Hayden runners take 2nd

--- Matthew Brahana/The Capital-Journal

Ottawa, Baldwin win 4A meets.

By KEN CLARK

The Capital-Journal

WAMEGO --- Undaunted by a seventh-place finish a year ago, Hayden's girls returned this year to finish second in the Class 4A cross country championships Saturday at the Wamego Country Club.

Led by Stacy Marshall's 12th-place finish, the Wildcats finished with 95 points, only four points behind 4A champion Ottawa. Hayden also got top-30 performances from Amanda (23) and Amy Geist (27) in edging third-place Sabetha by nine points.

All in all, it was a pretty fair way to spend a near perfect fall day in front of more than 3,000 spectators, according to Hayden coach Kathy Strecker.

"I figured that we had a shot at the top three," Strecker said. "We were four points out of first, and we won city league and regionals earlier.

"But I also knew that it would be close, which the top four slots were very close. I was really proud of how they (the girls) went out and ran hard and ended up with second place."

Strecker said the only strategy her team used was to try run a tough race and beat individual runners.

"We knew that Ottawa, Clay Center and Sabetha would be tough to beat because we've raced against them a couple of times already," she said. "We just wanted to try to beat their individuals and do the best we could."

Strecker added that six of the seven members of this year's Wildcat team will return, making Hayden a strong contender next season.

"I'm very pleased with the way our team ran today, and I'm very excited about the future," she said.

Ottawa's girls, meanwhile, were quite excited about the present. Although plagued by injuries most of the year, Ottawa was able to field a healthy team at the last minute, and it paid off with the championship.

"We just knew that some of our seniors who have been recovering from injuries throughout the year would have to be able to help us today," coach Chris Kornhaus said. "For example, we didn't even know if our third runner today (Kristen Sells) was going to be able to run this season."

Burlington's Tricia Culbertson was 4A's top medalist with a clocking of 11:55, almost a minute faster than her time last year.

"We did more speed work in practice, like quarters and six hundreds, intervals like that which gives me a good idea about how far I have to go," said Culbertson, who finished sixth a year ago.

Baldwin easily won the boys 4A title with 70 points, 33 fewer than runner-up Wamego. Baldwin's Matt Noonan won individual honors with a personal-best time of 16:04. Noonan's sister, Megan, finished second in the girls 4A race in 11:58.

"We ran this course earlier in the year, and I ran it with a time of 16:29," Matt Noonan said. "Today, I just wanted to come out and run the first mile or two relaxed and just reel it in from there."

Justin Johnson finished eighth to lead the Northern Heights boys to the 3A championship with 72 points. Hoisington finished a close second with 75 points.

Northern Heights also won the girls 3A event with a score of 65 points. Carissa VanGundy placed second individually to lead Heights, but her time of 11:54 was more than 26 seconds behind the winning pace set by Riley County's Erin Mortimer.

Stanton County finished first in boys 2-1A with 63 points, and Olpe claimed the girls 2-1A title with 72 points.

n Results in Scoreboard, 6-G

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