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McLouth High girls corral Wamego Invitational title

By Shawn Linenberger - | Sep 15, 2004

The McLouth girls team would love to tune in about eight weeks from now for the same cross country time, same cross country place and same cross country channel.

The Bulldog harriers finished first Saturday at the Wamego Invitational. Wamego, by the way, is the site again this year for state cross country meets in Classes 4 through 1A in late October.

“The kids responded,” MHS George Karn said. “And of course the girls were excited they won.”

Facing teams from as far away as Norton and WaKeeney, the Bulldogs took first in the girls meet among 14 squads. MHS finished first with 91 points. Riley County finished second with 99 and Pomona placed third with 111 points.

Senior Hallie Watson was McLouth’s top finisher. She placed 12th with a time of 13 minutes, 43.04 seconds. Senior Christy Gunther placed 21st (13:58.98), freshman Hilary Turner placed 26th (14:15.42), senior Erin Watson was 28th (14:17.03) and senior Erica Meyer was 35th (14:37.57).

That’s a pretty good performance in Karn’s eyes.

“The thing that’s helping them right now is what I call pack running,” Karn said. “The No. 1 runner to No. 5, they all medalled.”

The team’s No. 6 runner, sophomore Liz Turner, finished 63rd in her best performance so far in her high school career. She finished with a 15:26.16 time.

“I think she had a big smile on her face at the end of the race and she thought she ran pretty well,” Karn said. “She had a good finish.”

Scott Smelser and Nick Edgell had big meets, taking eighth and 19th respectively, but the Bulldogs overall had to settle for a seventh-place finish out of 12 teams on the boys side. Smelser ran the course in 18:33.91, while Edgell finished in 19:32.26.

“On the boys side there were probably some that wanted to do better, but they did OK on their individual times,” Karn said. “But they wanted to probably place a little higher. They’re improving. Everybody’s improving overall.”

Freshman Vinny Brauer placed 53rd (21:21.73) and senior Justin Drinnon placed 65th (22:08.18). Sophomore Dustin Rainey placed 73rd (22:49.55) and junior Tanner Bristol finished 80th (23:40.17).

Norton won the meet with a score of 78. Lebo took second (82) and Sabetha third (95).

A couple Ginthers led the way in the boys race. TMP-Marian’s Cole Ginther won the meet with a 17:11.62 time. Taking second was TMP-Marian’s Tyler Ginther with a time of 17:20.75.

The boys and girls will be at home Thursday for the McLouth Invitational. The meet will provide a preview of the Delaware Valley League meet next month. Fellow DVL teams Kansas City Christian, Jefferson County North, Doniphan West and Jackson Heights will be at the invitational.

Jeff West Invitational

Girls

McLouth started the season off in winning fashion Sept. 2 at the Jeff West Invitational in Topeka.

The Bulldogs clinched the team title as they took first place among seven teams.

Hallie Watson led the Bulldog brigade with a No. 3 finish. Sister Erin Watson placed seventh, while Christy Gunther placed 10th. Erica Meyer and Neva Gardner finished 13th and 29th respectively. Liz Turner and Michala Karn also competed for the Bulldogs.

In the junior varsity race, freshman Hilary Turner finished in first place, while Kassidie Kramer placed 10th.

Boys

MHS finished fifth on the boys side at the Jeff West Invitational out of nine teams participating.

Top finishers in the race were Scott Smelser and Nick Edgell.

Smelser finished third and Edgell 27th at the meet.