Full Centralia Cross Country Invitational Results - click here

The calendar flipped over to October and the high school cross country season continued to roll along as Centralia played host to several area teams for a race on Saturday. 

While a pair of non-area schools claimed the top teams spots on the day the best area team performances were second place in both the girls and boys competition. In the boys action the Frankfort Wildcats tallied second place as a team with 54 points just five points off over first place which was won by Wabaunsee. Centralia and Wetmore grabbed third and fourth in the team standings, while Jefferson County North rounded out the top five in the boys team standings. Washington County, Valley Heights, Pike Valley and Horton finished out the team standings in sixth through ninth place. 

The girl’s competition saw the host Centralia nabbed second place with 24 points, 10 points out of first place which Wabaunsee took home. Jefferson County North, Onaga and Valley Heights finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively in as teams, while Troy and Frankfort took sixth and seventh. 

The host Centralia Panthers had seven Top 20 finishes on the day with four in the girl’s competition to lead them to second place as a team. Sadie and Tamra Jones posted times of 22:29.31 and 23:02.75 to finish fifth and sixth, while Emma Holthaus earned tenth place with a time of 24:08.40. Kaitlyn Becker added a 13th place finish for the lady Panthers. Dylan Boeckman continues to lead the Panthers boy’s runners placing seventh behind a time of 18:13.34, while Ransom Engelken and Devin Ronnebaum placed 18th and 19th.

The best time on the day individually in the boy’s race belonged to Adrian Pishny of Valley Heights who continued to win races this year this time winning by over 20 seconds with a time of 16:56.37. Alex Hardin joined Pishny in the Top 10 in the boy’s race posting a time of 18:07.71 to place sixth, while Ilexus Rose earned 14th place in the girls race. 

Top area girls performer on the day took third place with a time of 21:32.52 coming by Olivia Kuckelman of Axtell, while in the boy’s race Quinn Buessing races to a time of 18:06.43 for fifth place and Blake Porting takes 12th place. 

Both JCN and Washington County had a quartet of runners place in the Top 20 on the day. For JCN, Andrew Noll and Ted Sharp finished 17th and 20th, while in the girls race Rose Wendling and Sara Domann finished 19th and 20th. Washington County was led by Eric Miller who with a time of 18:28.87 earn ninth in the boys race, while his teammate, Malachi L'Ecuyer took 13th place. In the girl’s competition Emily Meyer and Rachael Wood placed 16th and 17th, respectively. 

A pair of Top 10 finishes led Wetmore as Aaron Achten ran to a time of 17:28.56 to place fourth in the boy’s race, while McKayla Henry earned ninth place with a time of 23:56.40 in the girls race. Jonathan Bailey added a 15th place finish for the Cardinals in the boy’s race, also. 

Brodric Shirley and Brandon Anderson led Frankfort on the day as Shirley posted a time of 17:26.40 to take third place, while Anderson ran to an 11th place finish for the Wildcats. 

Troy, Onaga and Horton all had one Top 20 finisher on the day. For the Trojans it was Holly Williams who finished 12th in the girls race, while Onaga's Halie Jeanneret finished 18th in the girls competition. Sky Joe Coversup had the best Horton finish on the day with a 14th place finish in the boys race.