HILLSBORO: Harriers take fifth at Rim Rock
Aaron Yoder
finishes third overall
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Next to the state cross country championship, one meet had to loom larger for the Trojans than the others.
The Sept. 21 Rim Rock Farm High School Cross Country Classic, hosted by the University of Kansas at Lawrence-Free State High School.
There, the Trojans went toe-to-toe with some of the state's premier programs, including some Missouri teams.
Out of the 14 teams competing at Rim Rock, the Trojans finished the highest in Class 3A and fifth overall with 162 points.
Class 4A-Tonganoxie paced the field with 65 points.
"We had a good day in Lawrence on Saturday," said Trojan cross country coach Brian Kennell. "This was our first time at this meet, and the course and competition was everything we'd hoped for."
With the top three finishers all being juniors, the meet definitely showed that both Aaron and Daniel Yoder are destined for stardom.
Aaron took third in the five-kilometer race at 17:38, just 37/100 of a second off of Mill Valley's first place-Jay Matlack.
Twin brother Daniel was 16th out of 108 finishers, in 18:16.
"Our highlight of the day was Danny and Aaron earning medals," Kennell said. "This was a tough field of runners, and we were proud to have them finish in front.
"They both ran very good races. Our other runners also ran good races."
Just a sophomore, Karl Magnuson proved that he could a have bright future ahead of him with a 45th place finish of 19:43.
Kody Borg competed strong, too, finishing in 19:57 for 52nd.
Nick Unruh was 72nd (20:42), and freshman Daniel Bookless came in 79th in 21:01.
Rounding out the Rim Rock finishers for the Trojans was Michael Bookless in 101st (22:24.)
"KU did a super job hosting it, and it was fun to see so many runners from several states," said Kennell. "The course was great with some really difficult hills and curves.
"We thought that we would see some 3A schools that we will meet at state and regionals, but ended up running against schools that we do not normally see. This turned out all right, and it was fun to run against new competition. This experience will really help out at the end of the season."
The Trojans were in action Tuesday at Gypsum for a meet with the SE-Saline Trojans.
RIM ROCK RESULTS
3. A. Yoder, 17:38. 16. D. Yoder, 18:16. 45. Magnuson, 19:43. 52. Borg, 19:57. 72. Unruh, 20:42. 79. D. Bookless, 21:01. 101. M. Bookless, 22:24.
