KHS XC girls take 7th at state meet

The final standing was disappointing.

The effort was not.

Kingfisher High School took seventh last Saturday in the Class 4A girls state cross country meet at Edmond Santa Fe.

The Lady Jackets started the season with high aspirations and entered state ranked fifth.

Ultimately, Cascia Hall won handily with 76 points.

Lincoln Christian was the runner-up with 124.

KHS scored 222 points and was also bested by Byng (144), Oklahoma Christian School (149), Madill (206) and Metro Christian School (220).

“I thought we ran as well as we could on that day,” said coach Kerri Lafferty. “The girls gave everything they had to give, which is all you can ask for as a coach. I could not have been more proud of them.”

In her final race, senior Katon Lunsford was the first Lady Jacket to cross the finish line.

She ran the two-mile course in 13:14.75, good for 26th overall and 23rd in point placing.

Lunsford steadily improved throughout the season after missing much of the preseason training with mono.

“I still can’t believe she was even able to compete this year after battling the things she did,” Lafferty said.

Fellow senior Ally Stephenson was 40th (36th). Her time of 13:39.10 was about 24 seconds faster than her time at the prestate meet held on the same course a month before.

“Ally really had her best race of the year,” Lafferty said.

This was Stephenson’s first year to run cross country.

“I wish she would have joined us as a freshman,” Lafferty said. “She’s such a talented athlete.”

Chesni Newkirk was 45th (41st) and Liberty Starr 60th (56th) for KHS. Senior Jacee Mueggenborg took 71st (66th) to round out Kingfisher’s scoring. Emmy Lunsford was 78th (72nd) and Zaylynn Lopez 105th (93rd) for the Lady Jackets.

The race featured 165 runners.

Emmy Lunsford, Newkirk and Lopez will return next year.

So will Starr, who, as a freshman, was the team’s most consistent runner throughout the season.

“She had a ton of pressure coming in as one of our top runners. You could tell early on in the race that she was struggling and probably a bit dehydrated,” Lafferty said. “I know she was disappointed, but what a great season she had this year.

“I look forward to watching her grow as a runner the next three years.”

Hine finishes career strong

Connor Hine told Lafferty he was going to give everything he had in his final race.

The senior was King fisher’s lone representative at the 4A boys state cross country meet.

He ran the 5 kilometer course in 17:58.15, good for 31st out of 167 competitors.

“He ran an incredible race,” Lafferty said. “Class 4A is so tough, especially for the boys.

“He said he was going to leave it all out on the course and he did.”

Hennessey girls 17th

Jamie Torres and Taryn Jech again led Hennessey’s contingent at a cross country meet.

Torres was 31st (27th) and Jech 35th (31st) in the Class 3A girls meet.

They helped HHS to a 17th place finish in the team standings with 373 points.

Regent Prep won the team title with 127, besting Adair by nine points.

Torres finished in 13:33.47 and Jech was just over five seconds behind her.

Both Lomega squads, 2 Cashion individuals compete

Lomega girls were 14th and the boys 18th at the Class 2A state cross country meet.

The Lady Raiders were paced by Aubree Geisler, who was 43rd overall and 28th in the point placing. Monse Rivera was 63rd (43rd).

Lomega’s girls scored 311 points.

Hooker won the 2A girls title with just 44 points. Boise City was second with 64 and Watonga a distant third with 155.

Timberlake made sure there wasn’t a Hooker sweep as it claimed the 2A boys crown.

The Tigers scored 96 points to edge Hooker’s 101.

Lomega had 392 points.

Austin Chestnut led the Raider contingent with a 62nd (47th) place finish.

Gage Bedick of Cashion crossed the finish line in 115th place.

He qualified as an individual as did Cashion’s Addison McCracken.

She was 25th in the 2A girls race, making her the top individual finisher in the county.