BY JIM MISUNAS

jmisunas@gbtribune.com

VICTORIA — Ellinwood Eagle Erin Hammeke smiled and said she appreciated her place in the 2A state cross country history books. Hammeke's final chapter ended in a third-place state medal after a 2A state championship last year.

cHammeke ran her fastest 2A state time (18:58.4) Saturday at Sand Plum Nature Trail, but Stanton County state champion Chesney Peterson (18:17.1) and Kansas City Christian runner-up Alysia Wagner (18:31.7) ran near-perfect races on the sweeping hills.

Peterson immediately took charge followed by Wagner and Hammeke. She never lost control and maintained a consistent 20-second lead. Hammeke ran a consistent pace for three miles, but was unable to make a charge. She was one of eight girls who ran under 19 minutes.

"I ran faster than I did last year. I'm pretty happy," Hammeke said. "I wanted a higher place, but my time was great. It was a tough field this year."

Ellinwood coach Andrew Cherry saw the runners take advantage of optimum running conditions.

"The temperature was great with no wind," he said. "The top runners were pretty quick. They were impressive runners."

Hammeke enjoyed the Sand Plum course. 

"It was a fun cross country course, and I really enjoyed it,' Hammeke said. "It was fun to see something new. The hills weren't horrible. We're used to running those because we do that in practice all the time."

Cherry said Hammeke executed a good game plan.

"Erin ran well. I liked how Erin attacked the race and went out hard to put herself in position," Cherry said. "We're proud of her career and her season. Being one of eight girls under 19 minutes is impressive."

Defending champion Stanton County (42) cruised to an easy team victory ahead of runner-up Remington (83). Ellinwood (177) placed eighth with 28th Ashtin Klepper, 21:33.6; 72nd Hannah Wingert, 23:52.1; 79th Allison Ricker, 24:27.6; 88nd Brooklin Morgan, 25:56.4; and 94th Gracie Schlessiger, 27:09.9.

2A BOYS — Berean Academy (54) won the 2A boys title ahead of runner-up Stanton County (62). Trego's Wyndom Giefer (16:09.2) earned medalist honors.

Ellinwood's Asher Miller (17:37.1.) placed 28th.

"I loved the challenge going up and down the hills," Miller said. "I ran the  best I could. It felt slower, but with all the hills, I ran pretty fine." 

1A BOYS —Meade's boys (30) won the 1A title ahead of LaCrosse. Hutchinson Central Christian's Collin Oswalt (15;56.8) captured the state title. 

St. John (96) placed fifth with 25th Uriel Calleros, 18:28.5; 29th Nicholas Huston, 18:48.3; 30th Dylan Reed, 18:48.3; 76th Edwin Fernandez, 21:43.5; 79th Elijah Delp, 22:17.3; 85th Austin Kuhn, 24:41.0; and 86th Karim Herrera, 24:58.7. 

Central Plains' Peyton Ryan (18:55.2) placed 36th and Hunter Green (19:18.3) finished 44th.

1A GIRLS — Doniphan West (42) captured the 1A girls title and Lincoln (54) was runner-up. Lincoln's Vath (19:20.0) won medalist honors.

Macksville's Madison Butler (21:23.3) earned ninth medalist honors. The Mustangs (126) finished eighth. Runners were 46th Abigail Ibarra, 25:07.8; 60th Joselin Garcia, 26:58.0; 62nd Melanie Vargas, 27:53.9; and 67th Anna Suiter, 29:02.0.

"Madison wanted to improve on her time and place from last year and she did both by making the Top 10 as the ninth place individual," said Macksville coach Mike Hullman. "We were hoping for better than eighth, but it was a tough field and the course ran tough. We need to work on our confidence level and be willing to challenge ourselves more when it comes to the tough times. Overall, it's a great season ending once again at the state meet." 

Central Plains' Hannah Redetzke (22:39.7) placed 23rd.

VICTORIA SAND PLUM

2A GIRLS TEAM SCORES—1—Stanton County 48; 2—Remington 83; 3—Oakley 108; 4—Lawrence Seabury 115; 5—Salina Sacred Heart 132; 6—Pittsburg Colgan 143; 7—McLouth 165; 8—Ellinwood 177; 9—Berean 179; 10—Bennington 191

2A TOP 20 MEDALISTS—1—Chesney Peterson, Stanton, 18:17.1; 2—Wagner, KC Christian, 18:31.7; 3—Erin Hammeke, Ellinwood, 18:58.4; 4—Diercks, Hoxie, 19:33.8; 5—Ware, West Elk, 19:38.6; 6—Russell, Ellis, 19:38.6; 7—Nelson, Seabury, 19:46.2; 8—Farnham, Stanton, 20:02.6; 9—Pro, Seabury, 20:13.6; 10—Myers, Jefferson North, 20:35.4; 11—Brown, Remington, 20:35.7; 12—Peterson, Stanton, 20:35.7; 13—Johnson, Oakley, 20:39.4; 14—Stuhlsatz, Wabaunsee, 20:40.4; 15—Funk, Hillsboro, 20:43.6; 16—Thong, Olathe Heritage, 20:55.0; 17—Ehrlich, SSH, 20:59.4; 18—Compton, Central Heights, 21:01.7; 19—Bosserman, Oakley, 21:04.4; 20—Marietta, Colgan, 21:05.6

ELLINWOOD—28—Ashtin Klepper, 21:33.6; 72—Hannah Wingert, 23:52.1; 79—Allison Ricker, 24:27.6; 88—Brooklin Morgan, 25:56.4; 94—Gracie Schlessiger, 27:09.9

2A BOYS TEAM SCORES—1—Berean 54; 2—Stanton County 62; 3—McLouth 84; 4—KC Christian 106; 5—Republic County 173; 6—Hutchinson Trinity 179; 7—Ell-Saline 203; 8—Central Heights 207; 9—Ellis 224; 10—Remington 227; 11—Arma Southeast 255; 12—Pittsburg Colgan 295

2A TOP 20 MEDALISTS—1—Wyndom Giefer, Trego, 16:09.2; 2—Friess, Hoxie, 16:17.3; 3—Golub, Stanton, 16;24.6; 4—Pentlin, Jefferson North, 16:42.8; 5—Harder, Berean, 16:47.5; 6—Rubio, Mission Valley, 16;49.1; 7—Howard, KC Christian, 17:01.7; 8—Pyle, Ellis, 17:02.8; 9—McCulliugh, Plainville, 17:03.1; 10—Tucker, Berean, 17:04.0; 11—Lauer, Chase County, 17:04.3; 12—Schmidt, Stanton, 17:04.9; 13—Nord, Berean, 17:06.4; 14—Ricke, Spearville, 17:07.3; 15—Godina, Hutchinson Trinity, 17:08.4; 16—Allen, Hillsboro, 17:11.2; 17—Wilhite, Humboldt, 17:12.5; 18—Forbes, Atchison Co. 17:12.6; 19—Plake, McLouth, 17:13.7; 20—Hamlin, No. Heights, 17:13.7

ELLINWOOD—28—Asher Miller, 17:37.1

VICTORIA SAND PLUM

1A BOYS TEAM TOTALS—1—Meade 30; 2—LaCrosse 63; 3—Quinter 70; 4—Olpe 93; 5—St. John 96; 6—Goessel 101; 7—Ingalls 103; 8—Central Christian 130; 9—Wetmore 131; 10—Jackson Heights 134; 11—Pike Valley 147; 12—Cair Paravel 160

TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—Collin Oswalt, CC, 15:56.8; 2--Eilert, Beloit St. John's, 16:19.9; 3—Bales, Osborne, 16:43.2; 4—Redeker, Olpe, 16;44.2; 5—Pierce, LaCrosse, 16:46.6; 6—Little, JH, 16:49.7; 7—Pinkerton, Logan, 17:06.1; 8—Zortman, Fowler, 17:09.1; 9—Becker, Canton-Galva, 17:12.9; 10—Wallace, Skyline, 17:20.6; 11—Gallegos, South Gray, 17:27.4; 12—Roberts, Meade, 17:82.5; 13—Hamel, Stockton, 17:33.4; 14—Keith, Meade, 17:40.2; 15—Darrah, Canton-Galva, 17:43.0; 16—Flax, Ness City, 17:43.1; 17—Keith, Meade, 17;44.4; 18—Bales, Osborne, 17:44.9; 19—Leis, Burrton, 17:46.6; 20—Shive, Wichita Classical, 17:54.3

ST. JOHN—25—Uriel Calleros, 18:28.5; 29—Nicholas Huston, 18:48.3; 30—Dylan Reed, 18:48.3; 76—Edwin Fernandez, 21:43.5; 79—Elijah Delp, 22:17.3; 85—Austin Kuhn, 24:41.0; 86—Karim Herrera, 24:58.7 

CENTRAL PLAINS—36—Peyton Ryan, 18:55.2; 44—Hunter Green, 19:18.3

1A GIRLS TEAM TOTALS—1—Doniphan West 42; 2—Lincoln 54; 3—Wichita Classical 62; 4—Meade 73; 5—Pretty Prairie 83; 6—Beloit St. John's, 84; 7—Quinter 115; 8—Macksville 126; 9—Kiowa County 131; 10—Clifton Clyde 140; 11—Ingalls 153; 12—Central Burden 160

TOP 20 MEDALISTS—1—Vath, Lincoln, 19:20.0; 2—Williams, DW, 19:56.1; 3—Weiner, Golden Plains, 20:27,2; 4—Smith, Olpe, 20:33.4; 5—Clevenger, DW, 20:33.5; 6—LeTourneau, Beloit St. John's, 20:59.6; 7—Billings, Crest, 21:03.3; 8—White, PP, 21:06.3; 9—Madison Butler, Macksville, 21:23.3; 10—Bailey, Ingalls, 21:29.1; 11—Cole, DW, 21:33.4; 12—Bacon, South Haven, 21:34.0; 13—Allen, JH, 21:45.5; 14—Jackson, Satanta, 22:03.5; 15—Zarybnicky, Hanover, 22:03.7; 16—Punches, Burlingame, 22:06.8; 17—Beikmann, Linn, 22:10.3; 18—Peters, Elyria, 22:11.9; 19—Kenas, Wichita Classical, 22:12.5; 20—Ford, Lincoln, 22:14.4

MACKSVILLE—46—Abigail Ibarra, 25:07.8; 60—Joselin Garcia, 26:58.0; 62—Melanie Vargas, 27:53.9; 67—Anna Suiter, 29:02.0 

CENTRAL PLAINS—23—Hannah Redetzke, 22:39.7