×
×
homepage logo

Chieftains roll at Maur Hill

By Shawn Linenberger - | Sep 13, 2006

Tonganoxie High’s boys and girls cross country squads each have a team title to their credit early in the season.

A week after the girls won a home quadrangular, the boys won the Maur Hill Invitational on Thursday in Atchison, scoring 45 points for first place. Benton High from St. Joseph, Mo., finished second with 53, while Hiawatha placed third with 75.

Matt Brock was the Chieftains top runner. He placed second at 18 minutes, 5 seconds. Justin Smith placed seventh at 18:48, while David Powell placed 10th in 18:59. Dalton Lawson was right behind Powell with 19:00. Colin Perkins placed 18th (19:24), Michael Shaw 22nd (19:33) and Chris Downs 27th (20:00).

“I don’t know that there was anybody who ran any faster than anyone else,” THS coach Phil Williams said. That was encouraging to Williams, seeing his top five runners run within 1:19 of each other. The coach said Dalton Lawson ran well during his first varsity meet.

Chris Price, who was one of the Tonganoxie’s top runners in the team’s first meet, didn’t run in Atchison because he was completing a three-day school suspension for disciplinary reasons. Price is expected to compete at Thursday’s meet in McLouth.

Tonganoxie will face powerhouse Kansas City Christian, the team that defeated Tonganoxie at its home quadrangular Aug. 31.

“Hopefully we can run better against them this week than we did two weeks ago,” Williams said.

Girls cross country

In the girls race, Tonganoxie finished 15 points behind champion Basehor-Linwood, which scored 53. The Chieftains had to settle for third. Christy Weller and Andie Jeannin finished third and fourth respectively. Weller’s time was 18:33, while Jeannin finished four seconds behind.

Addy Phelps placed 10th with a 19:39 time, but Tonganoxie’s remaining runners finished 30th or lower. Kezia Huseman finished 30th (21:20), Laurie Chenoweth 32nd (21:35) and Kayla Leffert 38th (22:50).

“They kind of reversed what I thought might happen,” Williams said, noting that he anticipated the girls would win the team title, while the boys would finish among the top three.

Tonganoxie had to deal with ailments in the girls race, as Jennifer Wagner didn’t finish the race because of calf pain, and Kayla Leffert wasn’t 100 percent either. Williams thought she might be battling allergies.

“That really hurt our girls,” Williams said. “Besides those two, we ran really well. We just need everybody running on all cylinders at once.”

Tonganoxie will head west Thursday for the McLouth Invitational and return home Sept. 21 for the Tonganoxie Invitational.

If the Chieftains can field a fully healthy squad, Williams said, the girls should have a legitimate shot at winning the McLouth meet.

“It’s going to be a real similar meet to Maur Hill,” he said. “A few different teams, but a meet our girls have a chance to win if we run well.”

Maur Hill Invitational
Boys
Varsity
Team scores
1. Tonganoxie, 45; 2. St. Joe-Benton, 53; 3. Hiawatha, 75; 4. Jeff West, 113: 5. Jackson Heights, 116; 6. Doniphan West, 129; 7. Savannah, Mo., 211; 8. Holton, 223; 9. Basehor-Linwood, 241.

Individual THS results
(64 runners competing overall)
2. Matt Brock, 18:05; 7. Justin Smith, 18:48; 10. David Powell, 18:59; 11. Dalton Lawson, 19:00; 18. Colin Perkins, 19:24; 22. Michael Shaw, 19:33; 27. Chris Downs, 20:00.

Junior varsity
1. Tim Beeman, 19:43; 2. John Davis, 20:54; 4. Pat Holton, 21:04; 7. Kazy Fukuyasu, 21:25; 12. Robert Brotherton, 22:16; 17; Kavet Letourneau, 22:23; 19. Ryan Stockman, 22:46; 25. Caleb Iamkui, 23:14.

Freshmen
11. Cooper Gish, 22:55; 12. Matt Titterington, 22:59; 16. Deven Howe, 23:53.

Girls
Team scores
1. Basehor-Linwood, 53; 2. Jackson Heights, 62; 3. Tonganoxie, 68; 4. St. Joe-Benton, 90; 5. Troy, 167; 6. Doniphan West, 167; 7. Jeff West, 178; 8. Holton, 185; 9. Bishop LeBlond, 190.

Individual THS results
(68 runners competing overall)
3. Christy Weller, 18:33; 4. Andie Jeannin, 18:37; 10. Addy Phelps, 19:39; 30. Kezia Huseman, 21:20; 32. Laurie Chenoweth, 21:35; 38. Kayla Leffert, 22:50.

Junior varsity
3. Kait Saathoff, 21:35; 4. Katie Chenoweth, 21:44; 12. Ann Erickson, 22:27; 18. Emily Hughes, 24:25; 21. Cally Owsley, 25:06; 24. Melissa Hughes, 25:31.