Wellington schools open sports season with cross country meet at Hargis

September 13, 2021 Cueball

The 2021 Wellington High School cross country team. (Click to enlarge)

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The first official sporting event of the 2021-22 season at Wellington High School and Middle School was a good one.

The annual Wellington Cross Country Invitational at the Hargis Creek Watershed went on without a hitch. Arkansas City won the varsity men’s 5K run with 30 points (see full results here). Goddard Eisenhower won first for the varsity girls (see results here).

Ryan Bacon wins the junior varsity meet in Wellington.

As far as Wellington was concerned WHS Cross Country head coach Jaedyn Showman had 13 runners out on Saturday – its biggest number in years. But because of the USD 353 COVID-19 shut down a week ago, she decided to put everyone in the two-mile junior varsity races instead of the traditional 5K varsity run.

In the JV ranks, the WHS boys made a splash (see here). Wellington scored 22 points, well out-pacing second place Pratt runners with 56.

Ryan Bacon, a Wellington junior, finished first with a 12:20.68 time in the two-mile event. That was for a 6:32.57 average.

Wellington High School seniors Camden Parkey and Braeden Ybarra.

Other JV boys Wellington runners times and places were:

•Hunter Lough, jr., 12:44.87, second.

•Camden Parkey, sr., 13:15.99, fifth.

•Braeden Ybarra, sr., 13:21.49, sixth.

•Caleb Sanders, jr., 13:42.75, eighth.

•Conner Walker, so., 13:53.05, ninth.

•Jackson Irey, jr., 13:56.55, 10th.

•Rome Hunt, fr., 14:34.68, 17th.

•Colton Clift, fr., 15:39.37, 28th.

•Zander Strader, fr., 16:22.49.

Wellington had three girls running at the JV level (see here).

•Taylor Earl, fr., 16:46.96, 10th.

•Peyton Franke, jr., 16:52.71.

•Sullivan Parkey, fr., 19:02.68.

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On the middle school level, Wellington’s Ava Furman finished 12th in eighth-grade girls. There were several other Sumner County runners.

The full middle school results are as follows:

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Teagan Thompson of Caldwell.

In other Sumner County news, Alivia Bacon, a sophomore from South Haven running for Caldwell, finished seventh in the varsity girls with a 23:26.02 time.

Teagan Thompson, a Caldwell junior, placed 13th in the varsity run with a 19:24.14 time.