Panthers’ Esfeld achieves goal
BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
AUGUSTA – Great Bend’s Kaiden Esfeld (15:54.7) ran a near-perfect pace to earn third-medalist honors at the 5A state cross country meet at 4-Mile Creek Resort. State champion St. Thomas Aquinas (55) won the team trophy behind 5A medalist Logan Seger (15:39.2) and runner-up Ashton Higgerson (15:51.1).
Esfeld’s goal was to earn a top three finish and perhaps challenge the Aquinas runners. He ran back-and-forth with Higgerson during the 5-kilometer race, but they were unable to keep pace with Seger.
Esfeld learned a lot at last year’s 5A state meet when he pushed the pace too quickly last year and finished 18th.
“I’m proud of myself,” he said. “From last year, I showed I’ve learned how to run better and stick to a game plan. I ran my race really well. I showed I’m improving every day.”
Esfeld fought the temptation to chase down Seger based on last year’s race.
“I saw Logan Seger go out fast, but I told myself to run smart,” he said. “I wanted to run in the middle group and stuck in there and saw what everyone else was doing.”
Esfeld and Higgerson broke from a 5-runner pace with about a mile left.
“The first two miles were evenly paced,” he said. “The last mile it wasn’t crazy fast. We were doing a doable speed. We picked up the pace, Ashton Higgerson and took off and we kept going at that pace until the finish.”
Conditions were dry with light wind and 55-degree temperatures.
“It was perfect weather, the best you could ask for,” Esfeld said. “It was cool weather and a breeze to cool you off in the straightaways.
5A AUGUSTA
BOYS 5A TEAM SCORES—1—Aquinas 55; 2—BVSW 69; 3—Wichita Carroll 91; 4—St. James 96; 5—Kapaun-Mt. Carmel 155; 6—Maize 195; 7—Shawnee Heights 195; 8—Lansing 198; 9—Maize South 198; 10—Arkansas City 220; 11—Topeka Seaman, 278; 12—Newton 296
1—Seger, Aquinas, 15:39.2; 2—Higgerson, Aquinas, 15:47; 3—Kaiden Esfeld, GB, 15:54.7; 4—McEachern, Carroll, 16:00; 5—King, Aquinas, 16:03; 6—Moore, St. James, 16:03.2; 7—Paschke, BVSW, 16:13.5; 8—Brock, KMC, 16:18.9; 39.7 5:14.7 3:15.8 9—Irvine, St. James, 16:19.8; 10—Howell, Lansing, 16:23.6; 11—Waymire, Carroll, 16:23.7; 12—Vega, MV, 16:25.2; 13—Esquibel, SHeights, 16:27.4; 14—Hartegan, St. James, 16:28.7; 15—Newberry, DeSoto, 16:29; 16—Dombrosky, BVSW, 16:29.4; 17—Schieber, MV, 16:30.5; 18—Caul, BVSW, 16:32.2; 19—Griffith, Salina Central, 16:34; 20—Sutton, SHeights, 16:38.9
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