Rural's Morgan dominates Heights meet
The conditions for Saturday's Shawnee Heights Invitational cross country meet changed from minute to minute.
The weather started cool and dry, turned to a mist, then a downpour, then to a lighter rain and finally back to a mist.
There was one constant, however — the domination of Washburn Rural senior Jacob Morgan.
Morgan, the defending Class 6A state champion, cruised to a 5-kilometer win in 15 minutes, 43 seconds, winning by 52 seconds over Blue Valley Northwest's Sam Guinn and setting a new Lake Shawnee course record.
“It was beautiful until it started pouring,” said Morgan, whose individual victory helped the Junior Blues win the boys team championship by a single point over Lawrence (48-49).
Morgan said that the heavy rain, which started when he was about a mile and a half into his race, wasn't really a factor.
“It didn’t bother me much, it just felt heavy,” Morgan said.
Morgan steadily increased his lead throughout the race, but said he wasn’t aware of how far he was ahead of the pack.
“I’m scared to look back,” he said. “I just have to keep improving, keep getting better and keep working.”
Nothing Morgan does anymore surprises Washburn Rural coach Scott Shufelberger said.
“He practices like he wants to race,” Shufelberger said. “They just don’t come along like that very often. He’s a motivated young fella.”
Topeka High senior Kyle Snyder finished third in 16:51 while Lawrence’s Nathan Stringer (17:07) and Zach Andregg (17:13) rounded out the top five.
Washburn Rural’s Jordan Blume finished sixth (17:38) and Thomas Larouche took ninth (17:50) while the Junior Blues also got a 15th-place finish from Ethan Pope and a 17th-place showing from James Hishmeh to round out the top five.
Blue Valley Northwest won the girls team title by a 45-58 margin over Lawrence, led by Paige Kochuyt and Hannah Holbert, who went one-two individually in 15:26 and 15:31, respectively (over a 4K course).
Lawrence’s Grace Morgan took third (15:57), followed by the Washburn Rural duo of Rachel Graf (15:59) and Alyssa Golz (16:05). Rural finished third as a team.
Topeka High’s Emily Wagemaker (16:23) and Emily Schoenfeld (16:34) took sixth and seventh, respectively, while Shawnee Heights’ Katie Emerson narrowly missed a top-10 finish, taking 11th (17:02).
GIRLS
Team scores
Blue Valley Northwest 45, Lawrence 58, Washburn Rural 71, Topeka High 102, Leavenworth 104, Shawnee Heights 130.
Individual results
1. Kochuyt, BVNW, 15:26; 2. Holbert, BVNW, 15:31; 3. Morgan, Law, 15:57; 4. Graf, WR, 15:59; 5. Golz, WR, 16:05; 6. Wagemaker, TH, 16:23; 7. Schoenfeld, TH, 16:34; 8. Ruder, Law, 16:49; 9. Schoen, Leav, 17:01; 10. Gabler, Law, 17:01.
Other Washburn Rural — 16. Morgan, 17:20; 19. Schnacker, 17:27; 28. Miller, 17:55; 33. Waters, 18:33.
Other Topeka High — 26. Huckabay, 17:50; 31. Erickson, 18:01; 35. Garcia, 18:49.
Shawnee Heights — 11. Emerson, 17:02; 23. Busenitz, 17:45; 30. Rand, 17:57; 32. Wittman, 18:18; 37. Siess, 19:13; 38. Warren, 19:20; 40. Smith, 20:03.
Highland Park -- 24. Kelley, 17:47.
BOYS
Team scores
Washburn Rural 48, Lawrence 49, Blue Valley Northwest 64, Topeka High 113, Shawnee Heights 116, Leavenworth 120.
Individual results
1. Morgan, WR, 15:43 (course record); 2. Guinn, BVNW, 16:35; 3. K. Snyder, TH, 16:51; 4. Stringer, Law, 17:07; 5. Andregg, Law, 17:13; 6. Blume, WR, 17:38; 7. Hildenbrand, Law, 17:41; 8. Fangman, Law, 17:46; 9. Larouche, WR, 17:50; 10. Toby, BVNW, 18:03.
Other Washburn Rural -- 15. Pope, 18:23; 17. Hishmeh, 18:30; 18. Asbury, 18:32; 21. Osborn, 18:55.
Other Topeka High -- 19. B. Snyder, 18:38; 24. Coultis, 19:03; 31. Johnson, 19:32; 36. Giefer, 20:04.
Shawnee Heights -- 13. Hennes, 18:11; 22. Figueroa, 18:59; 23. Johnson, 19:01; 28. Golder, 19:26; 30. Johnson, 19:31; 33. Beemer, 19:40; 37. Johnston, 20:05.
