Bluejay harriers compete at league meet
Lady Bluejays finish fourth, men take fifth at Winfield
The Bluejay cross country teams wrapped up the regular season Saturday at the KCAC meet in Winfield hosted by the Southwestern Moundbuilders.
Despite a rough day, the Lady Bluejays captured a fourth place finish while the men finished fifth.
The hosting teams made it crystal clear why they're the front-runners in the league, winning both divisions comfortably.
The Lady Moundbuilders outdistanced themselves 23-68 from the Sterling Lady Warriors while the men's team edged Ottawa, 17-68.
Tabor's women's and men's teams finished with 88 and 130 points, respectively.
In women's action, Heidi Schmidt was the lone Bluejay to earn all-conference honors, taking 13th in 20:44.
Amber Wiens finished in second for Tabor, coming in 20th in a season-high time of 21:07.
Bridgette Stevens was 22nd (21:09), Shelby Miller was 29th (22:01), and Tiffany Stevens was 31st in 22:07 to round out the top five.
Rebekah Lockhart and Ashley Schmidt were 40th in 23:16 and 45th in 23:29, respectively.
"It was kind of a tough day for the women," said Bluejay coach Karol Hunt. "We ran on the same course two weeks ago and only Amber was able to turn in a quicker time.
"Our team this season has more depth and is stronger than last year's, but we slipped from second to fourth in the standings. That was hard on our team today, but it also means that our conference is getting more competitive. We ran our best on this particular day so we have to keep our heads up."
For the first time this season in men's competition, the Bluejays had two runners break the 30:00 barrier.
One was Kyle Larson, who finished on top for Tabor with a 20th place season-best time of 29:34 in the eight-kilometer race.
The other was Matt Lynam, who barely broke it for the first time in his four-year career in his final league race with a 25th place finish of 29:59.
"For the most part, the men ran really well today," Hunt said. "It was really positive for Matt to have that kind of performance in his final conference race."
Kevin Larson also had a season-best time of 30:18 for 28th while Richard Galli had a personal record time of 30:48 for 33rd.
As good as the day turned out to be for the Bluejays, Jeff Anenson had a tough break.
Running the race of his life and among the top 15, stomach cramps suddenly caused Anenson to pull over for a few minutes.
Anenson made a gutsy move and finished the race in 40th place time of 31:31.
"I had to feel really badly for Jeff today," said Hunt. "He had a time of 23:19 at the four-mile mark and was on pace to finish well below 30 minutes. To his credit, he jumped back into the race and finished."
Brandon Voth finished sixth for Tabor with a personal record of 31:32 for 41st.
Zac Remboldt was 44th (31:58), and Will Higerd was 45th in a personal record time of 32:03.
"For both teams, we talked about leaving nothing on the course at the end of our races," said Hunt. "I think we reached that goal."
The Bluejays close out the year Saturday in McPherson at the regional meet held at Rolling Acres Gold Course.
Women begin running at 10:30 a.m. with the men starting at 11:15 a.m.
women's Results
13. H. Schmidt, 20:44. 20. Wiens, 21:07. 22. B. Stevens, 21:09. 29. Miller, 22:01. 31. T. Stevens, 22:07. 40. Lockhart, 23:16. 45. A. Schmidt, 23:29.
Men's
20. Kyle Larson, 29:34. 25. Lynam, 29:59. 28. Kevin Larson, 30:18. 33. Galli, 30:28. 40. Anenson, 31:31. 41. Voth, 31:32. 44. Remboldt, 31:58. 45. Higerd, 32:03.
