Cross Country

The regional championships were all of the way in Sabetha for the West Franklin Cross Country Team on Saturday. The cooler temperatures were a welcome change, and the hilly course brought no fear to the Falcons. 16 schools competing.  Top 3 teams would go to state. And they were ready.

The start of the race was 300 meters downhill, so the girls race started off fast. Bailey Cameron put herself in the top 20 early, while the rest of the Falcons gradually moved up from the 50s. About halfway through the race, Hiawatha had a 22 point lead over the Falcons, but Bailey moved herself into the lead, while Emma Cameron and Baylie Wieneke made a hard charge up the field with Kate Shepherd hunting each runner. 2 miles in, the lead had been cut to 10 points. Lacy Judd and Kara McCormick looked for place after place and Mya Crabtree chased down the 5th place runners from other teams. Bailey held her position to claim her first individual regional championship and her first overall high school win. Baylie and Emma also claimed medals in 10th and 11th. The results took a long time to load, but the final score was 52 to 52. The Falcons made up the difference, but when it came to the tiebreaker, they were just short, reminding everyone how much in place can matter. With that, the Falcons celebrated with the Regional Runner-up Plaque and a state qualification!

The boys race started in a similar way, with the Falcons making moves earlier. Hunter Bailey went from 20th to 1st in the first 1000 meters. The trio of Caul Johns, Andrew Patterson, and Josh Foster picked off runner after runner, moving through the field like they were.  Halfway through the race, Coy Link, as the Falcons 5th runner, found himself in front of the 4th runner on every other team. Tristan Craig and Kurtis McCormick were doing their job as well, moving in front of the 5th runner on a majority of the teams, pushing their scores higher.  At that point, the team race was all but over. Hunter followed his individual league title with a regional victory, with Caul, Andrew, and Josh medaling in 5th, 8th, and 9th. Yes.  Four of the top nine were wearing Falcon blue.  The boys team won with 43 points, beating 2nd place by 45 points. They are your Regional Champions!

With two team plaques and two individual regional champions, both teams will continue their season for another week, racing at Rim Rock in Lawrence for the state championships next Saturday, November 2nd. The boys will race at 10:35 AM and the girls will race at 12:20 PM. Here we go!

*The races had 15 medalists.

High School Girls (Team 2nd*): Bailey Cameron (1st*), Baylie Wieneke (10th*), Emma Cameron (11th*), Kate Shepherd (18th), Lacy Judd (29th), Kara McCormick (31st), Mya Crabtree (42nd)

High School Boys (Team 1st*): Hunter Bailey (1st*), Caul Johns (5th*), Andrew Patterson (8th*), Josh Foster (9th*), Coy Link (20th), Tristan Craig (41st), Kurtis McCormick (44th)

https://ks.milesplit.com/meets/637143-kshsaa-3a-regional-4-2024/results