Ellsworth runners finished in the top half of their fields Sept. 7 at the Swather Special at the Hesston Golf Course. Ellsworth’s Hayden Rogers matched his 2018 best finishing place of 6th to medal in the senior boys race. In her final Swather Special, Brenna Pruitt also brought home a medal finishing 20th in the senior girls race. Overall, the girls team finished 11th out of 29 teams, and the boys team finished 9th out of 22 teams. Hesston was the biggest regular season meet for the ‘Cats with more than 700 students from 50 schools running. “We had much better weather to run in at Hesston compared to the heat we dealt with the week before at Concordia,” head coach Eric Coonrod said. “The kids ran really well, turning in some fast mile times, which is to be expected at a fairly flat course like Hesston’s. Hesston has a unique format too, where runners compete against their own age group, freshman girls only race, followed by a freshman boys only race, etc. “We had several kids medal on the day.” The junior high school team did not compete at Hesston, but instead competed on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at the Sacred Heart Invitational run at Bill Burke Park in Salina. Performances, medals, and personal records were: Seniors Hayden Rogers — 6th, 18:55 (medaled) Pedro Marques — 52nd, 25:43 (PR) Brenna Pruitt — 20th, 25:41 (medaled) Juniors Noah Erichsen — 16th, 19:21 (medaled) Logan Erichsen — 22nd, 19:43 Braden Schulte — 29th, 20:19 Jonathan Spachek — 35th, 20:53 (PR) Grady Mueller — 51st, 22:43 Jaxson Stefek — 61st, 23:43 Chelsy Most — 14th, 25:36 (medaled) Sophomores Travis Bentley — 31st, 21:31 Joni Schroeder — 5th, 23:34 (medaled) Kirsten Meier — 18th, 26:42 (medaled) Freshman Byron Johnson — 11th, 20:26 (medaled, PR) Cade Gwinner — 26th, 21:29 (PR) Ian Hays — 56th, 25:50 (PR) Olivia Neuman — 17th, 25:17 (medaled, PR) Cassie Duncan — 56th, 41:00 Junior high school at Salina Bill Burke Park 7th grade girls Madison Newell — 6th, 6:42 (medaled, personal best CC mile time) 7th grade boys Billy Duncan — 30th, 8:12 (personal best CC mile time) Aidan Johnson — 36th, 9:11 (personal best CC mile time) 8th grade boys Colton Bettenbrock — 20th, 15:40 Kason LaMont — 34th, 20:33