After rains postponed Thursday’s McLouth Invitational and the Sept. 11 Maur Hill Invitational, Tonganoxie competed Saturday in the Rim Rock High School Classic where numerous teams from across the Midwest converged onto the rural course located between Lawrence and McLouth. Tonganoxie last competed Sept. 4 in a home quadrangular, the team’s only competition before Saturday.

“It would have been nice to have a couple races,” THS coach Phil Williams said.

Not that the Chieftains are out of shape, but runners can only practice with teammates for so long between races.

Competing Saturday in the Blue Race, the boys team took 11th with 221 points, while Lincoln (Neb.) North Star finished in first with 73. Traditional power Skutt Catholic was second with 85, while Hillsboro (124) and Clearwater (138) took third and fourth respectively. De Soto placed sixth with 179. Casey Johnson paced the Wildcats with a time of 17 minutes, 7.79 seconds.

Corey Brest led the Chieftains in 30th with an 18:30.67 time. Andy Kolman, who ran into trouble midway through the race, finished 42nd with an 18:57.23 time.

“Andy cramped up halfway through the race,” Williams said. “He was in 15th at one point.”

Matt Chenoweth finished 54th (19:29.86), while Ben Brest came in at No. 55 (19:30.01). John Davis placed 71st (20:02.11), while Justin Smith finished 88th (20:32.10). Brett Garrett was 101st with a 20:57.28 time.

In the top high school division, Liberty (Mo.) won the Gold Race, while Baldwin held its own at 14th in the top race. Lawrence Free State came in 16th and Lawrence High finished 20th.

Girls cross country

Jennifer Wagner led Tonganoxie with a 34th-place finish (18:18.5), while Megan Holton came in 50th with a 19:04.98 time.

Tonganoxie finished 10th overall at Rim Rock with 220 points. Sabetha won the meet with a low score of 33, while Skutt Catholic placed second with 52.

Topeka Hayden finished third with a 117. As in the boys race, De Soto finished sixth, while fellow Kaw Valley League member Mill Valley placed seventh.

Other Chieftains competing Saturday were Elizabeth Smith, who took 57th with a 19:28.85 time, and Kelly Stauch whose 19:52.62 time earned her 59th place. Also competing for Tonganoxie were Kezia Huseman (63, 20:19.77), Amanda Chenoweth (77, 24:03.19) and Rachel Smith (78, 26:29.72).

In the Gold Race, Lee’s Summit North won with a score of 88, while Baldwin came in at No. 9. Lawrence High finished 13th and Lawrence Free State 16th.