The Ellsworth boys’ and girls’ crosscountry teams hosted their annual Ellsworth Invitational Oct. 7 at the Ellsworth Golf Course.

Head coach Eric Coonrod said the course is “known for its hills.”

“Medals are hardearned at Ellsworth,” Coonrod said.

The girls placed third and the boys placed fourth in team standings on their home turf.

In the girls’ race, junior Molly Ehrlich and sophomore Lakyn Beckman placed themselves in the top 10 after the first hill thinned out the pack, working themselves to a top five finish. Ehrlich was the first Bearcat to cross the finish line. She placed third overall, with a time of 21:30, while Beckman was the No. 5 runner to complete the race, as she crossed the finish line at the 21:44 mark.

Sophomore Sage Gray and freshman Maisy Hulse turned in strong times as well, placing themselves ahead of league opponents from Republic County and Minneapolis. Gray completed the race in the 21st spot, while Hulse finished 26th overall, with their times of 24:43 and 25:34, respectively.

Sophomore Brooklyn Marston was the next Ellsworth runner to cross the finish line in 32nd place with a time of 26:19. She was followed by seniors Addison Thomas (34th, 26:55) and Kate Rathbun (43rd, 29:11).

“The Ellsworth course is tough every year, but I feel like we all worked really hard to push through the hills,” Gray said. “I think it helped to know we had a team and community cheering us on.”

On the boys’ side, the race started off with a fast pace, as freshman Octavio Rodriguez found himself in the top 10 when the pack started thinning out around the 400m mark, then continuing to work himself up to the third spot, where he finished with a time of 18:29.

Senior Hunter Kinsley ran most of the race between the 10th and 15th spots, finishing in 12th overall, and earning himself a medal, timing in at 19:30.

Rounding out the top 20 was sophomore Wesley Rathbun, as he finished in the 20th spot with a time of 19:55, while freshman Carson Tyrell finished 49th (22:42) and fellow freshman Owen Schultz finished 51st (23:01).

“I felt like all our kids stepped up to perform well at our home meet in front of a great home crowd,” Coonrod said.

“The cross country teams want to extend a big thank you to everyone who helped or came out to support the cross country teams at the Ellsworth Golf Course yesterday. Every one of our runners, 8-12 (grades), ran faster times than they did in the Ellsworth race last year.”

The Bearcats will travel to Downs-Lakeside High School Thursday to compete in the league meet, before traveling to Dodge City Oct. 25 for regionals, with the girls starting at 10 a.m., followed by the boys at 11:10 a.m.

Qualifiers will travel to Rim Rock Nov. 1 to compete in the KSHSAA Class 3A State Championship meet.

Sage Gray

Sophomore Cross Country Runner