HHS?cross-country earns team wins at Southeast of Saline

The surprising Hillsboro cross-country team won its second straight meet last Tuesday, this time outdistancing a 20-team field at the Southeast of Saline Invitational.

The Trojans combined for 84 points to lead second-place Hesston by 33 points. Sterling?s 121 points gave the Central Kansas League a sweep of the top three places.

Hillsboro?s Joel Allen posted his third consecutive individual victory, leading a field of 92 runners over the 5-kilometer course in 17 minutes, 11 seconds.

The Trojans got strong finishes from Bret Mueller (13th, 18:58), Justin King (16th, 19:03) and Josh Richert (18th, 19:08). Freshman Avery Franz rounded out the scoring by placing 41st in 21:25.

?It is great to win a meet with 20 schools competing, but we want to stay focused on continuing to improve,? coach Stuart Holmes said.

For the girls, Samantha Ens covered the 4-k course in 20:27 to place 56th among the 71 runners who finished the race.

?It was a hot and very windy day, which made the times slow,? Holmes said. ?But overall the runners completed well.?

?Our training and racing over the next two weeks will be key in getting prepared for the championship phase of our season that starts with league.?

In the junior varsity boys? race, Clay Ethridge placed eighth among 87 finishers in 22:01. He was followed by Daniel Gray (13th, 22:18), Tyler Funk (38th, 24:05) and Nodari Lomidze (77th, 29:33).

Coming?Hillsboro will compete Thursday at the Berean Invitational. The format features the top five runners from each school competing in separate races against equally ranked runners from other schools.

Races begin at 4 p.m. at Harvey County East Park.