By Staff
ELLSWORTH – On Tuesday, the Smoky Valley cross country team traveled to Ellsworth and brought home a team championship for the Lady Vikings and a second-place trophy for the Viking boys.
For the Lady Vikings, they totaled 30 points from their top five runners to finish 23 points ahead of second-place Minneapolis while Abilene and Republic County rounded out the top four.
Hope Willems, just a freshman, and junior Keira Mullen led Smoky Valley by running fourth and fifth in the girls division with times of 22:25.57 and 22:38.22, respectively. Seniors Taylor Helton and Adrien Lochard ran ninth and eleventh while sophomore Sophia Fruits finished fourteenth. All seven Lady Vikings that ran in the meet finished in the top-25 though only the top five earned team points.
For the Viking boys, they placed second with 55 team points, just 10 points behind meet champion Abilene. Chapman and Minneapolis rounded out the top four.
Senior Viking, Tytus Reed, ran an 18:03.53 to finish seventh while junior Samuel Peterson placed eleventh with a run of 18:59.86 and junior Brayden Eyer finished fourteenth. Wyatt Johnson, a senior, gave the Vikings top twenty runners for all scoring points as he placed twentieth.
SMOKY VALLEY VIKING CROSS COUNTRY at Ellsworth
LADY VIKING RESULTS:
Team Standings: 1. LADY VIKINGS 30; 2. Minneapolis 53; 3. Abilene 64; 4. Republic County 83.
Individual Results: 4. Hope Willems, Fr. 22:25.57; 5. Keira Mullen, Jr. 22:38.22; 9. Taylor Helton, Sr. 23:42.74; 11. Adrien Lochard, Sr. 24:07.99; 14. Sophia Fruits, So. 24:27.39; 20. Gracia Peterson, Fr. 25:45.86; 24. Mila Sims, Fr. 26:58.89.
VIKING BOYS RESULTS:
Team Standings: 1. Abilene 45; 2. VIKINGS 55; 3. Chapman 56; 4. Minneapolis 90; 5. Ellsworth 124; 6. Republic County 128.
Individual Results: 7. Tytus Reed, Sr. 18:03.53; 11. Samuel Peterson, Jr. 18:59.86; 14. Brayden Eyer, Jr. 19:31.19; 20. Wyatt Johnson, Sr. 20:37.37; 25. Kaden Bishop, Fr. 21:06.69; 31. Sebastian Pavlovich, Jr. 21:34.20; 42. Elijah Spooner, So. 23:14.17.
(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)