Lady Jackets run to another win; prep for pre-state
HENNESSEY’S Tayler Franklin and Lomega’s Claire Myers run side-by-side during an early portion of the Mike Driskill Turkey Creek Invitational last weekend. Franklin finished 12th and Myers 15th in the high school girls race. [KT&FP Staff Photo]
KHS FRESHMAN Lily Lunsford was second out of nearly 90 runners in Saturday’s Mike Driskill Turkey Creek Invitational in Hennessey. [KT&FP Staff Photo]
A week off didn’t end Kingfisher’s cross country streak.
But business is officially about to pick up.
The KHS girls won the team title for the fourth time in as many meets on Saturday when they outran the field at the 10th annual Mike Driskill Turkey Creek Invitational in Hennessey.
With all five scoring runners placing in the top-10, the Lady Jackets scored just 24 points.
Chisholm was second with 66 while host Hennessey took third with 84 points.
Lomega was fifth in the meet with 144.
Chisholm’s Addison Pecha won the individual race by finishing the two-mile course in 13:16.71.
Kingfisher freshman Lily Lunsford was second and crossed the line less than a second behind Pecha.
“She had a great day,” said KHS cross country coach Kerri Lafferty of Lunsford.
“She is a pretty smart runner and has figured out how to manage her races. We look forward to seeing her progress even more throughout the season.”
Khloe Clemence of Woodward took third in the race and she was followed by a swarm of Lady Jackets.
Scout Snodgrass, Peyton Walker, Kinley Taylor and Liberty Starr finished fourth-seventh, respectively, to give KHS its five scorers.
Forgoodmeasure,Chesni Newkirk took 10th, one spot behind Hennessey’s top scorer, Emma Sipe.
Sipe ran the course, which was held at the Turkey Creek Golf Course, in 13:52.81.
Her teammate, Tayler Franklin, was 12th overall and 11th among scoring runners, one spot better than Kingfisher’s Harper Evans.
Claire Myers led Lomega’s pack of runners by placing 15th overall and 13th among the scoring runners. She finished in 14:25.65.
The top-25 placers in the 88-person race earned medals.
Emmy Lunsford (18th), Zaylynn Lopez (21st) and Terry Ann McCully (24th) were among the other medal winners for KHS.
“Our times were faster this year than last year at the same race,” Lafferty said. “In fact, most of our runners ran at least 30 sec-onds to a minute faster than last year at this time.”
Jocelyn Matousek (19th/14th) and Taryn Jech (25th/18th) also won medals for Hennessey.
KHS entered the meet ranked second in Class 4A.
Chisholm is ranked sixth in Class 3A while Hennessey is eighth.
Kingfisher will get a chance to truly measure itself Saturday at the Edmond Pre-State Cross Country Meet.
The course will be the same one teams compete on at the state meet next month.
The Class 4A girls race is at 11:30 a.m.
Among the teams expected to be there is No. 1 Byng.
“Pre-state is always interesting,” Lafferty said. “We hope to compete against other teams in our class from different regions of the state, which is what we need right now.
“It also gives the kids a chance to run the course before state.”
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The high school boys ran the first race of the morning and that saw Dathan Custar of Woodward complete the 5k course in 17:00.09 to claim top honors.
No county schools had full teams in the meet, but multiple individuals did earn medals.
Leading the way was Cashon’s duo of Luke Baustert and Gage Bedick.
Baustert was seventh in 18:21.85 and Bedick 10th in 19:05.01.
Conner Askey was Kingfi sher’s top placer as he was 12th in 19:11.51.
“I’m so proud of him,” Lafferty said. “He continues to work so hard and he deserves all the success he gets on the course.”
Kingfisher’s Wyatt Long just missed on medaling as he was in 28th place.
There were 121 varsity boys runners in the meet.
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Hennessey’s Julianne Matousek was second in the junior high girls race.
That group ran a onemile course, which she completed in 6:42.12.
Hinsley Brodrick of Kingfisher was eighth overall and Lyla Sloan of Cashion took ninth out of 119 competitors.
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Among the county students earning a medal in the junior high boys race was Hennessey’s Asher Ward.
Ward ran the 2,400 yard course in 9:30.05 to take 11th.
Also earning medals were Dover’s Marco Sotelo (22nd) and Hennessey’s Barrit Hardin (23rd).
Chance Doyle (26th) and Makaio McCully (27th) of Kingfisher just missed on medaling.
The race saw 94 competitors.
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Hattie Wood of Cashion won the girls fifth-sixth grade race.
A sixth grader, Wood took down the mile course in 6:50.80, just less than 10 seconds faster than Hennessey’s Avery Weimer.
Hennessey won the team title with 32 points.
Joining Weimer in medaling for the Lady Eagles were Emily Bryson (fourth), Johanna Valles (10th), Brianna Triana (13th) and Lorelei Root (21st).
Ximena Ponce of Kingfi sher was 18th to also earn a medal.