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Cope takes ninth at regional, headed to 3A state meet

Sports reporter

After just missing out on the cross country state meet last season, Marion High School junior Danielle Cope was determined not to let that happen this season.

With a ninth-place finish Saturday at the Wichita regional after a two-mile time of 13 minutes, 12 seconds, Cope will be running among the 3A state's best Saturday at Onaga.

"She went in thinking I have to be in the top-10, and that's all there was to it," head coach Rex Ostmeyer said.

Cope ran seventh for most of the race, but fell toward the end. Fortunately for her it doesn't matter where in the top-10, just as long as you are in there somewhere.

Ostmeyer was glad to see someone as dedicated as Cope be rewarded for her performance.

"It's awfully nice to see the kids who want to do well and work hard qualify," he said. "You're really happy for them."

This will be Cope's second straight trip to a state meet after qualifying for state in track this past spring.

On the boys' side, Daniel Goentzel missed heading to Onaga by seconds, coming in 11th with a 3.1-mile time of 17:45.

Ostmeyer said Goentzel's work ethic was similar to Cope, and he felt bad for the junior.

"He had a great attitude," Ostmeyer said. "He was on the bus saying 'We're going to support [Danielle] at state.'"

Ostmeyer knows Goentzel will be working hard during the off season and expects a lot come next year.

"He's going to take care of business as a senior," he said.

Sophomore Tacy Taylor finished off her impressive first year as a runner with a 21st place finish and a time of 13:48.

Katie Hett ended her junior season with a time of 14:56.

Juniors Emily Svoboda (17:10) and Elisa Gayle (18:38) were the final Warrior finishers on the girls' team.

MHS placed two boys' runners in the top-20 with Luke Bowers 14th, (17:52) and Gavin Moore, 17th (18:19).

Sophomore Justin Heidebrecht, who broke 19 minutes for the first time Oct. 13, finished with a time of 19:01. Ostmeyer looks for him to compete hard next year as a junior.

The final boys' team runners were Matt Kirkpatrick (20:23), Ben Leppke (21:45), and Kerim Geldurimudav (22:30).

Race time for Cope Saturday is 12 noon.

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