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Ellinwood junior Pedro Montoya and sophomore Morgan Feemster in a practice run earlier this year. (Mike Courson / October 28, 2012) |
The Eagle boys won their second-straight state cross country title while the Lady Eagles and TMP senior Heather Ruder came up just short in their races.
Ellinwood
The Eagle boys dominated the Class 2A State Cross Country meet in Wamego for their second-straight state championship. Ellinwood’s 56 points were far-ahead of Stanton County’s 74 points, and Kansas City Christian’s 91 points. The Lady Eagles finished with 91 points for second place, tying Maranatha Academy, and falling to Berean Academy by just nine points.
Ness City junior Dray Carson won the boys’ race in 16:13, followed by Eagle junior Pedro Montoya in 16:25, 22 seconds ahead of the bronze medalist. Sophomore Morgan Feemster finished ninth in 17:17. Junior Kyle Oglesbee placed 13th in 17:39, senior Kyle Blakeslee ran a 18:05.6 finish 26th, just 0.2 seconds behind the next runner, and senior Derek Ward finished 39th in 18:26. Lincoln phenom Jenna Farris won the girls’ race by seven seconds in 15:31. Lady Eagle senior Jenna Snell ran a 15:51 to finish ninth. Junior Brooke Panning placed 30th in 17:10, sophomore McKenna Rugan ran a 17:20 for 33rd, just two seconds behind a Berean runner, and Laura Standlee placed 34th in 17:23.
TMP
For four years, Lady Monarch senior Heather Ruder has been one of the top runners in Class 3A. With a state title and a second-place finish, and a third-place finish last year, she was among the favorites at the state meet in Rim Rock on Saturday. Hiawatha’s Jordan Puvogel pulled out the win in 15:30, followed by Hillsboro’s Emily Sechrist in 15:35, and Ruder in 15:44.
Sechrist edged out Ruder for the title a year ago, but Ruder beat Sechrist just weeks ago in Sterling. Ruder’s time was eight seconds ahead of the fourth-place finisher. Senior Annie Mindrup finished 56th for TMP in 17:56, and sophomore Shelby Stouffer ran a 17:57 for 58th. Junior Kayla Walker placed 74th in 18:37.
Hoisington
The Cardinal football team secured a playoff spot and a league title with a big 45-0 win at TMP on Thursday. Hoisington dominated from the start, leading 13-0 after one quarter and 39-0 at the half. The Cardinals improve to 5-4 and open the playoffs Tuesday at Holcomb (8-1). The winner will likely face Class 3A contender Beloit in the next round.
Friday, senior quarterback Hagen Hanzlick was back in action, contributing to four touchdowns. He needed just eight carries to run for 110 yards and three touchdowns, adding a 64-yard completion to Brandon Ball for the other score. Hoisington tried just to passes on the night. Senior Chance Demel stepped up in Hanzlick’s absence last week, and again led the ground game with 159 yards on 11 carries, including an 88-yard score. Junior Avery Urban scored the other two touchdowns, carrying the ball 84 yards on just four carries. Defensively, Cody Stetler, Peyton Bullard, Michael Pata, and Zach Sanders each recorded sacks. Demel, Hanzlick, and Cameron Richter each had interceptions.
Larned
The Indian football season got off to such a promising start in 2012. After the best start in 14 years, Larned went 0-6 in its final six games, ending the season on Thursday with a 51-14 loss to Pratt. The Indians were never in the game as the Greenbacks jumped to a 21-0 lead after one quarter.
Larned (3-6) managed just one offensive touchdown despite moving the ball 279 yards on the night. Junior quarterback Easton Palmer completed 9-of-21 passes for 186 yards, two interceptions, and 65-yard touchdown pass to Jamil Shoemaker. The junior Shoemaker finished with 95 yards on four catches. Senior running back Brady Keith had slowed down since an explosive start to the season. Thursday, he finished with 70 of the team’s 93 rushing yards on 19 carries. Keith provided the other touchdown via a 78-yard kick return. Defensively, sophomore Jeromy Bartz recorded 17 tackles, and sophomore Ty O’Neil added 12 tackles. Josh Crosby had a sack in his final prep game.
