Topham finds individual gold at state cross country meet

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
Andrew Topham led area high school cross-country runners at the state meet at Wamego on Saturday by winning the Class 2A boys’ individual championship.

The Peabody-Burns junior covered the hilly 5-kilometer course on a mild but windy day in 16 minutes, 30.63 seconds. He edged his closest competitor in the field of 102 runners by just over 18 seconds.

Meanwhile, Hillsboro’s Daniel Bookless and Goessel’s Evan Fast were the only other area runners to earn a medal by finishing among the top 20 runners in their respective divisions.

Bookless placed 14th in the Class 3A boys’ race with a time of 17:24.14.

“Daniel ran another outstanding race,” coach Stuart Holmes said. “His improvement has been a great story this year. Not only did he start the season a minute and a half to two minutes faster than he did last year, he has continued to show great improvement throughout the year.”

To illustrate, Bookless ran the Wamego course in the Trojans’ second meet of the season in 18:17. His time on Saturday was an improvement of 53 seconds.

“Daniel should feel good about what he has accomplished this year,” Holmes said. “He went from our fifth or sixth runner last year-depending on the meet-to our top runner this year.”

Bookless’s best time this season was 16:41, only 13 seconds off the school record set by Aaron Yoder two years ago.

Fast placed 16th among 90 runners in the Class 1A boys’ race with a time of 18:08.01. His performance helped the Bluebirds to a sixth-place team finish in the 12-team field.

Also competing for the Bluebirds were Kellen Jenkins (43rd, 19:44.52), Brady Peters (46th, 19:46.25), Casey Wedel (53rd, 19:58.65), Jake Schrag (66th, 20:41.82), Anthony Esau (79th, 21:46.12) and Chris Johnston (85th, 22:15.62).

“The runners did a fantastic job,” said coach Greg Bontrager. “We went into the state meet ranked sixth in the state and that is how it ended up. We all felt good about the outcome and the season as a whole. My seniors, Evan, Brady and Kellen were great leaders and motivators.”

Topham’s performance in the Class 2A race, meanwhile, helped the Peabody-Burns team to an eighth-place finish in a 12-team field.

Also running for the Warriors were Duane Unruh (24th, 18:18.28), Jacob Wolf (54th, 19:13.21), Ryan Wiebe (85th, 20:20.23), Robert Rossberg (89th, 20:33.64), Kendall Wiebe (91st, 20:50.32) and Ethan Riggs (96th, 21:14.12).

Several other area runners competed as individuals:

  • Janessa Wedel, Goessel, placed 23rd in the Class 1A girls’ race in 14:10.02;
  • Brandon Shannon placed 23rd in the Class 2A boys’ race in 18:13.84.
  • Danielle Cope, Marion, placed 36th in the Class 3A girls’ race, covering the 2-mile course in 13:39.40;
  • Caitlin Nelson, Canton-Galva, placed 38th in the Class 2A girls’ race in 14:12.77;
  • Alyssa Carter, Peabody-Burns, placed 47th in the Class 2A girls’ race in 14:26.72.

Canton-Galva coach Lyle Silsby said he was pleased with the performances of his two runners.

“Brandon ran the best race of his running career,” Silsby said, noting that Shannon’s time was a personal record.

“Brandon has matured a great deal this year as a runner and is learning what it takes to really compete at the state-meet level. I am sure, barring any injury, that next year will see him on the medal stand after the race.”

Silsby said Nelson battled tight muscles through much of the race and would have earned a medal if she had equalled her personal record of 13:20.

“The upside is she is only a sophomore, and next year, again barring injury, should see her also on the medal stand.”

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