2A Girls
Ellinwood was the clear team victor in the 2A team race, putting three in the top thirteen and two more in the top 33 on their way to scoring 57 points. Ellinwood has been a 2A contender since 2010, and has a number of runner-up finishes and was able to put it all together in the 2A race on Saturday. The race behind them was exciting, with three close finishes for the final two podium spots. Bennington came out ahead of these three with 102 points for second place, while Maranatha Academy edged Berean Academy by one point -- 118-119 -- for third place. Bennington had the individual champion and another medalist to boost their score, and one could assume they would have been even further ahead of Maranatha and closer to Ellinwood had H. Johnson had the race she is capable of; however, Ellinwood would have been too strong to overcome even a 1-2 finish by Bennington.
Individually, with top returner sophomore Halle Johnson of Bennington not herself (she was 31st in 22:25), her freshman teammate Kya Johnson took the reins and dominated the race while running the only sub-20:00 2A time -- 19:36. In my 2A preview I mentioned how I thought it would be unlikely that anyone beat H. Johnson plus the top three freshmen (K. Johnson, Giefer, and E. Topham) -- well, junior Rebeca Avelar, the second-best returner in the meet, had a great race and beat the rest of the field behind K. Johnson. In finishing second (20:01), she not only became a three-time medalist, but she also improved upon both her 2013 finish (3rd) and her 2014 finish (7th). It was Trego Community freshman Helen Giefer who was close behind Avelar with a time of 20:11. Interesting to note here that nine of the top fourteen in the 2A girls' race are freshmen!
Top Five Teams:
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellinwood High School | 57 | 3+7+9+15+23 (25+32) | 2:04 1-5 Split | 21:24 Avg | ||
| 2 | Bennington High School | 102 | 1+11+21+34+35 (63+72) | 3:46 1-5 Split | 22:00 Avg | ||
| 3 | Maranatha Academy | 118 | 13+20+27+28+30 (36+37) | 1:25 1-5 Split | 22:36 Avg | ||
| 4 | Berean Academy | 119 | 4+16+29+31+39 (45+48) | 3:07 1-5 Split | 22:29 Avg | ||
| 5 | Sacred Heart High School | 141 | 10+18+19+42+52 (57+70) | 3:29 1-5 Split | 22:54 Avg | ||
Medalists (Top 20):
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnson, Kya | 9 | Bennington High School | 19:36.49 | 1 | |
| 2 | Avelar, Rebeca | 11 | Stanton County High School | 20:01.48 | 2 | |
| 3 | Giefer, Helen | 9 | Trego Community High School | 20:11.27 | -- | |
| 4 | Strecker, Joanna | 11 | Ellinwood High School | 20:27.18 | 3 | |
| 5 | Topham, Erin | 9 | Berean Academy | 20:32.76 | 4 | |
| 6 | Moore, Savannah | 9 | Ness City High School | 20:44.40 | -- | |
| 7 | Schultz, Karsen | 10 | Wabaunsee High School | 20:51.15 | 5 | |
| 8 | Vail, Rileigh | 9 | Oswego High School | 20:51.57 | -- | |
| 9 | Donley, Aubry | 9 | Lincoln High School | 20:52.15 | 6 | |
| 10 | Reichuber, Abbie | 12 | Ellinwood High School | 20:59.65 | 7 | |
| 11 | Little, Faith | 9 | Jackson Heights | 21:00.48 | -- | |
| 12 | Hess, Madeline | 11 | Wabaunsee High School | 21:03.27 | 8 | |
| 13 | Hammeke, Sarah | 9 | Ellinwood High School | 21:14.19 | 9 | |
| 14 | Montgomery, Maddie | 9 | Lyndon High School | 21:16.61 | -- | |
| 15 | Martin, Hannah | 12 | Wichita County High School | 21:19.67 | -- | |
| 16 | Lindburg, Kailey | 11 | Northern Heights High School | 21:20.02 | -- | |
| 17 | Elmore, Alex | 12 | Sacred Heart High School | 21:24.76 | 10 | |
| 18 | Hilbert, Karis | 10 | Bennington High School | 21:26.24 | 11 | |
| 19 | White-Dold, Brittany | 12 | Olpe High School | 21:26.72 | 12 | |
| 20 | Erickson, Casey | 9 | Kiowa County High School | 21:29.19 | -- | |
1A/2A/4A State Meet Race Recaps: