Area teams compete at Central Heights

RICHMOND, Kan. -- Fort Scott, Jayhawk-Linn and Pleasanton all sent athletes to the Central Heights Invitational here Thursday. Fort Scott's involvement was a last-minute arrangement as the meet it was scheduled to go to at Pittsburg was canceled after heavy rains made the course at Four Oaks Golf Course unusable.

The highest finish among area runners was Meriel Long's second-place effort in the 4-kilometer varsity girls' race, which she completed in 17 minutes, 51.3 seconds. Paige White of Baxter Springs was the winner in 17:11.9.

Morgan Tourtillott finished in eighth place for Fort Scott in that race with a time of 19:09. Jenna Harper finished 27th in 21:30.

In the 5K boys' varsity race, Mason Craig of Jayhawk-Linn had the area's best finish with a time of 18:24.1, which placed him 13th. Keenan Gregory of Fort Scott was next with a time of 18:57 that put him 18th. Jayhawk's Lane Harris was 24th in 19:21.

The remaining contestants are all from Fort Scott. Robert Sellers was 26th in 19:22.3 Logan Fancher finished 34th in 19:54. And Charlie Sercer rounded out the results with a 20:43 for 42nd place.

Ethan Van Zant of Central Heights was the race winner in 17:11.

Tony Rockers of Jayhawk-Linn finished ninth in the 5K boys' junior varsity race with a time of 21:34. Dylan Stanley also ran for Jayhawk-Linn, finishing 23rd in 22:49.

For Fort Scott, Anthony Sercer was 15th in 21:56, Kyle Altic 17th in 22:22, Austin Sather 22nd in 22:39 and Alex Ho 33rd in 24:16.

Pleasanton had one runner in the race, Dylan Ellis, who finished 13th with a time of 21:52.

Fort Scott had five of the top six runners and six of the top 10 in the girls' 4K JV run. Kelly Rarick of Baxter Springs was the winner in 20:37 followed by Fort Scott's Megan Midkiff in 21:23, Leah Cassleman in 21:24, Shelby Fleming in 21:56, Katelyn Torres in 21:59 and Autumn Owenby in 22:25. Tanner Wunderly finished 10th in 23:56 and Hannah Fredericksen was 14th in 24:43.

Pleasanton had two runner, both in the top 10. Lindsey Conn was eighth in 23:33 and Johnnea Saulsberry was ninth in 23:46.

Pleasanton also had runners in the junior high/middle school division. Savannah Smith set a school record with her time of 15:15 in the 2-mile run for eighth graders. Erin Newell finished third in 15:19. Savannah Reynolds also set a school record as she completed the 1-mile seventh-grade course in 7:10 to finish third.

Fort Scott's teams will compete at Independence Thursday. Jayhawk-Linn will host its own meet that day with Pleasanton attending.