Hett places 6th at State
Staff writer
A year’s worth of hard work paid off for the Marion High School cross-country team Saturday morning at Wamego. The team finished ninth behind Minneapolis and ahead of Winchester-Jefferson County North.
Sophomore Jordan Hett finished sixth with a time of 17 minutes, 30 seconds -- besting his freshman-year finish by three places and 15 seconds.
Coach Bethany Carlson thinks the runner will continue to improve. She said he should run sub 18-minute times like at Wamego regularly as a junior and said he could win a state championship before graduating from Marion High School.
“I do expect him to just keep improving,” she said.
For the rest of the Marion boys team, this was the first race at Wamego. The hilly course is one of the toughest in Kansas.
“We knew it was up down and around and we’ve tried to have a positive attitude,” Carlson said. “You can be prepared but you don’t know what it’s like until you run the course.”
Sophomore Patrick McCarty was the next Marion runner to cross the finish line, placing 22nd with a time of 18:15. It was McCarty’s personal best for the season.
Fellow sophomore Jacob Cope was next, finishing 48th, 18:56. Senior Michael Kirkpatrick ran the first half of the race close to Cope, as he had for most of Marion’s races this season, but fell in the middle of the course. He finished 72nd, 18:56.
Freshman Timothy Knolla placed 86th, 20:16. The time was only a few seconds slower than his PR from last week.
Carlson said senior Derek Stuchlik ran his best race of the season, besting his personal record with a time of 20:28, which was good enough for 91st.
Clark Kroupa rounded out the Marion runners, placing 95th, 21:08.
Sophomore Elizabeth Goentzel placed 51st in the girls race with a time of 18:02.
With a team dominated by sophomores, Carlson hopes the team will make a late October trip to Wamego part of the schedule for the next two years.
“I want it to be the expectation,” she said of returning to state. “Overall, I’m really pleased. We just have to come back strong.”