Thousands of athletes, nighttime running, and food trucks. All were part of the spectacle at the Olathe Twilight cross country meet Saturday evening. Great Bend ran against some of the nation’s best runners from Kansas and Missouri. Junior Addy Nicholson helped the Lady Panthers to a 15th-place team finish, and senior Kaiden Esfeld ran 17th overall in a loaded boys’ race.
Shawnee Mission North senior Hannah Gibson pulled the upset for the girls’ title in 17:54.30. Olathe North junior Anjali Hocker Singh, winner of the last two Class 6A cross country titles, finished second in 18:00, six seconds ahead of the third-place runner.
Lady Panther junior Addy Nicholson posted a career best, placing 21st in 19:17.20 to miss the top-20 by less than half a second. Mill Valley’s Charlotte Caldwell, a 5A competitor, finished just ahead of Nicholson in 20th.
Sophomore Marissa Boone ran 35th for Great Bend in 19:42.90, and junior Eliana Beckham placed 81st in 20:37.00. Morgan Beckwith finished 140th in 21:16.30, and Reese King grabbed the final team points in 155th in 21:37.90. Sienna Smith finished 172nd in 21:58.20, and Kate Welcher ran 174th in 22:06.00. Smith and Welcher both ran personal bests.
Olathe West set a state track record in the 4x800m run last spring. The Lady Owls dominated team scoring with just 41 points. Missouri’s Blue Springs South placed second with 108 points, still 70 points ahead of the third-place team from Missouri. Kansas Class 5A team St. James Academy placed fourth with 179 points, and Great Bend finished 15th with 406 points.
Esfeld runs best time of career
The boys’ race was loaded with national talent. The
top-four runners Saturday night in Olathe each posted top-10 national times.
Liberty North sophomore Sage Wilde recently set a Missouri state record with a
14:42 finish. He won Saturday’s race by a second in 14:45.70. Shawnee Mission
East senior Wyatt Haughton, winner of the 6A 800m and 1600m titles last spring,
finished second in 14:46.80.
The top-four finishers Saturday all cracked 15 minutes, creating a 20-second buffer between them and the fifth-place runner. Aquinas senior Colby King emerged as the top 5A runner in Kansas in 14:50.60.
Esfeld ran his first race since setting the Lake Barton course record in 16:09 a week earlier. He cut 33 seconds off the time for 17th in 15:36.50, with four 5A competitors in front of him.