On Thursday, Oct. 13, cross country competed in the Western Athletic Conferene championship in Garden City, where varsity girls placed third overall with and total of 71 points and the varsity boys placed fourth overall.

The first to cross the finish line for Hays High’s girls was junior Arely Maldonado. She placed eighth overall with a time of 17:21:00. Behind her was senior Avery Winter, who placed 13th overall with a time of 17:41:00. Both junior varsity and varsity runners ran a 4k, which is different from the standard 5k.

The first to finish for the boys was junior Elijah McCullough, who placed 15th overall with a time of 18:05:00. Soon behind him was sophomore Taevin Maupin. He placed 21st overall with a time of 18:45:00.

“Competing at WAC was exciting,” junior Brenlynn Albers said. “It means the season is close to being over.”

TOP FIVE RESULTS BELOW:

GIRLS:

V – Arely Maldonado – 8th (17:41:00)

V – Avery Winter – 13th- (17:41:00)

V – Mika Zimmerman – 15th (17:42:00)

V – Brynn Kinderknecht – 16th (17:44:00)

V – Brenlynn Albers – 19th (18:01:00)

BOYS:

V – Elijah McCullough – 15th (18:05:00)

V – Taevin Maupin – 21st (18:45:00)

V – Gavin Flaska – 29th (20:25:00)

V – Logan Chance – 30th (20:37:00)

V – Cyrus Vajnar – 32nd (21:43:00)

24mnorris@usd489.com