The Ellsworth High School boys and girls cross country teams competed Saturday at the 2A state championship meet in Wamego.

The boys finished in seventh place, while the girls finished 11th.

The girls ran first at 11:10 a.m.

According to head coach Eric Coonrod, Joni Schroeder was the top finisher for the Bearcats, finishing higher than in 2018, a full 45 seconds faster than the 2018 time on the same course. Senior Brenna Pruitt was the Bearcats’ second finisher, running a personal best time in her final run.

“A great way to finish out her third and final season with the EHS cross country team,” Coonrod said.

Olivia Neuman was the Bearcats’ third finisher, only a few seconds off of her personal best time from the week before at the regional meet.

Kirsten Meier was Ellsworth’s fourth finisher, running well over a minute faster than her season average on the most difficult course of the year.

Cassie Duncan was the Bearcats’ fifth and final runner, finishing off her season with her second best time of the season, again on the most challenging course of the season.

“The girls ran very well,“ Coonrod said.“There were times we weren’t even sure we’d be able to field a full team, but these five pulled together and ran well at regionals, and had a great race at Wamego.”

The boys race was the last of the day at 12:55.

Noah Erichsen was the Bearcats’ top finisher. After leading the first part of the race, he finished a full 20 seconds faster than his season average.

Braden Schulte was the next finisher for the Bearcats, finishing a full minute faster than his 2018 state meet time.

Senior Hayden Rogers was the Bearcats third finisher, right behind Schulte, finishing almost a full minute faster than his 2018 state meet time.

“He (Rogers) capped off his career, which began in seventh grade, with one of his strongest performances ever as an EJSHS runner,” Coonrod said.

Logan Erichsen was the Bearcats’ fourth finisher, finishing over 30 seconds faster than his season average.

Byron Johnson was the Bearcats’ fifth finisher, and Ellsworth’s final scoring member of the team, with a time 40 seconds faster than his season average, which Coonrod described as “a good performance for a freshman runner in this big of a race. “

Jonathan Spachek was the Bearcats’ sixth finisher, continuing his strong season on hilly courses with a personal best time on this challenging course.

Cade Gwinner was Ellsworth’s seventh and final runner, finishing 50 seconds faster than his season average, and only a few seconds off of his personal best time.

“The boys ran well, but ended the day in seventh place overall,” Coonrod said.“A solid finish in state, which is always a tough meet with tough competition, as it should be. We had hoped for a higher finish, but the boys’ race had two major standout teams in Stanton County and Central Heights. Runners from both of those teams took up a lot of the front spots, which you don’t see too often.”

Coonrod said this made it a challenge for the remaining teams to score well.

“As it ended up, there were a lot of teams competing for the third place and the EHS score was inflated enough to push us back to seventh,” he added.

Coonrod said both he and Coach (Janet) Schulte are proud of the teams for their season, their regional performances, and their state performance.

“We will miss our seniors next year, and will be leaning on our returning runners to help lead both teams to a state appearance again in 2020,” Coonrod said.

EHS Girls results

(96 runners total)

• Joni Schroeder, 40th, 22:28.39.

• Brenna Pruitt, 58th, 23:41.2 (PR).

• Olivia Neuman, 64th, 23:54.74.

• Kirsten Meier, 78th, 25:04.36.

• Cassie Duncan, 96th, 29:53.27.

EHS Boys results

(104 runners total)

• Noah Erichsen, 46th, 18:43.95.

• Braden Schulte, 54th, 18:50.34.

• Hayden Rogers, 55th, 18:52.0.

• Logan Erichsen, 57th, 18:54.07.

• Byron Johnson, 73rd, 19:35.47.

• Jonathan Spachek, 78th, 19:51.51.

• Cade Gwinner, 81st, 19:55.29.