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McMillen, who had established himself this season as one of the top performers in Class 3A, faded toward the end of the 5-kilometer route and finished 41st in the field of 104 runners.

Trouble at the top meant trouble for the team.

On a day when cross-country runners do everything to be at their physical best, it just didn’t happen that way for the top two runners from Hills­boro.

The Trojans, with a realistic hope of coming home from the Class 3A state race at Wamego with a top-five team finish, settled for ninth as Cody McMillen and Nicholas Mueller struggled with physical ailments along the challenging hills of the Wamego Country Club.

McMillen, who had established himself this season as one of the top performers in Class 3A, faded toward the end of the 5-kilometer route and finished 41st in the field of 104 runners.

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Justin Heidebrecht looks for daylight as the Hesston defense closes in during Thursday’s season finale. The Warrior senior finished his MHS career with 87 kickoff return yards, including this 30-yard run.

Unbeaten Hesston hammered the Marion Warriors 42-15 Friday, scoring six times in the first half to engage the running clock for the entire second half.

But with time ticking down on their season, the Warriors came up with a quick stop against the Swather varsity and tallied two scores before the clock ran out. 

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Ishmael Morris escapes the grasp of Hesston’s Connor Dyck as the Trojan junior heads for his first touchdown of the evening, a 7-yard score right before halftime. Don Ratzlaff / Free Press

The Hillsboro Trojans flirted for 2 1⁄2 quarters with the thin possibility of upsetting the third-ranked team in Class 3A. But a pair of relatively quick touchdowns in the third period tipped the scale in favor of unbeaten Hesston Friday night.

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Matthew Klenda rounds a bend in the high blue­stem grass at El Dorado State Park Saturday. Klenda placed 36th out of 85 runners, and the Trojan boys edged Sedgwick to earn a place among the meet’s top three teams. A top-three finish qualified the team to run among  elite runners from across Kansas at the state meet in Wamego. Free Press photo by Don Ratzlaff

Battling warm winds and some long, uphill grades—not to mention a strong field of competitors—the Hillsboro boys’ cross-country team qualified for state by finishing third in its Class 3A regional race Saturday at El Dorado State Park.

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