The Yates Center Wildcats have competed against some of the top competition over the past several weeks and have come out looking pretty good after competing at the Missouri Southern University Stampede in Joplin and the Rim Rock Farms Classic in Lawrence.
Twenty-seven teams from five states descended upon Joplin on Sept. 16. Finishing first amongst the herd was Wildcat junior Hadley Splechter who put up a personal best of 16:01.
Senior Colin Bedell was almost as impressive, finishing second overall with a personal best of 16:46.
Fellow senior Jordan Smith rounded out the Wildcat runners in the top 10 with an eighth-place finish.
Kobe Forsyth finished 33rd, and Asher Seivers finished 59th out of 149 runners.
The Wildcat runners placed third as a team behind class 4A Stockton, Mo., and 4A Girard. Yates Center was the only 2A team in the race.
“It was a great team effort by the squad with three personal best times being set,” head coach Rex McVey said. “I’m very proud of these young men.”
The Wildcats then competed in the Rim Rock Farms Classic Saturday.
The conditions were rough, as the heat and little wind wreaked havoc. Through six races, more than 40 kids were forced to drop out causing the final three races of the day to be canceled.
There were 350 runners in the race with teams coming from six states. Only four class 2A teams competed with all the rest being 3A-6A.
Splechter once again found himself near the top as he took second with a time of 16:21 behind Wichita Collegiate runner Lakelin Conrads who finished just two seconds ahead.
Bedell went down with a sprained ankle before the meet, making Smith the Wildcats’ number two runner for the meet. He finished in 75th with a time of 17:55, followed Forsyth who finsihed 152nd with a time of 20:09.
Seivers finished 180th with a time 20:32, Austin Moffet finished 281st with a time of 21:54 and Braydon Goulding finished 333rd with a time of 24:37.
“It definitely was not our best outing of the year,” McVey said. “It was very hot with little wind on several areas on the course causing much fatigue for runners. A couple of my runners were nauseous and completely exhausted by the finish of the race. We saw hills were an area we must improve on before regionals and state.”
The Wildcats will compete in their second-to-last regular season meet on Tuesday versus Eureka.
Splechter leads YC in weekend races
