Chieftain girls win P-Ridge title
After finishing third and second in their last two meets, the Tonganoxie High girls cross country team finally got over the hump Thursday in Easton.
Powered by four top-10 finishes, the Chieftain girls won the Pleasant Ridge Invitational with a team score of 32 points. They beat out Basehor-Linwood (54), host Pleasant Ridge (63), Jefferson County North (75) and McLouth (149) for the team title.
Tressa Walker led the way, finishing fourth individually with a time of 17:07.78. It was her third consecutive top-10 finish. Nicole Zerrer (17:30.71), Emily Chambers (17:33.15) and Isabella Behm (17:34.37) weren’t far behind, finishing in spots 6-8.
Sophia Wetta (18:06) just missed a top-10 finish, coming in 13th. Emily Williams (17th, 18:27.69) and Taylar Morgan (30th, 20:02.01) rounded out team scoring.
The THS boys finished second for the third straight meet, this time with a score of 46. They finished behind champ Basehor-Linwood (21) and ahead of Pleasant Ridge (80), JCN (106) and Atchison (127).
Drew Cook paced the team, coming in sixth with a time of 18:24.15, and was joined in the top 10 by Garrett French (eighth, 18:40.87) and Brad Andrews (ninth, 18:49.25).
Ethan Phillips (19:03.17) and Andrew Behm (19:07.38) came in 11th and 12th, respectively, while Dylan Staatz (19th, 19:49.23) and Jacob Tollefson (31st, 20:43.7) capped off the Chieftains’ day.
McLouth’s Emily Hoffhines (20:32.51) and Ashley Nelson (20:42.5) led the Bulldog girls, coming in 33rd and 34th, respectively. Savanna Noble (21:30.05) Jordyn Johnston (23:20.25), Thea Enevoldsen (24:23.17) and Emma Evans (30:23.17) occupied spots 39-42.
Meanwhile, Ryan Bristol paced the boys with a 21st-place time of 19:51.23. He was joined in the top 30 by Logan Hoobler (28th, 20:32.71). Zach Whaley (33rd, 20:50.89) and Tristan Funk (34th, 20:55.2) were the only other Bulldogs to record times, so the boys didn’t qualify for a team score.
The Chieftains and Bulldogs will both return to the course Thursday for their respective league meets. THS will run in the Kaw Valley League meet at Lansing, while McLouth will run in the Northeast Kansas League meet at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence. The Bulldogs are a co-operative team with Oskaloosa during the regular season, but the schools will split for the remainder of the year.