The Liberal High School cross country teams competed in their Regional Championships Saturday at Lake Afton. The course is known for the Lake Afton dam that the runners have to run up in the last 400 meters of the race. Teams competing were Andover, Arkansas City, Goddard, Goddard Eisenhower, Liberal, Bishop Carroll, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, and Wichita West. This was the first time the Redskins had ran the Lake Afton course, while for many of these teams, it was their third time this year. The top three teams from each regional qualify to the State Meet.
The Lady Skins started the day for the 5A regional. The Liberal girls went out smart as the race started out at a fast pace, after the first 200 meters the front pack of about ten girls started to pull away from the group. Mercy Perez was the lead runner for the Redskins. Perez moved up throughout the race to earn a spot on the All-Regional list. Perez ran an impressive personal best time of 15:24 to finish in third place. Camryn Slatten was the next Redskin runner. Slatten was the 17th runner to cross the line with a time of 16:15 a personal record for the sophomore. Kacie Matthews, Saw Ahmara, and Yanelly Jurado packed together as all three runners ran their best times of the year. The trio finished the race in 22nd, 23rd, and 24th. Allyson Nondorf ran her fastest time of the year to finish 36th. Vanny Diazdeleon, in her first race back since having a medical procedure, finished in 41st place. The Lady Skins waited in anticipation for the scores to be announced; once they were all tallied Bishop Carroll won with 37 points. Goddard Eisenhower finished in second with 77 points, and the Redskins placed third to qualify as a team to state with 89 points.
The Redskin boys knew they would have to run well to qualify for state as the number one and number three teams in the state were in the same race. Obed Quintana took the lead from the start. Quintana lead for the first two miles. Quintana finished third with a time of 16:34. Sammy Obando finished the 5K course with a time of 16:42 to be the sixth runner. Quintana and Obando both earned the honor of being named on the All-Regional team. Luis Medina finished in 18th place and ran a time of 17:23. Erving Altamirano was the twentieth runner with a time of 17:37. Emilio Tovilla and Edgar Moreno were the 24th and 25th runners. Greg McClurg placed 27th with a time of 17:50. This was the first time the Redskins had all seven runners in under 18 minutes. When the scores were announced it was Bishop Carroll earning the first place plaque with 28 points. The Redskins were Regional Runner-ups with 71 points. Kapaun Mt. Carmel rounded out the State Qualifying teams with 84 points.
Both Redskin teams will travel to Lawrence for the state meet next Saturday.
