Runners do well at Sterling
Staff writer
Despite another windy day, Hillsboro cross-country runners competed well at Sterling.
Once again, Emily Sechrist placed first in the girl’s varsity race with a time of 15 minutes, 23 seconds. Sechrist and Karyn Leihy medaled in the race. Leihy finished 17th out of 52 runners with a time of 17:23.
“Just like last week, the windy conditions slowed everyone’s time and probably kept Emily from challenging the Sterling course record of 15:11,” coach Stuart Holmes said.
Avery Franz finished the boy’s varsity race with a time of 20:31, and teammate J.D. Schmidt rain in 21:30.
“It was good to see Avery and J.D. run stronger as both have been battling to get back to 100 percent after injury or illness,” Holmes said. “They weren’t 100 percent but they definitely ran better and should be even stronger next week at league.”
Freshman Jonathan Hinerman placed 7th with a time of 20:30, and Tristan Donaldson placed 20th out of 27 runners in the freshman race with a time of 26:22.
This was Donaldson’s first competitive race after joining the team late in the season. Holmes said he did very well under the conditions and for such a long distance.
Abby Driggers finished 14th in the 7th grade girls 1600 meter race with a time of 7:18.
“Our athletes once again showed their competitive spirit and turned in determined efforts,” Holmes said. “The runners will need an extra amount of determination as we head into the championship phase of our season with league, regionals, and state in the next three weeks.”
Up next for the team is league at Hesston on Oct. 17.