BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
LAWRENCE – Great Bend’s Emilia Diaz completed a strong season with a 12th-place medal (19:40.3) at the 5A state cross country championship at Rim Rock Farms.
The Great Bend girls finished eighth (189) with 41st Haley McCormick, 20:49.1; 47th McKenna Esfeld, 20:58.4; 54th Emma Loomis, 21:07.9; 93rd Hannah Loomis, 22:22.8; and 97th August Siefkes, 23:10.9 also competing.
Lenexa St. James (73) beat Blue Valley Southwest (82) for the state title. Wichita Carroll’s Hope Jackson (18:17.9) beat runner-up St. James’ Katherine Moore (18:48.1).
5A BOYS – Great Bend freshman Kaiden Esfeld finished 31st (17:05.2) and Sage Cauley finished 32nd (17:05.2) to lead the Panthers to 10th place (193).
Also competing were 51st Alex Smith, 17:28.5; 60th Evan Hammond, 17:37.5; 64th Collin Hammond, 17:41.7; and 101st Matthew Huslig, 19:32.5.
St. Thomas Aquinas (59) defended its state title ahead of Maize South (99). Andover’s Ryan Kinnane (15:58.4) beat Emporia’s Treyson True (16:08.7) for medalist honors.
5A GIRLS LAWRENCE
GIRLS TEAM SCORES—1—Lenexa St. James 73; 2—BVSW 82; 3—Maize South 94; 4—St. Thomas Aquinas 106; 5—Wichita Carroll 131; 6—Maize 167; 7—Emporia 180; 8—GREAT BEND 189 (12—Emilia Diaz, 19:40.3; 41—Haley McCormick, 20:49.1; 47—McKenna Esfeld, 20:58.4; 54—Emma Loomis, 21:07.9; 93—Hannah Loomis, 22:22.8; 97—August Siefkes, 23:10.9); 9—DeSoto 207; 10—Andover 214; 11—Topeka Seaman 229; 12—Basehor Linwood 293.
GIRLS TOP 20 MEDALISTS
1—Hope Jackson, Wichita Carroll, 18:17.9
2—Katie Moore. Lenexa St. James, 18:48.1
3—Alexa Rios. Maize South, 18:52.6
4—McKenna Polus. Blue Valley Southwest, 18:58.5
5—Allison Strathman. St. Thomas Aquinas, 19:02.5
6—Gigi Loffredo. Blue Valley Southwest, 19:08.3
7—Addie Curtis. Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 19:22.0
8—Sarah Murrow. Lenexa St. James, 19:22.7
9—Brinn Wilson. Blue Valley Southwest, 19:32.4
10—Zoie Ecord. Maize High, 19:39.3
11—Alyssa Anderson. Spring Hill,19:39.6
12—Emilia Diaz. Great Bend, 19:40.3
13—Ellie Ward. St. Thomas Aquinas, 19:43.2
14—Kylie Phillips. Shawnee Heights, 19:44.4
15—Aria Sheldon. Maize High, 19:47.7
16—Jadyn Pavlik. Goddard Eisenhower, 19:49.2
17—Elizabth Vetter. Andover High, 19:51.2
18—Skye Kroskey. Wichita Northwest, 20:01.2
19—Elizabeth Willhite. Emporia, 20:06.1
20—Bowi Sargent. Maize South. 20:07.1
5A BOYS LAWRENCE
BOYS TEAM SCORES—1—St. Thomas Aquinas 59; 2—Maize South 99; 3—Andover 129; 4—St. James 133; 5—BVSW 135; 6—DeSoto 169; 7—Emporia 169; 8—Lansing 171; 9— Wichita Carroll 185; 10—GREAT BEND, 193 (31—Kaiden Esfeld, 17:05.2; 32—Sage Cauley, 17:05.2; 51—Alex Smith, 17:28.5; 60—Evan Hammond, 17:37.5; 64—Collin Hammond, 17:41.7; 101—Matthew Huslig, 19:32.5); 11—Topeka Seaman 225; 12—Newton 267.
BOYS TOP 20 MEDALISTS
1—Ryan Kinnane, Andover, 15:48.4
2—Treyson True, Emporia, 16:08.7
3—Aiden Higgerson, St. Thomas Aquinas, 16:11.8
4—Carson McEachern, Wichita Carroll, 16:13.2
5—Trey Rios, Maize South, 16:17.0
6—Austin Fullerton, Goddard Eisenhower, 16:17.3
7—Ashton Higgerson, St. Thomas Aquinas, 16:22.8
8—Liam Neidig, Lansing, 16:23.1
9—Logan Seger, St. Thomas Aquinas, 16:30.7
10—Carson Sturdy, DeSoto, 16:33.8
11—Cj Kneisler, Blue Valley Southwest, 16:35.4
12—Lenny Njoroge, Topeka West, 16:41.9
13—Brett Schoenhoffer, Andover Central, 16:42.3
14—Erik Enriquez, Wichita Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 16:44.6
15—Taegan Loy, Topeka Seaman, 16:47.5
16—Kadyn Dohlman, Maize 16:48.7
17—Eli Moore, Lenexa St. James, 16:49.2
18—Terry Robinson, Lansing, 16:50.9
19—Christian Buehler, Blue Valley Southwest, 16:51.4
20—Kory Sutton, Shawnee Heights, 16:51.9
