Trojan boys take second, JV team wins SES Invitational
Even with a sixth-place finish, there's plenty of reason for Cody McMillen to feel good after Thursday's cross country meet held in gusty and damp Gypsum.
None of the five finishers ahead of the Trojan boys' standout were from 3A schools.
It also could not spoil the success Hillsboro had on the 3.1-mile course as the Trojans finished second only to pesky league foe Sterling by a 60-96 margin.
The junior varsity team grabbed a first-place finish, though, with Trojans rounding out four out of the top five finishers.
"The kids did an outstanding job of competing this week," Trojan coach Stuart Holmes said. "The varsity boys finishing second out of the 18 schools at the meet indicates that our guys are definitely improving and ran well at the meet."
McMillen came in with a time of 18 minutes, five seconds, with defending 2-1A champion Sterling's Kaleb Humphreys taking first.
Nick Mueller was second for Hillsboro, posting an 11th-place time of 18:47, and Nathan Vogel was 10 spots behind at 19:22.
"Having Cody, Nicholas, and Nathan all medal really set us up to have a lower team score," Holmes said.
The Trojans got a boost from their fourth and fifth place finishers, Brandon McMillen and Johnny Christian.
The past few weeks, the duo has been working consistently to push the pace. It paid dividends with Brandon McMillen taking 28th (19:57), and Christian at 33rd (20:06).
Cody Blacketter has been the leader for the junior varsity team, and his time of 21:07 highlighted the meet as he nipped teammate David Ratzloff by four seconds.
The Trojans cleaned house in the competition, defeating runner-up Hesston's 54 points by a comfortable 25 points.
Jonathan King (21:11) was one spot and six seconds behind Ratzloff for third.
After four years of competing, Alex Jost's extended effort over the summer helped him earn his first medal ever as he captured fifth (21:20).
Abi Humber's 41st place time of 19:15 led the way for the Lady Trojans as they finished 11th with 247 points. Abilene won the girls' division with 54 points.
"Abi ran especially well this week as she was the top runner for the girls' team" Holmes said. "In only her first year out for cross country, she is having a good season. She prepared last summer and worked hard in practice and she's continuing to improve.
Hillsboro returns to action with a 4 p.m. start Thursday at the Harvey County East Park.
Results:
girls' varsity
Abi Humber - 19:15, 41st.
Heidi Schroeder - 19:23, 45th.
Krista Benda - 20:24, 64th.
Jessica Elliot - 20:41, 65th.
Clara Ens - 20:44, 66th.
BOYS' VARSITY
Cody McMillen - 18:05, sixth.
Nicholas Mueller - 18:47, 11th.
Nathan Vogel - 19:22, 21st.
Brandon McMillen - 19:57, 28th.
John Christian - 20:66, 33rd.
Matt Klenda - 19:57, 71st.
boys' junior varsity
Cody Blacketter - 21:07, first.
David Ratzloff - 21:11, second.
Jonathan King - 21:17, third.
Alex Jost - 21:20, fifth.
Nick Carlson - 22:58, 17th.
Tyrel Blecha - 23:31, 23rd.
Michael Christian - 24:00, 29th.
