Another week, another record for Trojan girls

HHSccWamegoSeachrist

HHSccWamegoSeachrist

After weeks one and two of competition, the Hillsboro girls cross-county team has developed its most formidable one-two punch in the history of the program.

Freshman Emily Sechrist, who missed the opening race of the season because of injuries, launched her high school career at Wamego Saturday by shattering the school-record set only a week ago by her freshman teammate, Karyn Leihy.

Sechrist traversed one of the toughest 4-kilometer courses in the state in 16 minutes, 23 seconds to place third in a field of 84 runners. Her time eclipsed the mark of 17:25 set by Leihy at Augusta and was only 35 seconds behind the race winner, Heather Ruder of Thomas More Prep.

Leihy finished within 7 seconds of her record, placing 11th in 17:32.

Coach Stuart Holmes praised both runners for their effort.

?Normally, the large amount of big hills at Wamego reduces runners? times,? he said. ?It was also neat they were the top two freshmen in the varsity race in such a competitive meet.?

Running in the junior varsity race were medalist Samantha Ens (29th, 19:35), Amy Bartel (71st, 21:47) and Erin Wiebe (80th, 22:45). The race included 114 runners.

Meanwhile, Bret Mueller led the Trojan boys to a seventh-place finish among 14 teams. The Trojans accumulated 171 points. Overland Park Christian, led by Samuel Criss?s winning time of 18:45, won the team title with 31 points.

Mueller covered the 5-k course in 19:01 to claim the 17th-place medal. Josh Richert earned a medal for placing 25th in 19:38.

Also competing for the Trojans were Avery Franz, who missed a medal by one place (41st, 20:27), Daniel Gray (48th, 20:41), Dylan Hill (21:08) and JD Schmidt (23:08). The field included 106 runners.

Jordan Bezdek placed 37th in the junior varsity race in 21:07.

Coming?The Trojans will compete in their first afternoon meet of the season when they run Thursday at the Peabody-Burns Invitational. Races begin at 3:30 p.m.

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