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Brooks, Tiger girls defend SEK titles
CHANUTE -- It was one of Fort Scott High School's most successful days in the program's history at the Southeast Kansas League Cross-Country Championships here Thursday
The Tigers won three of the four varsity titles -- individual boys, team boys and team girls -- for the second consecutive season and the third time in the program's history. The other time came in 1996.
Labette County is the only other school to take at least three of the four championships in a season, doing that in 1986 and sweeping the meet in 1998. Fort Scott's success in winning six of eight championships in two years is a first.
Devin Brooks successfully defended his league title, winning the varsity boys' race by 35 seconds. He turned in a time of 16:39 while Chanute's Reno Lemon finished second in 17:14.
Fort Scott won its first boys' team title since completing a three-peat in 1996 with a total of 35 points. The Tigers had runners in fifth, eighth, ninth, and 12th places. Pittsburg was second with 55 points followed by Chanute with 87 and Labette County with 88.
Gavin Smith finished fifth for the Tigers in 17:37 with Nick Shelton eighth in 18:06, Nick Deloney ninth in 18:11 and Connor Mason 12th in 18:30. Raymond Harper finished in 27th in 19:59.
Although Independence freshman Renee Trout won the girls' individual title, running the course in 19:14, Fort Scott's girls won their second team straight team title by a wide margin. The Tigers scored 36 points with runners in five of the top 15 spots. Independence was a distant second with 62 followed by Chanute with 70.
McKenzie Wilks of Pittsburg finished second in 20:21. She was followed by Fort Scott seniors Mallory Westhoff in 20:42 and Kelsey Carpenter in 20:47. Lexi Bryant took seventh place in 21:09. Paxsten Eads claimed 10th place in 21:21, Berkley Chavis was 12th in 21:44 and Emma Davis finished 13th in 21:52.
Trout was the first Independence champion since Julie Stafford in 2008. Trout's win ended a five-year run of Fort Scott champions -- Katren Rienbolt from 2011-13 and Cassidy Westhoff the past two seasons.
Team scores were not kept in the junior varsity races. Fort Scott's girls were the only team with enough runners to post a team score anyway and took five of the top six spots. Asia Farrington won the race in 23:45 folllowed by Alyx Brooks in 23:59 and Zoe Self in 24:23. Gracie Krokroskia was fifth in 24:41, Gabby Griffin sixth in 25:07, Melonie Harper 10th in 26:49, Morgan Eaton 13th in 30:34 and Mackensie Griffin 14th in 32:34.
Fort Scott had only two runners in the boys' JV race. Zack Pryor finished 19th in 24 minutes flat and Kaden Kiwan was 22nd in 25:42. John Jones of Labette County was the winner in 19:59.
Next for the Tiger varsity will be the Burlington Class 4A Regional Meet, which will be held at the John Redmond Reservior north of the city on October 22. The girls' race will begin at 10 a.m. with the boys' to follow at 10:40 a.m. A Class 2A Regional Meet will also be held there with those races following the 4A boys' race.
Teams that will be at the Regional include Labette County, Baxter Springs, Burlington, Chanute, Columbus, Frontenac, Anderson County, Girard, Iola, Prairie View, Louisburg, Osawatomie, Ottawa, Paola and Parsons. The Class 2A meet will include Uniontown's teams with the girls' race starting at 11:20 a.m. and the boys' at noon.
Boys varsity
Team scores
1. Fort Scott (FS) 35, 2. Pittsburg (PT) 55, 3. Chanute (CH) 87, 4. Labette County (LC) 88, 5. Coffeyville (CF) 122, 6. Parsons (PA) 130, 7. Independence (IN) 150.
Medalists
1. Devin Brooks, FS, 16:39; 2. Reno Lemon, CH, 17:14; 3. Reese Watson, PT, 17:34; 4. Connar Southard, PT, 17:36; 5. Gavin Smith, FS, 17:37;
6. Seth Hoffman, PT, 17:30; 7. Caden Heiskell, PA, 18:04; 8. Nick Shelton, FS, 18:06; 9. Nick Deloney, FS, 18:11; 10. Colton Chapman, LC, 18:13;
11. Devin Walker, CH, 18:22; 12. Connor Mason, FS, 18:30; 13. Cade Southard, PT, 18:33; 14. Kyle Miller, CF, 18:37; 15. Brett Baldwin, PA, 18:41.
Girls varsity
Team scores
1. Fort Scott 36, 2. Independence 62, 3. Chanute 70, 4. Pittsburg 76, 5. Labette County 112.
Incomplete team: Coffeyville (Parsons did not have eny entries).
Medalists
1. Renee Trout, IN, 19:14; 2. McKenzie Wilks, PT, 20:21; 3. Mallory Westhoff, FS, 20:42; 4. Kelsey Carpenter, FS, 20:47; 5. Taylor Gilpin, LC, 20:56;
6. Mackenzie Tabares, CH, 21:04; 7. Lexi Bryant, FS, 21:09; 8. Kayla Akers, CH, 21:22; 9. Lapita Sanchez, PT, 21:18; 10. Paxsten Eads, FS, 21:21;
11. Leann Trout, IN, 21:31; 12. Berkley Chavis, FS, 21:44; 13. Emma Davis, 21:52; 14. Sydney Wilson, CH, 22:15; 15. Jillian Stafford, IN, 22:20.