Staff writer
The Hillsboro Cross Country team traveled to Wamego where they had two runners place within the top 30 of the girls 4K race.
Junior Emily Sechrist placed first out of 107 runners with a time of 15 minutes, 42 seconds, coming in a full minute ahead of the second place runner from Norton.
Coach Stuart Holmes said her victory was impressive.
“It was also impressive that she was able to run not pushed by another runner like last year,” Holmes said. “Her dedication to her training has put her in the position to have another outstanding season.”
Holmes said other state top runners were not present at the Wamego meet.
“There will be some outstanding competition in some of the other meets, but for today she dominated in impressive fashion,” he said.
Teammate Karyn Leihy, a junior, also competed well coming in 26th out of 107 runners.
“Karyn ran and excellent race and rand determined to push through the discomfort of racing on such a tough course,” Holmes said. “It was a positive step toward reaching her goals this year.”
Senior Avery Franz finished 75 out of 130 runners in the boys’ 5K.
Franz is recovering from a knee injury and ran the race as a training run, according to Holmes.
“Avery’s discomfort has been decreasing, so hopefully he will be at full strength soon,” Holmes said.
“Another highlight was how well Jonathan Hinerman ran in his first 5K cross-country race,” Holmes said. “Out of 162 runners in the JV race, his place of 41st is a good start for a freshman.”
J.D. Schmidt was unable to compete due to a high fever. Mary Leihy, Lydia Kliewer, and Morganne Hamm chose not to compete after sustaining minor injuries at the beginning of the season.
The next meet is Thursday at Peabody-Burns.