LHS Boys and Girls Runners Make State

The LHS cross country teams competed in their regional meet Saturday in Great Bend. Teams competing were Liberal, Great Bend, Maize South, Newton, Salina Central, Salina South, Valley Center and Wichita Heights. The goal that each team had was to qualify for the state cross country meet, which will be held Friday, October 31^st at Rim Rock Farms just North of Lawrence. The top three teams and top ten runners all qualify for the state competition.

The Lady Skins were in the first race of the day as the Redskins came in with the youngest team in the race with 4 sophomores and three freshmen. Sophomore Camryn Slatten, who just came off if a conference win last week, knew she had some tough competition with a few Maize South and Valley center girls competing. Slatten came through the mile at 6:07 in 4^th place, but slowly made her way to the front by the second mile. Slatten led the last half mile capturing her first regional title 12 seconds ahead of second place in a time of 16:06. Sophomore Yanelly Jurado completed the 4 kilometer course in 17:21 which placed her 13^th. Sophomore Saw Ahmara who has been struggling with a nagging injury in her foot was able to push through it to cross the line in 17:30 in 17^th place. Freshman Kelsey Ramsey in only her third varsity race continued to impress as she ran a time of 18:07, finishing in 21^st place. Ramsey’s time was over three minutes faster than week one on the same course. Freshman Tania Mijarez finished 24^th for the Redskins with a time of 18:13. Sophomore Karen Hernandez’s time of 18:33 was good enough for a 27^th place finish, while freshman Reyn Slatten placed 34^th clocking a time of 19:23. After the scores were tallied, Valley Center was crowned regional champions with a score of 33, Maize South 44 and Liberal claimed the last qualifying spot with 76 points, 49 points ahead of fourth place Great Bend. Sophomores Chloe Alling and Claire Alling are alternates for the Redskins as they begin preparations this week for the State Championships Friday.

In the boys race senior Obed Quintana came in on a two race winning streak, and he was looking to continue it. From the start of the race, Quintana went with the leaders and at mile one decided to increase the pace and take the lead. Quintana stretched his lead during the second mile. During the third mile, the heat and fast pace started to catch up to the senior, but he had enough for an impressive final 100 meters to hold off a surging Maize South runner for the Regional Championship and a third consecutive race victory. Quintana’s final time was 17:00. Junior Greg McClurg was the 13^th runner to finish the course with a time of 18:14. Senior Ivan Aleman and sophomore Juan Beltran finished 16^th and 17^th with times of 18:23 and 18:30. Senior Jerry Valdez and junior Alex Chance were the 19^th and 20^th runners to cross the line, with respective times of 18:36 and 18:41. Freshman Dusty Torres’ time of 18:45 made him the 23^rd runner to cross the line. The final team scores were Maize South 52 points, Newton High School 61 points, Liberal received the last qualifying spot with 64 points, Great Bend 130, Salina South 133, Wichita Heights 155, Salina Central 156, and Valley Center 174. Juniors Ryan Doll and Tyreke Gavidia, as well as sophomore Carlos Romero, are the alternates for the State team.

Last week was the first time in school history that Liberal had a boy and girl win the WAC title in the same year, and this was the first time the school had a boy and girl win the Regional title in Obed and Camryn. Both teams will travel Thursday to compete Friday morning. The 5A girls will run at 11:00AM while the 5A boys are scheduled to start at 12:30PM.