It’s pretty rare that a high school runner achieves as much success as fast as Olpe’s Katelyn Henderson has.
A year after finishing fourth at the Class 2A state cross country meet as a freshman, and winning a state title in the 3,200 meters in track and field, Henderson reached the top in cross country as a sophomore. She clocked a time of 15 minutes, 54.14 seconds at this year’s 2A state meet in Wamego, winning the state title by 11 seconds.
Henderson’s state crown — a performance that stood out among runners from the nine schools in The Gazette’s coverage area — earned her The Gazette’s All-Area Cross Country Runner of the Year honor and, of course, a spot on the All-Area cross country team.
Joining Henderson on the girls All-Area squad are two accomplished veteran runners and two freshmen who made an impact. Emporia High junior Jenna Stanbrough came on strong at the end of the year, finishing 11th at the Class 5A state meet at Rim Rock Farm. Her time of 16:26.46 put a nice cap on a season in which she was plagued by a battle with anemia. Freshman Abbey Davies joins Stanbrough as another EHS representative on the girls All-Area squad; Davies was the Spartans’ top runner at the Centennial League meet this year, finishing 13th, before a 50th-place finish at state.
Northern Heights freshman Kimberly Smith grabbed a spot on the All-Area team after an outstanding rookie year, which she capped by finishing fourth at the Class 3A state meet with a time of 16:07.72. Rounding out the girls All-Area squad is Osage City senior Cally Aspegren, who finished 13th in Class 3A.
On the boys side, Emporia High took four of the five spots a year after losing the entire 2007 Gazette boys All-Area team, which produced last year’s state team championship. The new blood on the boys side managed to qualify for the state meet again and, like the girls, finished in seventh place at Rim Rock.
The Spartans placed four boys runners in the state’s top 40, all of whom earned All-Area selection: Octavio Dikin, whose time of 17:20.21 and 23rd-place finish just missed a state medal and led the EHS boys at Rim Rock; Tyler Tilton, who finished 29th; Jack Heim, who finished 31st; and Matt Wayman, who finished 34th. Joining the Spartan boys on the team is Olpe’s Colby Nuessen, who finished 23rd in the Class 2A state boys run.
For leading both Spartan cross country teams back to state after facing significant graduation losses from both teams, Emporia High coach Mark Stanbrough was named the All-Area Cross Country Coach of the Year.
neighbor (anonymous) says...
Congrats to all the student athletes and good luck next year to the returning runners.
December 10, 2008 at 10:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )