Freshman Tyler Brown was Wellington’s top placer in the varsity 5K race.

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow —  It was Saturday morning, and Wellington Cross Country head coach Charles Wallace had a dilemma on his hands.

He had 720 cross country runners scheduled to arrive in Wellington. But the town just had more than five inches of rain in the past 48 hours and Hargis Creek Watershed was a muddy mess.

Since the north side of Hargis was pretty much under water, Wallace implemented an alternate south route at Hargis, getting the highest elevation possible for the runners. And it was just dry enough to pull off the race, although most runners finished the race in splattered mud.

In the end, 603 of the 720 middle school and high school runners  came to Wellingto and the event went on without a hitch. Only the Chaparral team was unable to attend. There were a lot of other absentees.

Wichita West would win the varsity boys with 44 points, outdistancing second place Arkansas City in the varsity race. Valley Center would win the girls.

Wellington did not have enough runners to qualify as a team in either the boys or the girls 5K varsity races. Still, WHS featured 22 high school, 14 WMS and 10 sixth grade runners. Fifteen high school runners got personal bests.

Freshman Tyler Brown was Wellington’s highest placer finishing in 20th place with a 19.02 time in the 5K race. He, too, got a personal record. Chance Hamel finished 39th with a 19.47 time, which was also a PR. Both boys finished with a medal.

In other highlights, five of the six JV girls runners medalled. Wallace said some of the girls will be running the varsity 5K race in the near future. The girls JV race is a two-mile event.

In the middle school ranks, Toby Henning placed sixth in the 1.5 mile eighth grade race. Wellington also swept the sixth grade races with Jack Wright finishing first for the boys, and Aserea Champion placing first for the girls.

Wellington High School runners travel to the Anthony Lake Golf Course next Thursday with the race starting at 4:30 p.m.

The middle school runners are running at Lake Afton Tuesday, starting at 4 p.m.

The full Wellington cross country results are as follows:

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