Last week’s cross country competitions could almost read like a tale of two Kansas seasons. On Tuesday, it was typical fall weather, albeit a little breezy.

Ellsworth Junior-Senior High School head coach Eric Coonrod said middle and high school runners competed on the hills of the Ellsworth Golf Course.

The varsity girls race was the first high school race of the day. The Bearcats had three girls finish in the top 15 medals — Joni Schroeder, Brenna Pruitt and Olivia Neuman.

Coonrod said this was a tough race and finishing top 15 was quite an accomplishment. Pruitt ran well in her final race on the hills of Ellsworth, medaling in 13th place, almost a full minute faster than her time here last year. The girls team finished third overall. The varsity boys finished just outside the top 15, with Braden Schulte shaking things up running as our number one runner on the day, finishing 16th.

The boys ran tightly as a group.

“You could throw a blanket over the top four, but they just weren’t able to cross into the medals,” Coonrod said. “However, this will be a valuable strategy at league and regionals.”

Coonrod said Hayden Rogers ran well in his final race on the home course, turning in a time that was a minute faster than at Concordia, a course with comparable hills and difficulty. The boys team finished fourth overall.

The seventh and eighth grade two mile races were first of the day in Ellsworth.

“They handled the hills well, and probably even surprised themselves a little, and for the seventh grade, this was only their second two mile race this season,” Coonrod said.“Previous races were only one mile for the 7th grade. We did see some personal best times out of these kids, although it wouldn’t be their only race of the week.”

Just two days later, the middle school runners competed at Rock City outside Minneapolis in the first ever NCAA middle school league meet. On Thursday, Kansas showed its other side, with temperatures and wind chills in the 30s and 40s — very different from two days earlier. The seventh and eighth grade runners competed in two mile races for league honors, with medals going to the top five. Madison Newell was Ellsworth’s lone medalist of the day, finishing third with a new personal best time. The high school runners did not compete on Thursday.

Ellsworth will compete at its league meet Thursday, Oct. 17, in conjunction with the Lakeside High School invitational at the Downs Golf Course. Results were not available by press time.

Ellsworth results:

Varsity Girls (35 total runners)

Third Place

Joni Schroeder, 6th, 23:57.5, medaled. Brenna Pruitt, 13th, 25:29, medaled. Olivia Neuman, 15th, 26:05, medaled. Kirsten Meier, 16th, 26:06. Cassie Duncan, 35th, 35:24.\

Varsity Boys (59 total runners)

Fourth Place

Braden Schulte, 20th, 20:12. Noah Erichsen, 21st, 20:17. Logan Erichsen, 22nd, 20:19. Hayden Rogers, 25th, 20:29. Byron Johnson, 34th, 20:53. Cade Gwinner, 37th, 20:58. Jonathan Spachek, 40th, 21:05.

JV Boys (55 total runners)

Travis Bentley, 6th, 21:36, medaled. Jaxson Stefek, 24th, 23:23. Grady Mueller, 29th, 23:49. Pedro Marques, 43rd, 25:29.

Junior High

Eighth grade boys (35 total runners)

Colton Bettenbrock, 25th, 16:18. Kason LaMont, 34th, 20:07.

Seventh grade boys (48 total runners)

Billy Duncan, 34th, 17:42 (PR). Isaac Womelsdorf, 36th, 17:59 (PR). Aidan Johnson 46th, 20:12 (PR).

Seventh grade girls (17 total runners)

Madison Newell, 5th, 16:13 (PR).

Minneapolis League Junior High results:

Seventh grade girls

Madison Newell, 3rd, 14:28.07 (PR) Medaled.

Seventh grade boys

Isaac Womelsdorf, 15th, 18:21. Billy Duncan, 17th, 18:49. Aidan Johnson, 19th, 21:05.

Eighth grade boys

Colton Bettenbrock, 8th, 14:19. Kason LaMont, 21st, 18:16.

"They handled the hills well and probably even surprised themselves a little."
Eric Coonrod
EHS head coach