Mustang runner places fifth at Sterling
BY JIM MISUNAS
STERLING – Macksville Mustang Madison Butler knows all about rugged competition. Butler has placed ninth and 12th at 1A state cross country the past two years.
Butler (21:21.3) achieved a personal season best in Thursday’s Sterling Cross Country Invitational that beat her state time at Victoria last year. Her finish was good enough for fifth place behind Sterling medalist Faith Ekart (20:17.9) and Hillsboro runner-up Emersyn Funk (20:29.4).
Temperatures hit 82 degrees with dry wind creating a fast course on the fairly flat Sterling Country Club layout.
“Conditions were warm, but it was pretty good weather for race day,” Butler said. “I’ve struggled to PR this year. But I’ve worked pretty hard lately. I’m getting there. I’m looking for a good place at regionals.”
Butler enjoyed competing against 4A Buhler and 2A Berean Academy.
“It’s good to have hard teams to run against, she said. “That’s what helped me PR today. The rest of our team ran good today. We’ve got a shot to make the state meet again.”
Macksville also counted 31st Abigail Ibarra, 24:05.8; 38th Joselin Garcia, 24:58.5; 48th Sheridyn Black, 25:51.3; and 56th Melanie Vargas, 26:36.3.
BOYS RACE — Ellinwood’s Asher Miller (17:42.5) placed 14th, a step ahead of Hoisington’s Ian Doss (17:52.4). Miller’s time was a shade off his 28th-place finish (17:37.1) at 2A state last year.
“It was a straight and fast course. You could keep your pace on a nice, flat course,” Miller said. “The race went OK, not as well as I hoped. I strive to push myself against the runner ahead of me.”
Miller sustained a broken ankle during basketball and has overcome a toe infection.
“It’s been slower since I got hurt,” he said. “I feel my season has gone OK.”
Defending 4A state champion Buhler (42) cruised to first place without its top runner Tanner Lindahl, but the Crusaders placed second, third, sixth, ninth and 10thh. Spearville’s Corbin Ricke (16:02.3) edged Buhler’s Hayden Keller (16:06.0) for first place.
Hoisington (96) placed fourth by counting 18th Eli Lewis, 18:08.2; 22nd Kamden Tarlton, 18:20.3; 25th Gabe Hipp, 18:27.3; and 32nd Karter Wolf, 19:04.3.
STERLING INVITATIONAL
GIRLS TEAM SCORES—1—Buhler 42; 2—Berean Academy 84; 3—Hillsboro 95; 4—Trinity Catholic 123; 5—Hoisington 124; 6—Macksville 132
TOP 10 GIRLS MEDALISTS (5K)—1—Faith Ekart, Sterling, 20:17.9; 2—Emersyn Funk, Hillsboro, 20:29.4; 3—Lindsay Warner, Buhler, 20:41.1; 4—Taylor Hoskinson, Haven, 21:16; 5—Madison Butler, Macksville, 21:21.3; 6—Teagan Smith, Berean, 21:28.8; 7—Moriah Jost, Hillsboro, 21:31.4; 8—McKenzie Welch, Buhler, 21:33; 9—Taryn Horning, Buhler, 21:35; 10—Ainsley Duell, Hillsboro 21:44.2
HOISINGTON—13—Kynlie Crowdis, 22:00.3; 35—Vada Kaiser, 24:21.0; 37—Mea Sneath, 24:55.2; 39—Kassie Petersillie, 25:00.3; 40—Kendall Mason, 25:12.2; 51—Kiana Grandclair, 26:04.9
MACKSVILLE—31—Abigail Ibarra, 24:05.8; 38—Joselin Garcia, 24:58.5; 48—Sheridyn Black, 25:51.3; 56—Melanie Vargas, 26:36.3; 60—Jayla Wyant, 26:52.1
ELLINWOOD—43—Hannah Winget, 25:26.3; 47—Heidi Brauer, 25:43.3; 58—Allison Ricker, 26:43.4; 67—Gracie Schlessiger, 30:10.2
OTIS-BISON—55—Ava Kenyon, 26:35.3; 57—Abi Rodriquez, 26:40.4
CENTRAL PLAINS—46—JoAnna Donecker, 25:42
JV GIRLS (5K)—1—Hope Brinkley, Berean, 25:37.3
LARNED—2—Aylice Clawson, 28:05.4
MACKSVILLE—9—Kimberley Arreola, 30:15.2
9TH GIRLS—1—Lydia Reed, St. John, 24:32.4; 2—Teagan Walker, Larned, 2:51.39; 4—Ivy Hope, Larned, 27:27.5
8TH GIRLS—1—Julia Kilgore, Sterling, 14:32.5
ELLINWOOD—3—Lydia Porter, 15:10.2; 6—Julia Schessiger, 15:57.6
LARNED—21—Emma Corman, 19:32
7TH GIRLS—1—Audrey Foster, Prairie Hills, 6:39.3
HOISINGTON—5—Tristan Compton, 6:56.7
ELLINWOOD—11—Ali Gonzalez, 7:24.3
LARNED—19—Marleigh Johnson, 9:31.1
STERLING INVITATIONAL
BOYS TEAM SCORES—1—Buhler 25; 2—Berean Academy 65; 3—Trinity Catholic 74; 4—Hoisington 96; 5—Haven 164; 6—Ellinwood 165; 7—Pratt 170; 8—Skyline 189; 9—Macksville 213
TOP 10 BOYS MEDALISTS (5K)—1—Corbin Ricke, Spearville, 16:02.3; 2—Hayden Keller, Buhler, 16:06.0; 3—Kaden Lohrentz, Buhler, 16:34.3; 4—Jonah Gonah, HT, 16:39.5; 5—Andrew Harder, Berean, 16:41.6; 6—Austin Lindahl, Buhler, 16:53.2; 7—Brendan Kiser, HT, 16:57.0; 8—Eli Nord, Berean, 17:02.7; 9—Wyatt Bunce, Buhler, 17:05; 10—Henry Trumpp, Buhler, 17:17.8
4—HOISINGTON—15—Ian Doss, 17:52.4 ; 18—Eli Lewis, 18:08.2; 22—Kamden Tarlton, 18:20.3; 25—Gabe Hipp, 18:27.3; 32—Karter Wolf, 19:04.3; 51—Alex Mater, 20:30.3; 66—Nathan Norvell, 22:23.9
6—ELLINWOOD—14—Asher Miller, 17:42.5; 39—Cole Ringwald, 19:20.4; 44—Chase Gibson, 19:48; 49—Alexis Barron, 20:13.5; 52—Sam Brauer, 20:33.8; 54—Kaden Baird, 20:47.2; 55—Bryce Steffan, 20:47.3
ST. JOHN—29—Nick Huston, 18:49.6; 42—Preston Dunn, 19:28.7; 61—Elijah Delp, 21:24.1; 72—Karim Herrera, 24:43.6
MACKSVILLE—35—Jesse Nava, 19:10; 56—Yobanny Martinez, 20:56; 59—James Lee, 21:17.6; 62—Alex Mendez, 21:42.3
CENTRAL PLAINS—20—Peyton Ryan, 18:12.5
JV BOYS—1—Cameron Yutzy, Buhler, 18:25.1
HOISINGTON—32—Braxton Nicholas, 25:21.6; 35—Matthew MacMahon, 27:22
LARNED—16—Dylan Roberds, 21:03.4; 27—Maverick Munden, 24:12.9; 28—Thiago Hess, 24:23.8
9TH BOYS—1—Payton Frees, Buhler, 19:26.6
HOISINGTON—7—Nolan Jacobs, 22:36.4; 11—Kasey Andereck, 23:41.3; 19—Drake Brewer, 26:34.4
8TH BOYS (2 miles)—1—Paco Espinosa, Lyons, 12:48.4
ST. JOHN—37—Rafael Gonzalez, 17:35.1
HOISINGTON—7—Kyler Jensen, 13:40
LARNED—19—Caleb McDonald, 14:49.4; 24—Tristan Thompson, 15:18.7; 31—Logan Bradley, 15:42.9
OTIS-BISON—25—Seth Richardson, 15:19.5; 35—Ben Kenyon, 17:01.3
7TH BOYS (1 mile)—1—Gavin Lindahl, Prairie Hills, 5:22.1
ST. JOHN—4—Emmett Delp, 6:24.5; 15—Lane Davis, 6:54; 16—Wyatt Reed, 6:54.1; 17—Liam Knight, 6:55.4; 23—Grady Long, 7:16.1; 24—Easton Alpers, 7:23.1; 25—Sye Crockett, 7:28; 29—Aaden Gonzalez, 7:33.1
HOISINGTON—12—Michael Patterson, 6:46.2; 26—D.J. Wyant, 7:29.6
LARNED—3—Gage Landgraf, 6:10.5; 30—Andres Martinez, 7:37; 47—Trey Hemken, 9:31.2
ELLINWOOD—2—Caleb Zook, 6:03.6; 9—Joe Brauer, 6:40.1; 13—Ryan Cherry, 6:48.3; 20—Colton Gibson, 7:13.3; 39—Russell Kern, 8:06.6; 44—Shae Hoskins, 8:18.3
OTIS-BISON—11—Dillan Slemp, 6:45.1; 27—Aiden Lohrey, 7:29.6
