th place with a time of 31:46.
