Three earn All-League honors at SEK cross-country meet

PITTSBURG -- Three members of Fort Scott High's cross country team earned All-SEK honors with their finishes at the Southeast Kansas League Championship Meet at Four Oaks Golf Course here Thursday.

Catherine Sercer finished second in the varsity girls' meet while Kaylee Harper placed seventh, which earned First Team honors for both runners. Alicia Whitehurst of Independence won the individual crown in 15 minutes, 55 seconds while Sercer finished in 16:07. Julia Stafford of Independence was third in 16:19. Harper's time was 16:48.

The top 10 finishers in the varsity races earned First Team honors. The next 10 were Honorable Mention.

Charlie Sercer finished 20th in the boys' varsity race in 18:03 to earn HM status. Phillip Banowetz of Labette County was the race winner in 16:31 followed by Calvin Preist of Parsons in 16:56 and Trace Redburn of Chanute in 16:58.

Other results from Fort Scott were not available at press time.

Both team champions were first-time winners. Independence's girls finished with 38 points as it captured four of the top five spots in the race. Chanute scored 62 points to take second. Pitsburg was third with 79 points, winning a tie-breaker with Labette County, which had the same number of points, because it had a better time from it's No. 5 runner. Fort Scott, fielding a full team for the first time this season, finished fifth with 84 points.

Chanute's boys also scored 38 points as the Blue Comets won the first SEK cross country championship in its history. Iola finished second with 75 points followed by Labette County with 77, Pittsburg 80, Parsons 122 and Independence 151.

The Tigers will be idle until October 20, a Saturday, when they travel to El Dorado State Park to take part in the El Dorado Class 4A Regional Meet. The rest of the league, except Pittsburg, will also attend this meet. They will be joined by host El Dorado, Andover, Andover Central, Augusta, Burlington, Douglass, Fredonia, Girard and Towanda-Circle.