Wellsville, AC boys qualify for state

The Wellsville and Anderson County high school boys cross-country teams have a chance to vie for a state title.

They qualified for state by finishing in the top three teams Saturday in their regionals.

Wellsville finished third with 85 points in the 3A Burlington regional. Central Heights was fourth with 93 points.

Anderson County also was third in a 4A regional ran at El Dorado. The Bulldogs had 120 points.

Central Heights senior Ethan Van Zant and West Franklin sophomore Taylor Slavens qualified for state as individuals.

State will be Saturday in Wamego. The 4A boys race is at 11 a.m. followed by the 3A boys. The 3A girls will run at 12:30 p.m.

Anderson County boys were led by Evan Bennett and Arthur White in ninth and 10th. Dustin Bonzo was 14th.

Wellsville was paced by Cole Meyer (seventh), Jordan Thompson (10th) and Derek Moore (13th).

Ottawa did not qualify any runners for state, despite finishing strong at Wyandotte County Park.

“We had half our team run a P.R. (personal record),” Ottawa coach Chris Kornhaus said. “I am encouraged about the improvement. We have to reassess our level of expectations and get it done in practice.”

Seniors Jena Richardson (23rd) and Dustyn Green (49th) led the Cyclones runners in their final high school race.

“We will miss the seniors,” Kornhaus said. “They were good leaders.”

West Franklin girls just missed qualifying as a team.

“We were pleasantly surprised by our team finish and disappointed at the same time being so close, but were happy with our team results on the season overall,” West Franklin coach Jerald Johnson said.

Ottawa boys (ninth, 245)

49, Green, 19:26; 51, Farrell, 19:46; 60, Peoples, 20:20; 69, Sweeney, 21:35; 71, Douglas, 22:21; 74, Fischer, 23:52.

Ottawa girls (eighth, 201)

23, Richardson, 17:13; 33, Doty, 17:58; 48, Thomas, 19:08; 59, Marquis, 19:43; 66, McCall, 20:47; 68, McKierman, 21:22; 72, Ishmael, 23:06.

Anderson County boys (third, 120)

9, Bennett, 17:42; 10, White, 17:42; 14, Bonzo, 17:51; 43, Bogle, 18:47; 46, Moody, 18:57; 86, Katzer, 22:11.

Anderson County girls (ninth, 178)

11, Moody, 16:54; 16, Porter, 17:36; 31, Yoder, 18:08; 60, Rickel, 19:28; 68, Jacobus, 19:40; 74, Rockers, 20:11; 86, Mikesell, 24:40.

Wellsville boys (third, 85)

7, C. Meyer, 19:16; 10, Thompson, 19:35; 13, Moore, 19:47; 28, T. Meyer, 20:42; 40, Silsby, 21:27; 54, Calderwood, 22:07; 57, Kunard, 23:00.

Wellsville girls (fifth, 109)

15, Ohlmeier, 19:03; 22, Boehm, 20:27; 23, Layton, 20:37; 46, Kojic, 25:50; 47, Gloshen, 26:33.

Central Heights boys (fourth, 93)

3, Van Zant, 18:28; 12, Burkdoll, 19:39; 19, Robertson, 20:05; 35, Holler, 20:57; 36, David, 21:13; 38, Patterson, 21:18; 44, Conaway, 21:43.

Central Heights girls (sixth, 129)

29, Carlson, 21:19; 30, Croci, 21:20; 35, Olinghouse, 22:30; 37, Savage, 22:50; 38, King, 22:53; 41, Bryant, 24:06; 45, Gragg, 25:21.

West Franklin boys

50, Reed, 21:51.

West Franklin girls (fourth, 99)

8, Slavens, 18:33; 20, Rodriguez, 20:04; 26, Sharp, 21:04; 40, Findley, 23:01; 42, Moraes, 24:14.