The Redskin cross country runners traveled to Newton Saturday for the Newton High School Cross Country Invitational. The meet consisted of 15 schools, with some of the top ranked schools in 4A, 5A, and 6A.
The first race of the day was the C team boy’s race. The Redskins had 11 runners in the race. Junior Edwin Pineda was the only one to medal for the Redskins. Pineda placed 12th with a time of 20:01 for the 5K course. The boys C team placed 4th with 100 points.
The J.V. girls were the second race of the morning. The Lady Skins also had 11 competitors in the race. Freshman Yanelly Jurado brought home the only medal with her 17th place finish. Jurado ran the 4K course in 18:19. The J.V. girls placed 5th with 139 points.
The J.V. boys had 7 runners, with the sophomore duo of Alex Chance and Ryan Doll placing 8th and 9th. Chance completed the course in 18:39, while Doll was right on his heels at 18:41. The J.V. boys placed 6th with 129 points.
The varsity girls were led by senior Mercy Perez. Perez placed 18th and completed the course in 16:21. Perez was followed closely by freshman teammate Camryn Slatten. Slatten completed the course in 16:24, good enough for 22nd place. Slatten cut her previous best time by 50 seconds. She now sits 3rd on the top ten list at Liberal High School. Perez is in second with a 16:06. Sophomore Kacie Matthews was the next Redskin runner in 48th place. Matthews took a 1:03 off of her best time, the drop in time ranked Matthews 10th on the all time list at Liberal High School. Freshman Saw Ahmara ran a personal record as well. Ahmara placed 59th with a time of 17:39. Junior Allyson Nondorf and senior Madison Butler were the next two runners for the Lady Skins in 61st and 62nd place, with times of 18:01 and 18:02. Senior Kim Francis ran a time of 19:02 as the 77th runner to cross the line. The Lady Skins finished in 7th place with 185 points. Lawrence Free State, the top ranked 6A team won the race with 24 points, while Valley Center a ranked 5A school came in second with 78 points.
The boy’s varsity race was the last race of the day. Senior Sammy Obando set the pace for the race as he led most of the last mile. Obando was caught right at the line to finish in 2nd place. Obando shaved 9 seconds off his best time, crossing the line in 16:37. Obando’s time puts him as the 4th fastest at LHS since 2008. Junior Obed Quintana moved up on the list as well. Obando placed 4th in the meet with a time of 16:56. Quintana now sits in 6th on LHS’s all time list. The third runner for the Redskins was junior Luis Medina. Medina ran a 17:30, good enough for 23rd place. Senior Erving Altamirano placed 29th for the Redskins with a time of 17:38. The fifth runner for the Redskins was sophomore Emilio Tovilla. Tovilla placed 38th in 17:54. Tovilla was followed closely by his sophomore classmate Greg McClurg. McClurg crossed the line in 18:00 as the 40th runner. Freshman Edgar Moreno rounded out the varsity seven with a time of 18:42, putting Moreno in 62nd place. The Redskins finished the race in 4th place behind three highly respected 6A schools. 1st place, Lawrence-Free State 53 points, 2nd place, Topeka-Washburn Rural 77 points, 3rd place, top ranked Wichita North 90 points, 4th place, Liberal 94 points, 5th place, defending 4A state champions Wamego 142 points.
Overall the Redskins had 35 competitors run their season best times Saturday. The Redskin varsity teams will be off this week and will not compete again until October 17th at the WAC Championships. The J.V. teams will travel to Cimarron on Thursday.
