The cross country season started off with a bang for many area teams as they competed against each at the Jeff West Invitational at Topeka this past Thursday (September 5th) and it was the Big Seven stealing the show with Hiawatha, Sabetha and Royal Valley highlighting the area top performances.

On the girls side the dominance of Hiawatha Red Hawk, Jordan Puvogel continued into her junior season cruising to a win in her opening race of the season finishing with a time of 16:51.31 nearly 40 seconds better than second place.

Top performances continued to roll in for Hiawatha as freshman, Molly Kettler (17:56.08) took home sixth place and sophomore, Kailey Davis (18:25.26) place ninth helping Hiawatha cap of the meet on the girls side with a third place team finish.

Fellow Big Seven team the Sabetha Bluejays put on a strong performance as well in the girls competition with sophomore, Taryn Schuette leading the way with her fifth place finish (17:44.20). Her teammates, junior, Miranda Huettner and senior, Brianna Gruber finished in 11th and 12th place for the lady Bluejays notching times of 18:29.50 and 18:32.41, respectively helping Sabetha grab a fourth place team finish.

ACCHS, back in the Big Seven had a pair of top 20 finishers pushing them to a fifth place team finish as they were led by sophomore, Madison Bissell who placed seventh (18:01.84) while fellow Tiger sophomore, Rebekah Scholz took home 18th (18:59.80).

Royal Valley, Perry Lecompton and Onaga each placed a runner in the top 20 in the girl’s competition. For the Kaws it was freshman, Lexia Jamison leading the way with an eighth place finish (18:19.65). The Panthers were led by sophomore, Kaytlyn Gooderl who took home a 16th place finish (18:48.26) and for the Onaga Buffaloes it was senior, Maggie Revell highlighting the day with a 13th place finish (18:41.94).

On the boys side it was much of the same teams taking the spotlight as four Big Seven teams finished second through fifth in the team standings.

Royal Valley led the way with a second place finish as a team, led by a fifth place finish by Bryce Golightley who had the best area finish on the day (19:05.33). Panther’s didn’t stop with Bryce's top performance as sophomore, Arrow Levier and junior, Patrick Broxterman took home 19th and 20th place with times of 20:07.91 and 20:10.38.

Hiawatha continued their strong showing in the first meet of the year as the boys took home third as team minus senior runner Tyler Boeckman. Sophomore, Brandt Houk lead the Red Hawks taking home eighth place (19:23.88) while sophomore, Jesse Quinn and junior, Brendan Steele finished 15th and 16th, respectively with times of 19:36.84 and 19:57.32.

Sabetha continued the Big Seven trend in the top five team finishes taking fourth in the competition. Junior, Corbin Cox led the way placing just outside the top 10 at 11 with a time of 19:33.68. Freshman, Keegan Cox also finished in the top 20 for the Bluejays placing 14th on the day (19:36.18).

Rounding out the top five team performances were the Jeff West Tigers who's top performer finished 28th.

Wetmore, Holton, Onaga and McLouth each had an individual runner finish in the top 20 of the competition. The Wetmore Cardinals were led by senior, Josh Ballenger who finished in the top 10 by a few seconds registering a time of 19:31.76. The Holton Wildcats saw Dalton Colhouer lead the way taking home ninth place (19:26.08) while for the Onaga Buffaloes it was Michael Eisenbarth leading the way with a seventh place finish (19:21.09) and sophomore, Jackson Glessner took home 17th place for the Buffs (19:58.70). The McLouth Bulldogs day was highlighted by Ryan Bristol who placed 18th on the day with a time of 20:06.12.

Overall it was a great start to the season for many Kanzaland area cross country teams as many competitors shined for many teams in the Jeff West Invite.

(Full Girls results -- click here) 
(Full Boys results -- click here)