On Sept. 9, the Hays High cross country team traveled to Hesston to compete. The meet, which was held on the Hesston Golf Course, was approximately 0.25 miles longer than a normal five-kilometer race, resulting in slower times. Regardless, the girls team placed third, and the boys team placed sixth in the 4A-6A Division.
The meet hosted 48 schools that ranged from 1A-6A in classification. Although all classifications run during the same race, the athletes are placed into either 1A-3A or 4A-6A divisions after the race ended.
For Hays High, all runners were ranked alongside runners from other 4A-6A schools rather than the race as a whole. Instead of racing athletes based on varsity or junior varsity, the Hesston meet runs a race for each grade and gender for a total of eight races.
Sophomore Arely Maldonado placed third in the sophomore girls race with a time of 23:32:00. Maldonado’s time was the fastest for the Hays High girls team. Fourteen girls earned medals from their respective races.
“I thought the meet went very well for everyone,” Maldonado said. “The course is definitely one of the easier ones. I think the girls team did good. Everyone tried their hardest and finished with good outcomes.”
Senior Landon Viegra earned a 13th place medal in the senior boys race with a time of 22:13:00. Seven boys earned medals from their respective races.
“The meet was absolutely huge,” Viegra said. “Everyone did well on the guys team, and we all had some fun.”

The full results are listed below:
Freshman Girls
24th – freshman Marisa Wasinger (32:24:00)
25th – freshman Ava Ruiz (33:09:00)

Sophomore Girls
Third – sophomore Arely Maldonado (23:32:00)
Fifth – sophomore Brenlynn Albers (24:37:00)
Seventh – sophomore Julia Zadina (25:43:00)
Eighth – sophomore Brynn Kinderknecht (26:00:00)
Ninth – sophomore Mika Zimmerman (26:25:00)
12th – sophomore Addison Otte (27:26:00)
25th – sophomore Lexi Burton (34:16:00)

Junior Girls
Third – junior Amelia Jaeger (24:03:00)
Ninth – junior Nayeli Cisneros (25:46:00)
10th – junior Avery Winter (25:48:00)
20th – junior Nia Kaiser (32:44:00)

Senior Girls
10th – senior Landri Dotts (27:20:00)
13th – senior Lainey Hardman (28:54:00)
16th – senior Rachel Windholz (31:00:00)
17th – senior Aaliyah Neuburger (35:16:00)

Freshman Boys
19th – freshman Carson Avery (25:02:00)
DQ – freshman Taevian Maupin

Sophomore Boys
Third – sophomore Leo Hernandez (20:26:00)
Fifth – sophomore Ty Dempsey (21:26:00)
13th – sophomore Tacoma Augustine (22:51:00)
23rd – sophomore Everett McClure (24:57:00)
27th – sophomore Corben Avery (25:30:00)
35th – sophomore Riley Atkerson (26:52:00)

Junior Boys
18th – junior Carter Muehleisen (22:55:00)
22nd – junior Daimon Lang (24:29:00)
27th – junior Logan Chance (25:42:00)

Senior Boys
13th – senior Landon Viegra (22:13:00)
19th – senior Ryan Schuckman (26:47:00)

22rschuckman@usd489.com