The high school cross country season began last week with all McPherson County schools participating to open the 2025 running season.
TESCOTT INVITATIONAL
The season officially began Wed., Sep. 3 at the Tescott Cross Country Invitational for Canton-Galva.
The Eagles had a strong performance in the varsity meets. Faith McMannis led the girls finishing 11th (24:09.15). Aaron Long led the boys with a 6th place finish (22:46.49). Everett Schmidt finished not far behind Long for 8th and Jonas Friesen as well in 13th.
SMOKY VALLEY INVITATIONAL
Three schools in the county ran in the Smoky Valley Invitational on Thurs., Sep. 4: Inman, Elyria Christian, and, of course, Smoky Valley.
Inman’s Riley Roots won the boys race with a time of 17:04.35. His teammate, Tyler Martisko, was not far behind him to finish 5th. Loki Turcotte led the Lady Teutons, placing 14th. Abigail Siemens, Addison Wedel, and Jayden Roots finished together in 21st, 22nd, and 23rd respectively.
Elyria saw multiple medalists on each team. For the girls, Joy Beck led finishing 7th and Grace Prescott finishing in 9th. Ella Olsen and Zoe Busenitz had a strong start to the season as well, finishing 32nd and 34th respectively. The Elyria Boys were led by Mason Gardner’s 6th place finish. Matthew Robinson and Blake Saffel finished 19th & 20th respectively. Grant Huxman finished in 31st.
Smoky Valley’s girls had three top 10 finishers, with Hope Willems placing 4th, Sophia Eyer in 8th, and Emma Chaput in 10th. The boys were led by Kaden Bishop, who finished 6th.
GREAT BEND INVITATIONAL
Lastly, McPherson and Moundridge participated in the Great Bend Invitational Thurs., Sep. 4.
The Bullpup boys were led by Caleb Muehler, who placed 2nd in the race running 15:53.56. The McPherson girls were led by Adeline Kramer, who finished 30th. The Wildcats girls were led by Baylee Schriner’s 38th place finish and the boys were led by Dan Kuder’s 44th place finish.
