Redskins Run Sixth at Gigantic Lawrence Meet

The Liberal High School cross country teams traveled to Lawrence, Kansas Saturday along with 136 other teams from 8 different states. The Rim Rock Farm Classic is one of the most prestigious high school meets in the central United States. The Rim Rock Farm course is one of the tougher courses around, known for all its hills, and wasn’t made any easier by mother nature. Saturday brought cold weather and rain, which was an obstacle for the runners on the muddy course. The meet is broken down into three divisions: a Gold Division, Crimson Division, and Blue Division. The Redskins competed in the Crimson Division with 42 other schools and the top 25 in each race received a medal.

The Redskin girls were the first to brave the elements. Senior runner Mercy Perez led the way for the Redskins completing the 4 kilometer course in 16:52, Perez was the 33^rd runner to cross the line. Freshman Camryn Slatten was the 2^nd runner for Liberal. Slatten crossed the line 18:02 placing 124^th. Slatten was followed closely by junior teammate Vanessa Diazdeleon. She was the 161^st runner in the race with a time of 18:29. Madison Butler was the 4^th runner for the Redskins and placed 195^th with a time of 19:09. Allyson Nondorf ran a time of 19:31. The sixth and seventh runners for the Lady Skins were freshman Yanelly Jurado and junior Kelly Ramirez, with times of 19:35 and 20:17. The Redskins finished with a team score of 683 which put them in 29^th place. The meet was won by Liberty North out of Missouri with 124 points, and second place was Kearney, Nebraska with 237 points.

The Redskin boys were in the 4^th race of the day. The Redskins had a new face out front with junior Obed Quintana leading the way. Quintana was the only varsity runner to medal for the Redskins placing 22^nd out of 259 runners. Quintana’s time for the 5 kilometer race was 17:13, a new personal record. Senior Samuel Obando was the 2^nd runner for the Redskins. Obando crossed the line in 17:37 in 48^th place. Junior Luis Medina was right on Obando’s heels completing the course in 17:43 in 56^th place. Medina’s time was a personal record. Sophomore Emilio Tovilla also set a personal record mark with a time of 17:55, good enough for 68^th place. Senior Erving Altamirano was the 5^th runner for the Redskins; he finished the course in 18:08 in 87^th place. Freshman Edgar Moreno set a personal record with a time of 18:25 and was the 117^th runner to cross the line. Sophomore Greg McClurg placed 131^st with a time of 18:32. The Redskins ended the day in 6^th place with 258 points and made improvement from last years 11^th place.

The junior varsity girls had two girls medal with sophomore Kacie Mathews in 9^th place and freshman Saw Ahmara in 23^rd place. Other JV runners were senior Kim Francis in 76^th place, freshman Sammantha Terrazes in 79^th place, freshman Chloe Alling in 112^th place, freshman Shayanna Molina in 143^rd place, and sophomore Carolina Limon in 157^th place. The JV girls placed 8^th out of 93 schools.

The junior varsity boys brought home one medal with junior Ivan Aleman placing 5^th with a time of 18:45. Sophomore Alex Chance placed 32^nd, sophomore Ryan Doll was 45^th, senior Omar Camacho was 47^th, sophomore Jerry Torres 66^th, senior Juan Carlos Ocampo 83^rd, and senior Trevin Garcia 166^th. The JV boys placed 6^th out of 97 schools.

The Redskins will travel to Newton next Saturday along with 14 other schools, including the top ranked boy’s team in 6A of Wichita North and the three time defending state champions in 4A, Wamego. On the girl’s side, Lawrence Free State and Valley Center have some of the top teams in the state across all classes.