Williams fourth at Swather Special

<p>Sophomore Colin Williams trimmed 30 seconds from his season-opening time at Hesston Thursday, crossing the finish line in 19:13, good for fourth place. Janae Rempel / Free Press

Competing in their second race of the season, every Marion cross country runner showed improvement in their times at the Hesston Swather Special Thursday.

While still a warm and humid afternoon, the relatively cooler temperatures than the week before were a contributing factor to the faster times, coach Rebecca Hofer said.

Forty-nine schools were invited to participate in the Class 1A-6A meet. Runners were divided by gender and ran with their grade level. Results for each race were divided into two groups: Class 1A-2A-3A and Class 4A-5A-6A. The top 20 finishers in each race earned a medal.

?That?s just a fun meet because they get to run against kids that they typically don?t get to run against,? Hofer said. ?Plus, running against just their own age is fun.?

Five Marion runners brought home a medal.

For the boys, sophomore Colin Williams trimmed 30 seconds from last week?s time, crossing the finish line in fourth place among 62 runners in 19 minutes, 13 seconds.

In the junior race, Tyler Arocha led the Warriors by medalling with a 14th-place finish among 45 runners with a time of 20:15.0. Jarrett Johnson came in 27th (21:53.6), and Magnus Maarslet 36th (22:45.6).

Rounding out the Warrior boys? participants, Joeb Corona finished 50th among a field of 80 in the freshman race with a time of 25:05.5.

As a team, the boys finished 12th of 24 with 292 points. Halstead won with 36.

Meanwhile, Emily Hague paced the Warrior girls by finishing fifth among a field of 41 in the junior race with a time of 22:59.2. Kaitlyn Goebel was 40th (39:12.0) in that race.

McKenzee Remmers led Marion in the senior race, placing seventh among 33 runners with a time of 22:39.2. Shyla Harris was 28th (32:44.4) and Brittany Hett 32nd (35:15.1).

Sophomore Meggan Frese finished 19th among a field of 42 with a time of 25:40.7, while freshman AJ Arterburn finished 21st in 29:38.1, missing a medal by 23 seconds.

As a team, the girls finished eighth of 22 with 83 points. Southeast of Saline won with 35.

?All the kids walked away from Hesston just really positive and really feeling good about how they ran,? Hofer said. ?I hope that positivity keeps up.?

Coming?Marion will travel to Herington Thursday for a meet hosted by Centre. Participating schools in addition to the Warriors and the host team include: Berean Academy, Canton-Galva, Halstead, Haven, Herington, Hesston, Hillsboro and Remington.

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