ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ANDREW OTTOSON
Peabody-Burns cross-country coach Kim Topham is welcoming a sizeable group of experienced runners this fall. Pictured are: back row (from left) Duane Unruh, Carsten Scheben, Thomas Kretzschmar, Ryan Wiebe, Jacob Wolf, Andrew Topham; front row, Ethan Riggs, Jessica Rosine, Samantha Pickens, Erica Frederick, Kendall Wiebe.
Peabody Burns cross country coach Kim Topham has seven returning runners who ran at state last spring-on the boys’ team.
Topham’s girls squad will include three juniors: Erica Frederick, Sam Pickens and Jessica Rosine.
“Pickens and (Frederick) are really good friends, so they’ve been working together to improve their times,” she said.
In addition to the returning runners on the boys’ squad, Topham’s team added three senior exchange students in the off-season: Orhun Dalgic from Turkey, and Thomas Kretzschmar and Carsten Scheben from Germany.
The three of them join state qualifiers Jacob Wolf, Ethan Riggs, Duane Unruh, Ryan Wiebe, Seth Methvin and Kendall Wiebe.
Topham’s team will be led by Class 2A state champion Andrew Topham, who also brought home regional, league and all-state academic honors.
With five freshmen on board, Topham’s team will be deep and will look to compete for a league championship this fall.
Warrior runners earned second place in the Heart of America League in 2005 and first in regionals.
“We placed second to Sedgwick last year, so I think the guys would kind of like to see if they can do a little better this year,” Topham said.
