HAYS — The Ellsworth cross country teams kicked off the season with an almost ideal fall day, great weather for a race Sept. 7, at the TMP Invitational.

In the girls’ race, the ladies had dual interests as they ran. With a full seven-girl varsity team competing, they were not only running for individual finishes, but for overall team scoring as well. Better individual finishes lead to better team scores.

Two runners earned varsity medals.

Sophomore Molly Ehrlich took third, running a personal best 5K time of 21:34, and freshman Lakyn Beckman got seventh in her first high school race.

Freshman Sage Gray finished just out of the medals in a strong 16th place in her first high school race.

Juniors Kate Rathbun and Addison Thomas and freshman Brooklyn Lackey finished in 28th, 29th and 30th places, respectively.

Rounding out the girls was sophomore Reese Grothusen, finishing in the 34th place.

In final scoring, the girls’ performances earned them a finish of second place overall, behind Hoxie High School.

In the boys’ varsity race, freshman Wesley Rathbun broke the 20-minute mark in just his first high school race, with a 19:46 final time. Breaking into the sub-20 time is one of the distance milestones runners strive for.

Senior Trenton Holmes finished in 36th place in his final TMP race.

Varsity girls’ 5K race

Molly Ehrlich, third place, 21:34 PR time Lakyn Beckman, seventh place, 22:57 Sage Gray, 16th place, 24:40 Kate Rathbun, 28th place, 26:43 Addison Thomas, 29th place, 27:09 Brooklyn Lackey, 30th place, 27:14 Reese Grothusen, 34th place, 29:47

Varsity boys’ 5K race

Wesley Rathbun, 25th place, 19:46 Trenton Holmes, 36th place, 20:58