Hett places 9th, Pickens 6th at state meet

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Lauren Pickens strides out at the front of a group of 2A girls Saturday at Wamego. Pickens placed sixth among 101 runners.

Marion freshman Jordan Hett topped off a standout freshman season with a ninth-place finish in the Class 3A boys? race at the state cross country meet in Wamego on Saturday.

Running in near-perfect weather conditions, Hett completed the hilly 5-kilometer course in 17 minutes, 40 seconds. Collin Trickle of Minneapolis won the race in 17:02.

?Jordan was the only freshmen in 3A to medal,? coach Bethany Carlson said. ?Jordan has a great running career ahead of him. He is a hardworker, and I am very excited about him leading our team the next three years.?

Meanwhile, Warrior teammate Ryan Jones capped his high school career with a state medal by placing 18th in 18:02.

?He went to state three years, has two years of all-state honors, and three years of all-league recognition,? Carlson said. ?Ryan was a quiet leader and very coachable. We will miss Ryan next year.?

Hillsboro?s only entry in the race, senior Nathan Vogel, finished in 52nd-place among the 106 entrants. His time of 19:07 was more than a minute off his regional qualifying time of 17:52, but two seconds faster than the time he ran on the same course early in the season.

It was Vogel?s third appearance at state. The previous two times were as a member of the Trojans? qualifying team.

CLASS 2A?Lauren Pickens of Peabody-Burns enjoyed the best finish among local runners by placing sixth in Class 2A among 101 runners.

The junior speedster, two-time defending state dashes champion in track and field, showed her stamina over 4 kilometers by finishing in 16:46. Ally Balder?ston of Sacred Heart won the race in 16:24.

Goessel?s lone qualifier for the race, Kristen Hoffman, finished 62nd in 18:49.

Meanwhile, the PBHS boys finished seventh in the team competition. The Warriors accumulated 167 points, leaving them only seven points short of fourth place. Berean Academy won the team title with 58 points.

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Marion freshman Jordan Hett (second from right) finished ninth among the 106 runners in the 3A boys race Saturday at Wamego.

 

Leading the way for PBHS was senior Aaron Topham, who traversed the 5-k course in 18:45 to place 37th among 103 runners. He was followed closely by Jacob Simmons (39th, 18:47) and Sheldon Wiebe (41st, 18:49).

Also competing for the Warriors were Joshua Klar?mann (51st, 19:14), Curtis Frederick (64th, 19:42), Matthew Hiebert (76th, 20:11) and Steffen Pospeich (83rd, 20:38).

The Goessel boys? team, meanwhile, placed 11th among 12 qualifying schools. Leading the Bluebirds was senior Jared Reimer, who placed 33rd in 18:38.

Following him were Laird Goertzen (50th, 19:13), Derek Kruger (59th, 19:35), Lukas Kemkes (76th, 19:54), Said Bahloul (84th, 20:39), Chad Wedel (98th, 22:03) and Stephan Goertzen (102nd, 24:22).