Rienbolt beats Ozier at Pittsburg

Fort Scott junior Katren Rienbolt beat rival Michaela Ozier of Labette County by 19 seconds to win the girls' varsity race at the Pittsburg Invitational here Thursday afternoon.

Rienbolt took the race in 15 minutes, 46 seconds while Ozier finished in 16:05. Paige White of Baxter Springs, who could be another tough competitor when Kansas Class 4A Regionals are held on October 20, was third in 16:14.

Earlier in the week, senior Paige Denton finished in third place at a varsity meet in Lamar, Mo. Denton has to race on different days because she also plays volleyball, which she has declared as her primary sport. When her two sports compete on the same day, she must play in the volleyball match. Because of this rule, Denton will not be able to run at Regionals because Class 4A volleyball Sub-State will be held the same day.

Denton finished with a time of 20:35 at Lamar, which ran 5,000 meters instead of the usual 4,000 seen in Kansas. The top two runners were from Stockton, Mo. Alexis Smith won in 19:34 while Rachel Wheeler was second in 20:18.

Back in Pittsburg, girls' junior varsity results saw Grace Willis finish 12th in 20:29, Clare Gorman 31st in 22:25 and Kyle Brown 41st in 23:47.

In boys' JV action, Garrett Tatro was 28th in 20:59 and Zach Ballou was 48th in 22:36.