In the Class 3-2-1A race for junior boys, Daniel Goentzel placed ninth with a time of 18 minutes, 12 seconds and Luke Bowers finished 12th in 18:41.

"Daniel getting a top-10 is always great and Luke was right behind him," coach Rex Ostmeyer said. "I was pleased with how we competed today."

In the sophomore boys' race, Justin Heidebrecht placed 13th in the 5-kilometer course in 19:33.

Also competing for Marion were Ben Leppke (21:17), Matt Kirkpatrick (21:30), Bryce Nelson (26:04) and Kerim Geldimuradov (26:39).

"I was pleased with Bryce Nelson and Kerim Geldimuradov, who ran their first races of the season at a meet as large as Hesston," Ostmeyer said. "Both of them were below their goal times for the race."

For the girls, Danielle Cope led the way for Marion in the junior/senior Class 3-2-1A race, finishing 16th in the 2-mile course in 13:55.

"Danielle is very consistent," Ostmeyer said. "She had another solid race today."

In the freshman-sophomore race, Tacy Taylor finished 23rd.

Also competing for Marion were Katie Hett (14:59), Emily Svoboda (18:18) and Elisa Gayle (18:19).

"The times were a little slower today, but I think the course just ran a little slower than usual," Ostmeyer said. "All the coaches were surprised with the slower times but that's how cross country is-every single race, course, day, etc. is different. You just have to be ready to compete no matter what."

Marion will travel to Peabody on Thursday to compete in a meet hosted by Peabody-Burns.

Area teams at Hesston-Canton-Galva, Goessel, Centre and Peabody-Burns all competed at Hesston.

For Canton-Galva, Caitlin Nelson medaled with a 17th-place finish. Lynn Volkman placed 50th in the freshman-sophomore race while Morgan Ashpole was 78th in 21:31.

In the junior-senior girls' race, Alyssa Koehn placed 36th, Sheri Volkman 78th and Kelly Arendt 79th.

"Alyssa keeps improving and running stronger every day," coach Lyle Silsby said.

For the boys, Andy Otte place 35th in the senior race.

In the junior race, Brandon Shannon finished 13th in 18:36.

"Brandon's time was only 16 seconds from his personal-best set last year at Marion," Silsby said.

Also running for Canton-Galva were Travis Myers (25th, 20:14) and Joseph Unruh (34th, 20:59).

"The highlights were Brandon and Shannon bring home medals," Silsby said. "That's great because they are both super kids."

For Peabody-Burns, the boys placed sixth at a team.

Andrew Topham led the way with a second place finish in the junior boys' race in 16:51. Jacob Wolf placed fifth in 18:49.

In the sophomore race, Duane Unruh placed ninth in 19:20, Ross Rossberg 12th in 19:42, Ryan Wiebe was 27th in 20:41.

Also running for PBHS were Jesse Riggs (40th) and Ethan Riggs (55th) in the sophomore race and Seth Methvin (32nd), Kendall Wiebe (36th), Jake Middleton (37th) and Joe Zappone (51st) in the freshman race.

Alyssa Carter was the top girl finisher for Peabody-Burns, placing 26th in the junior-senior race in 14:33. Also running in that race were Jennifer Schmeling (35th, 15:10, Ashley Elliott (37th, 15:12), and Jacqueline Benjamin (66th, 17:14).

In the freshman-sophomore race, Erica Frederick placed 79th and Samantha Pickens 80th.

For Centre, Kacey Hanschu placed 34th in the freshman boys' race in 24:10.

For girls, Brittany Owens was 80th in the junior-senior race in 18:07. Running in the freshman-sophomore race were Allie Will (70th, 20:19), Justine Jennings (73rd, 20:59) and Julie Rziha (84th, 27:28).

Goessel was paced by a fourth-place finish by Evan Fast in 18:27.

Also medaling for Goessel were Kellen Jenkins (23rd, 20:37) and Brady Peters (25th, 20:48).

In the freshman race, Casey Wedel placed 36th.

Other boys running for Goessel were Cameron Voth (36th, (21:05), Jake Schrag (65th, 23:18), Travis Duerksen (71st, 22:39), Chris Johnston (72nd, 23:22), Sam Lehrman (86th, 25:32), Matt Johnston (94th, 26:59) and Ryan Goertzen (101st).

For the girls, Janessa Wedel placed 47th (15:32) and Jitka Vitova 54th (16:04).