Quintana and Slatten Win WAC Meet in Hays

The Liberal High School cross country teams traveled to Hays High School for their Western Athletic Conference Championships on Thursday. The Redskin boys were the defending WAC champions from a year ago, and Obed Quintana was the Individual champion in 2013. This year’s boy’s team had five new faces out of the varsity seven. Also, the girls placed third a year ago.

The varsity girls took the challenge of the 4 kilometer course first. The Lady Skins had a new varsity look after Senior Allyson Nondorf was not able to make the trip with the team due to doctor’s orders. Camryn Slatten came into the meet with high expectations knowing that she had a chance to bring home an individual title. Slatten didn’t let the opportunity slip by. Slatten led the race from the beginning to the end leaving only a race for 2^nd place. Slatten ran a time of 15:50. Sophomore Yanelly Jurado just missed being name ALL-WAC by one second, with a time of 16:47, her 6^th place earned her on spot on the All-WAC honorable mention list. Freshman Tania Minjarez was the next Liberal runner clocking a time of 17:09 good enough for 17^th place. Sophomore Saw Ahmara battled some pain in her foot and calf early in the race, but she was able to fight through it to finish in 18^th place with a time of 17:10. Freshman Kelsey Ramsey was Liberal’s fifth and final scoring member placing 22^nd in 18:08. Sophomore Karen Hernandez was the 26^th runner to cross the line in 18:35 and freshman Reyn Sletten was 29^th place completing the course in 18:53. Liberal was the only team with no juniors or seniors in the race. After the team scores were compiled it was Dodge City taking the WAC crown with 37 points, Garden City 62 points, Liberal in third with 64 points, Hays 91, and Great Bend 98 points.

The Boys team came in with high expectations even though they had been sitting behind Garden City and Dodge City most of the season. Even though senior Obed Quintana was the defending champion, he was not getting much attention leading up to the race. Many people talked about five other runners who would lead the race. Quintana made some noise early as he lead the race from the start and never looked back. Quintana defended his title winning the 5 kilometer race with a time of 16:24. Junior Greg McClurg was the 8^th runner to cross the line earning All-WAC honorable mention with a time of 17:28. Senior Ivan Aleman’s time of 17:46 was good enough for 11^th place. Junior Alex Chance placed 15^th running an 18:03. Sophomore Juan Beltran ran a great race placing 17^th in 18:05. Freshman Dusty Torres ran a time of 18:21 earning him 19^th place, while Senior Jerry Valdez was 23^rd in a time of 18:27. Quintana, McClurg, Aleman, Beltran, and Torres all ran person best times. At the conclusion of the race it was Garden City who was crowned WAC champions with 33 points, while the Redskins were 2^nd with 52 points. The remaining teams were Dodge City 76, Hays 88, and Great Bend 97.

During the awards, Redskin runner Camryn Slatten was named the Western Athletic Conference Female Runner of the Year, while Obed Quintana was named Male Runner of the Year for the second consecutive season. The Redskins will travel to Great Bend on Saturday the 25^th for the Regional Championships where they will run against Great Bend, Maize South, Newton, Salina-Central, Salina-South, Valley Center, and Wichita-Heights. The top three teams from the regional will advance to the state meet on October 31 ^st .