Johnson County athletes excel at state cross country

Source: The Star

Photos by tetona dunlap | the kansas city star

Some of the St. Thomas Aquinas 5A boys cross country team held their team championship trophy on Saturday in Lawrence. P.J. Greer, far right, won the individual state title.

more girls cross country...

you might also like...

The streak is over. After 14 consecutive Kansas 6A cross country championships, the Shawnee Mission Northwest boys finished second Saturday in the state meet at Rim Rock Farm north of Lawrence.

“It gives you a jolt of reality,” Cougars sophomore Aaron Thornburg said afterward. “There’s competition now. Kansas is definitely getting better, so we’ve just got to work harder.”

Thornburg was one of two SM Northwest boys to place in the top 10. He finished third in a 5-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 16.80 seconds. Fellow sophomore Sterling Spencer placed ninth in 16:27.99.

But the celebration belonged to Lawrence, which claimed its first boys cross country state title with a score of 60, topping the Cougars’ score of 69.

“We’re kind of disappointed, obviously, since it’s been going on for so long,” Thornburg said of the streak ending. “I guess it starts on Monday for next year.”

Meanwhile, a number of Johnson County runners turned in strong individual efforts with top-10 finishes Saturday.

•Olathe East junior Ryan Hocker placed fifth in the 6A meet (16:21.25). SM North senior Alex Hendee took seventh (16:21.91). And SM South junior Andrew Stevens finished eighth (16:27.49).

In the 6A girls race, SM Northwest junior Lisa Imgrund placed fourth in a 4K time of 15:36.02. BV North senior Erin Beck, who struggled at Rim Rock a year ago, finished strong with a sixth-place finish (15:39.65). Olathe Northwest senior Jess Macy was seventh (15:41.00). And Olathe East freshman Brooklyn Ellis placed eighth (15:43.96).

Aquinas sweeps in 5AThis is why St. Thomas Aquinas senior P.J. Greer ran 60 miles a week throughout the summer – for these final five kilometers.

And for the satisfaction that followed.

“I just can’t even believe it,” Greer said Saturday after winning the Kansas 5A boys cross country state championship. “I never in my wildest dreams could ever have imagined anything this spectacular.”

It became reality when Greer bested the 5A boys field at Rim Rock Farm in a time of 16 minutes, 3.57 seconds for an appropriate culmination to an exceptional season in which he won six of his nine races.

In his final varsity meet, he led the way to a banner finish for the Aquinas cross country program.

The Saints boys and girls teams each won 5A state championships – repeating a dual-feat they also accomplished in 2006.

“I just know how much they wanted to be successful today,” Aquinas coach Justin Wrigley said. “You can just see the emotion on them all season, especially the last couple of weeks. … They were focused and determined.”

Along with Greer, senior Ben Grace also placed in the top 10 (eighth, 16:45.85) in leading the Saints to a first-place team score of 71.

Junior Ashley Washburn led the Aquinas girls with a second-place individual finish – her third consecutive state runner-up finish. She completed the 4K course in 15:33.87, finishing behind Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Mackenzie Maki (15:12.10).

But Washburn got to celebrate the girls team state title. Aquinas, with a score of 74, topped Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s 84.

“It means a lot more to me to win as a team,” Washburn said.

•Gardner Edgerton senior Mitch Loring placed fourth in the 5A boys race (16:16.97) and Trailblazers junior Clarissa Johnson finished eighth in the 5A girls race (16:10.35).

Maranatha wins twoWhen coach Bianca Williams took over the Maranatha Academy cross country program in the early part of this decade, she had seven runners combined between the boys and girls teams.

Maranatha has come a long way since then, and Saturday brought its crowning achievement.

Both the school’s boys and girls teams won their first cross country state championships in the 2A meet at Wamego Country Club.

“We have just really, really been working to win the prize,” Williams said. “And they came through.”

There was a sense of urgency for the girls team with four key seniors.

“Everyone kind of saw the writing on the wall – if they were going to get it done, they had to get it done this year,” Williams said. “They realized that this was going to be their best chance.”

And they capitalized on it.

Senior Alison Bailey placed sixth individually, finishing the 4-kilometer course in 16 minutes, 22.71 seconds in leading Maranatha. Junior Bethany Zarda (seventh place, 16:38.06) also finished in the top 10. Maranatha finished with a score of 62, winning convincingly over second-place Bennington’s 92.

“Words cannot explain how much this means to me,” Bailey said.

The Maranatha boys endured a little more suspense, finishing with a team score of 86 and topping Berean Academy by three points.

Junior Brant Asbell led the team with a 14th-place finish and a 5K time of 18:13.63.

•In the 4A state meet, the De Soto girls placed second as a team, led by sophomore Lacey Erickson’s sixth-place individual finish (15:49.31).

•Kansas City Christian senior Nick Anning fared well at the 3A meet, placing fourth individually (17:24.23).

submitted by RYAN YOUNG - 2008-11-06 18:28:01