Chieftain runners face tough field
Benton Smith
Running conditions were ideal on Tuesday evening at the Tonganoxie Invitational, but the host Chieftains faced plenty of cross country competition.
Mill Valley swept the team titles at the invite. The Jaguars’ Jacob Rohrer won the boys race, and Jeff West’s Taryn Brees was victorious in the girls’ field of 77 runners.
The THS girls team finished sixth in the team standings and the Tonganoxie boys took eighth place.
Among Chieftain runners, Andie Jeannin had the best finish, placing ninth in the girls 4K.
Still, with medals going to the top 30 in both varsity races, Tonganoxie had two more runners join Jeannin on the medal stand. Alex Hauk placed 18th in the girls race and Caleb Himpel took 18th in the 5K. Justin Soetaert, who finished 31st, missed medaling by just one place — and about seven seconds. Nikki Beggs also came close to medaling, finishing 31st, just five seconds behind the final medal winner.
On Saturday, the Chieftains have another big race at Rim Rock Farm, near Lawrence.
Girls 4K
Team scores
1. Mill Valley, 39
2. Basehor-Linwood, 79
3. Jeff West, 110
4. K.C. Christian, 112
5. Santa Fe Trail, 116
6. Tonganoxie, 142
7. De Soto, 145
8. Anderson County, 171
9. Pleasant Ridge, 199
Tonganoxie results
9. Andie Jeannin, 16:44
18. Alex Hauk, 17:14
31. Nikki Beggs, 18:02
59. Nicole Gersbeck, 19:09
62. Jessica Somers, 19:17
65. Sarah Williams, 19:29
67. Lindsay Cox, 19:34
Boys 5K
Team scores
1. Mill Valley, 55
2. Santa Fe Trail, 69
3. Anderson County, 85
4. K.C. Christian, 146
5. Wellsville, 159
6. Jeff West, 164
7. Eudora, 169
8. Tonganoxie, 180
9. De Soto, 190
10. Piper, 193
Tonganoxie results
18. Caleb Himpel, 17:59
31. Justin Soetaert, 18:36
43. Keith Slater, 19:02
52. Patrick Rachford, 19:24
55. Brady Field, 19:36
58. Joel Dunning, 19:54
62. Cooper Gish, 20:42