At the Centennial League cross country meet on Saturday at Jones Park, Emporia High saw a long streak come to an end and a freshman provide hope for the future.
The EHS boys didn’t win the league title for the first time in seven years, finishing in sixth place with 139 points — a result that wasn’t unexpected for a boys team that came into this year having lost all of its key runners from last season. Emporia coach Mark Stanbrough knew that with a dominant team to overcome in Manhattan — which won both the boys and girls races — a finish between second and seventh place was realistic for the Spartan boys. Octavio Dikin was the only EHS boys runner to medal, finishing in 20th place with a time of 17 minutes, 34.28 seconds. Tyler Tilton and Matt Wayman finished right behind Dikin at 21st and 22nd.
“I think on the boys side, we went out and we competed hard today,” EHS coach Mark Stanbrough said. “We haven’t practiced well over the last month, and you compete real hard on the day of the meet, but we gotta do a better job of preparing during the week.
“We competed hard — we got out today, we stuck our nose in the race like we wanted to win. Unfortunately, we just don’t have the preparation to finish the race off.”
The girls, led by a team-best 13th-place finish from freshman Abbey Davies, finished in fourth with 109 points. Davies finished her run in 16:28.93.
“I feel like I did my best so far, and just with the home-course advantage, it was nice,” Davies said. “Because I could focus and decide where to move, and do my best, and where to kick.”
Stanbrough said Davies has come a long way since the beginning of the year, and she’s an example of how freshmen on the girls side can come in and make an immediate impact, as Abigail Chiroy also has done this season.
“(Davies) definitely, I think, has established herself today as probably one of the better freshmen (runners at EHS), and has a bright career ahead of her,” Stanbrough said.
Jenna Stanbrough also medaled for the Spartan girls, finishing 15th with a time of 16:34.49. Chiroy finished in 30th place, Joslyn Barton finished 33rd, Whitney Bauck placed 34th, Mysha Mason ran 41st and Tanya Morales finished 52nd. The Manhattan girls, led by a first-place finish from Marley Crusch, had 28 points to finish ahead of Washburn Rural’s 65.
Among the rest of the EHS boys runners, Jack Heim finished 36th, Matt Fry 42nd, Cody Black 49th and Sal Tovar 50th. Manhattan’s boys team finished with 45 points, finishing well ahead of Rural’s 81 despite a first-place finish from Rural freshman Jacob Morgan.
Drew Detwiler finished fifth for Emporia in the junior varsity boys race. Also representing EHS, Jamie Schmidt finished 34th, Tommy Hudson 46th and Brittian Moore 59th. Taylor Lake represented the Spartans in the JV girls race with a 29th-place finish.
Saturday at Jones Park
Boys team scores
Manhattan 45, Washburn Rural 81, Junction City 87, Topeka West 95, Seaman 127, Emporia 139, Shawnee Heights 180, Topeka High 207, Hayden 208.
Emporia boys results
20. Dikin, 17:34.28; 21. Tilton, 17:41.67; 22. Wayman, 17:43.25; 36. Heim, 18:29.56; 42. Fry, 18:41.80; 49. Black, 18:48.77; 50. Tovar, 18:51.15
Girls team scores
Manhattan 28, Washburn Rural 65, Seaman 80, Emporia 109, Shawnee Heights 133, Hayden 148, Topeka High 177.
Emporia girls results
13. Davies, 16:28.93; 15. Stanbrough, 16:34.49; 30. Chiroy, 17:16.96; 33. Barton, 17:28.01; 34. Bauck, 17:31.76; 41. Mason, 17:57.22; 52. Morales, 19:47.18.