Tonganoxie boys cross country 2nd at league; girls take 5th
For the Tonganoxie High boys cross country team to win the Frontier League title Thursday on its home course, the Chieftains would have to knock off arguably one of the best teams in the state in Spring Hill.
Unfortunately THS couldn’t break through against the speedy Broncos, but the team did take second after turning in a strong team performance.
Spring Hill’s varsity runners completed a sweep of the Top 6 spots and finished with a low score of 15.
THS placed second with 54, while Eudora took third (86) and Baldwin fifth (87). Bonner Springs (158) and Paola (165) rounded out the team standings.
Parker Welsh led THS boys runners with a seventh-place finish individually. He finished in 16 minutes, 55.71 seconds.
Solomon Carter was right behind in eighth place in 16:58.7. Jett Gilmore placed ninth (17:37.01) and Elijah Weatherford 14th (18:11.54). Piercen Eccles took 18th (18:30.27), while Huston Albert (19:08.23) and Reid Wilson 47th (21:13.37).
Welsh was first-team all-Frontier League with his finish, while Carter and Weatherford were second team. Eccles was honorable mention.
On the girls side, Kara Johnson placed seventh individually with a time of 21:02.85.
That made her first team all-league. The girls placed fifth as a team. Brooke Nihart placed 25th (23:34.17), Taylor Liebeno 34th (24:09.63) and Autumn Wilson 37th (24:20.67). Kate Wilson finished 43rd (24:44.34) and Rowin Pruitt 50th (24:57.58).
Baldwin won the team title with 50 points, with Eudora not far behind with 56.
Spring Hill placed third (64), Paola fourth (88) and then Tonganoxie fifth (126).
Louisburg (159) and Bonner Springs (172) rounded out the rest of the team standings.
THS coach John Tollefson was proud of how his runners performed on the home Leavenworth County Fairgrounds course.
“I felt great with how we ran,” Tollefson said. “We were up against a juggernaut in Spring Hill.
“Our goal to break up the perfect score, we didn’t do that, but we still took second.”
He said many runners improved on times earlier in the year at the home course and noted that Kara Johnson was first team all-league for a second consecutive year.
“Brooke Nihart ran a solid race,” he said.
The THS coach said Saturday’s regional should be a favorable draw for the boys team as it looks to get back to state and place as a team again. He also said Johnson has a good shot at qualifying for state again on the girls side.
THS will compete at Blue Valley Southwest on Saturday in Overland Park.
The girls race starts at 10 a.m. and the boys at 11:10 a.m.