Becker, Swim earn medals at state cross-country meets

Pratt’s Cheyenne Becker and Skyline’s Chelsey Swim both earned medals at Saturday’s state cross-country meets in Wamego.
Becker took eighth in the Class 4A girls race, running the 4K course in 15:51.29.
She was the highest-placing freshman, and the only one in the top ten of the race.
“Eighth place as a freshman is great,” PHS coach Kathy Hitz said. “Now she knows what to expect next year.”
El Dorado’s Molly Milbourn won the race in 15:07.25. BreAnna Briggs of Wamego was second in 15:22.59. Bridgette McCormick of St. James Academy in Lenexa was 20th (the last medalist) in 16:10.53.
Swim earned her second straight state medal by finishing 12th in the Class 1A girls race.
The junior completed Wamego’s tough course in 17:15.81. A year ago, she finished 20th.
“The girls had kind of a tough place on the starting line--really hard to get into a good position from the beginning,” Skyline coach Eric Bronson said. “Plus, the start is uphill, so you really have to fight to get out early. Chelsey did just that. She got with a group of runners and maintained throughout the entire race. She had a real challenge on her hands to keep her place at the end. She was passed by two runners, but got one of them back. It was a very exciting race for Chelsey.”
Rachel Renken of Lakeside High School at Downs was the individual champion, finishing in 16:13.26. Lincoln’s Heidi Lynn was the last medalist, taking 20th in 17:35.34.
Pratt’s boys team finished ninth out of 12, meeting Hitz’s goal of a top-ten finish.
PHS scored 219 points, edging Towanda-Circle by three points for ninth. Mulvane won the meet with 43 points, 20 ahead of Wamego.
Senior Paul Harris was the first Greenback to finish, taking 27th in 17:30.30.
Junior Jack Boyd finished 48th in 18:05.41, and freshman Mario Perez took 63rd in 18:26.27.
Juniors Jakob Whitson and Will Shoup were 74th and 85th in 18:45.63 and 18:56.57, respectively.
Seniors Evan Strong and Nathan Southard completed Pratt’s team. Strong was 92nd in 19:31.40 and Southard was 98th in 20:10.62.
“I am glad that I had some underclassmen on this team so they could get experience at the state level,” she said. “Wamego is a very difficult course and experience on it is very beneficial.”
Thomas O’Connell of Andover won the 4A boys race in 16:31.74. Iola’s Roman Yocham took the final medal for his 20th place time of 17:20.88.
Skyline’s Darrian Wannow also competed at state, finishing 71st in the 1A girls race. She completed the course in 20:47.32.
“Darrian was not pleased at first with her performance, but really there were no lags in the race,” Bronson said. “There was a steady stream of runners coming through the finish all the way through the race. Just to qualify and be able to line up with the best runners in the state is quite an accomplishment for both girls.”