HILLSBORO: Trojan harriers three-peat as MCAA champs
Aaron Yoder,
Billy Winegarner notch top finishes
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
One down, two to go for the Trojan cross country team.
At the beginning of the season, Hillsboro set two goals.
Other than being able to finally capture their first ever state title, the Trojans were also out to prove themselves supreme among fellow MCAA-league opponents.
The Hesston Swathers and the Halstead Dragons have done their share of providing the Trojans with a measuring stick throughout the year.
Oct. 17 at the MCAA meet at Hesston, the Trojans, for the third consecutive year, proved that they are at the top of league cross country.
Hillsboro edged the Dragons for the top spot by three points with the Swathers taking third a slim seven points behind the Trojans.
"We knew it would be very close," coach Brian Kennell said. "Halstead and Hesston are excellent teams, and we knew we would need to run our best race of the season to win."
Running his best race of the season was Aaron Yoder.
Just over a month earlier at Hesston, Aaron Yoder took first with the fastest time of a Class 3-2-1A runner, 16:45.
Last Thursday, Aaron Yoder was seven seconds faster, again crossing the finish line first in 16:38, 13 and 20 seconds faster than the Dragons' runner-up Levente Nyitrai and Hesston's Ross Fishburn, respectively.
Despite being hampered by cramps just before the race's second mile, Daniel Yoder still finished fourth in 17:15.
"He did a great job running through this," said Kennell of Daniel's race. "Most runners would have fallen back 10 or 15 places."
Sophomore Kody Borg has been making progress all season to becoming a strong varsity runner. Borg, too, was nearly a minute faster the second time around, taking ninth in 17:31.
Karl Magnuson suffered a let down a week earlier at Ellsworth. One week later, Magnuson bounced back with a 15th place finish in 18:00.
Sophomore Sammy Espada and freshman Daniel Bookless have been on the rampage for the junior varsity team. Espada and Daniel Bookless finished 24th and 30 in 18:50 and 19:00.
The day was not without disappointment though.
Much like Magnuson, senior Nick Unruh had a distasteful finish at Ellsworth. The outcome at Hesston was no better for Unruh, who came in 40th at 19:55.
"Nick was bothered by shin splints again and was not able to run to his potential," said Kennell. "He's had an excellent season and has worked very hard all year.
"As a senior, he is looking to the regional race to get back on track so he can finish out the season well."
One of the hardest things about the regional race is deciding which seven runners to choose from as the Trojans' junior varsity team enjoyed a good day as well.
"Our team this year has more than seven runners who are good enough to compete at the varsity level," Kennell said. "It's disappointing for those guys that do not make it at the end of the season."
Competing in his first and final year of cross country, Billy Winegarner ended his career on a winning note with a first place time of 19:17.
Michael Bookless has competed in several varsity races this year. Despite a good season and a fifth place time of 19:56, Michael ran his final race at Hesston.
Robert Jost put an exclamation point on a promising future for Hillsboro with a ninth place time of 20:26.
The Trojans travel Saturday to Leon-Bluestem for a grueling regional that will feature league foes Hesston, Halstead and the defending Class 3A state champion, Holcomb Longhorns.
The top three teams advance to the Nov. 2 state meet at Wamego.
Varsity results
1. A. Yoder, 16:38. 4. D. Yoder, 17:15. 9. Borg, 17:31. 15. Magnuson, 18:00. 24. Espada, 18:50. 30. D. Bookless, 19:00. 40. Unruh, 19:55.
Junior varsity
1. Winegarner, 19:17. 5. M. Bookless, 19:56. 9. Jost, 20:26. 14. Tyler Stout, 20:59. 22. Michael Fisher, 22:38.
