Emily Sechrist broke the 15-minute barrier to lower her own school record and win her second straight Central Kansas League championship Thursday at Hesston.
The Trojan junior finished the 4-kilometer course in 14 minutes, 40 seconds to outdistance her closest rival, Halle Helfrich of Pratt, by 24 seconds and lower her school record by 20 seconds.
?Her dedication to her running continues to help her improve each year and it?s great to see her hard work pay off with outstanding races and times this season,? coach Stuart Holmes said of Sechrist. ?She?s earned it.?
Karyn Leihy also medaled for the Trojans, placing 14th among 41 runners in 16:55.
?It was great to have Emily and Karyn as repeat medalists, earning all-league status again this year,? Holmes said.
For the boys, Avery Franz finished the 5-k course in 19:11 to place 22nd in the field of 64 runners. Jonathan Hinerman was 29th in 19:22 and J.D. Schmidt 50th in 21:02.
In junior varsity races, Lydia Kliewer was sixth among the girls in 19:47 and Tristan Donaldson was 28th among the boys in 23:53.
Holmes was pleased that all six of his varsity and JV runners ran season-best time.
?We expected faster times as Hesston is a flat course and it is getting toward the end of the season,? he said. ?In addition, it was such a great day to run, with just a light breeze.?
Coming?Hillsboro will compete in a 2A regional for the first time in program history when they travel to Pleasanton Saturday.
The Trojans will be joined by Canton-Galva, Chase County, Berean Academy, West Elk, Olpe, Oswego, Oxford, Peabody-Burns, St. Marys Colgan, Pleasanton, Uniontown, Remington and Yates Center.
The girls will run at 2 p.m. and the boys at 2:30 p.m.
