?To have four runners in the top 15 is really good,? Topham said. ?All the PBHS runners ran personal best times for the year and the conditions were almost perfect.?
?The boys wanted to place higher but to place third this year was an accomplishment,? she added. ?If you look at the state rankings for all classes you can see how strong the HOAL is this year.?
Lauren Pickens (17:50) placed seventh on the girls side to earn all-HOA honors.
?She has a unique combination of sprinting and distance ability,? coach Kim Topham said. ?She does an good job running four kilometers and has the speed to climb a few places at the finish. As a coach you don?t have that combination in a runner very often.?
Up next, PBHS travels to Meade for regionals. Aaron Topham and Pickens both claimed all-state honors a year ago.
Goessel?Led by Kristen Hoffman (12th, 18:21) and Sara Boman (14th, 18:27), the Bluebird girls placed third as a team at Harvey County East Park Thursday.
Following were: Lindsey Wedel (17th, 18:35), Shanna Klassen (18th, 18:36), and Joppien Mareike (28th, 20:04).
The Goessel boys placed fifth. Jared Reimer (18th, 18:02) and Laird Goertzen (19th, 18:15) placed 1-2 for the team, with Derek Kruger (27th, 18:43), Austin Unruh (36th, 19:20), Lars Osland (41st, 19:46), Anthony Esau (44th, 20:18) and Chad Wedel (48th, 20:40) rounding out the top seven.
Stephan Goertzen (60th, 21:35), Carl Hylten-Cavallius (63rd, 21:46) and Isaac Fast (64th, 21:55) also ran.
Canton-Galva?Five Eagles ran personal best times at the Heart of America league meet: Jesse Evans (35th, 19:13), Justin Hiller (37th, 19:25), Curtis Evans (39th, 19:38), Tad Wedel (43rd, 20:09), and Sam Janzen (46th, 20:27).
Nathan Bray (50th, 20:49), Codey Johnson (67th, 22:58) and Kaleb Dailey (68th, 26:12) also ran.
?It was great to see some of the guys get under the 20 minute mark,? coach Lyle Silsby said. ?We have struggled all season getting there, and it was good to see them run so well.?
On the girls side, Victoria Rauch (48th, 25:51), and Lynn Volkman (50th, 27:01) ran.
