Trojan boys grab third at Sterling
When it comes to the race for the Mid-Central Activities Association league boys' cross country title, one thing remains clear: The Sterling Black Bears are going to be the odds-on team to beat.
They've been a thorn in the Trojans' sides all year, and they were again Thursday, winning the Sterling cross country invitational at Sterling Country Club.
The defending Class 2A state champion Black Bears were led by Kaleb Humphreys' 5K-winning time of 17 minutes, six seconds.
The Black Bears' winning score of 71 was 14 points better than runner-up Stafford, with Hillsboro picking up 97.
Cody McMillen led the Trojans' five runners with a fourth-place time of 17:50, six seconds behind Stafford's runner-up Kristian Sherrill's time.
Nathan Vogel was 15th (19:09), with Brandon McMillen 10 seconds and four places behind.
Johnny Christian beat the 20:00 by 20 seconds, for 25th out of the race's 75 finishers.
Junior Cody Blacketter has been on a tear for the junior varsity team, and in his first varsity race, he didn't disappoint, running a 20:19 for 41st.
The Lady Trojans' 114 points left them fifth out of eight schools with Thomas More Prep's 62 points topping the field — 16 ahead of runner-up Hutchinson Trinity. Jessica Elliot posted the best finish, running a sixth-place time of 18:28, while Heidi Schroeder just beat the 19:00 mark (10th, 18:59) to finish in the top-20.
Clara Ens was 39th in 20:22, and Abi Humber nipped freshman teammate Karen Benda by one position, and six seconds, to stay in the top 50 with respective times of 21:09 and 21:15.
The departure of Cody McMillen, Alex Jost, and Tyrel Blecha without a doubt will jolt the boys next year. But coach Stuart Holmes still has plenty of reason to smile.
The Trojans' junior varsity team showed the future looks bright ahead, cruising to an easy first place, blowing away five other schools, led by Matt Klenda's gold-medal time of 20:40.
Jared King (20:40) was hot on his tail in second with David Ratzloff third (20:48) to give Hillsboro three out of the top five finishers.
Jost rounded out the top 10, taking sixth in 21:05, but .28of a second out of fifth.
Blecha kept all of the Trojans' within the top 20, running a 24:47 for 28th.
The Trojans get their final chance Thursday to return the league title back to Hillsboro with the MCAA league meet at Hoisington.
