By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights senior Jackson Esquibel has put together an outstanding distance career for the T-Birds, winning a pair of state medals in cross country and posting a state title and a runnerup finish in track.
Shawnee Heights senior Jackson Esquibel won his first city individual cross country title Saturday at Kanza Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Esquibel added something new in Saturday's city boys championship at Kanza Park, winning his first city individual title.
Washburn Rural's Brooks Kehoe (740), Max Gutierrez (763) and Hayden Keller (765) helped the Junior Blues win their 17th straight city cross country title Saturday. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Meanwhile, it was business as usual for Washburn Rural, which rolled to its 17th straight city boys team title by a 35-63 margin over Seaman.
Esquibel clocked a winning five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 16.7 seconds en route to winning by more than 33 seconds over Seaman sophomore standout Brody Anderson.
"It's my last time at Hummer and I've ran this course since freshman year so I just wanted to see what time I was capable of here and give it my all for myself and build confidence going into the big meets,'' Esquibel said.
"You have goals when you start the season and this is a big meet for me, running a 12-second (personal record), I believe it was. That really just kind of set the tone for the type of shape I'm in and the type of confidence that I have in myself.
:"My supporting cast is just great. They always push me to my limits.''
Matt Swedlund's Washburn Rural team used its pack mentality to produce a decisive margin in the team race, with the Junior Blues putting two runners in the top five and all seven of their varsity runners in the first 15 places.
"That's what we've been working at is pack, pack, pack,'' Swedlund said. "We kind of played around early in the season with controlling the first couple of miles to pull some guys along.
"That's exactly the situation we're in. We're going to have to have a small one to five difference. This was a good confidence-booster. They ran well and I'm happy with that.''
Sophomore Brooks Kehoe finished a team-high fourth (16:34.1) for the Junior Blues while senior Max Gutierrez was fifth (16:40.2).
Junior Connor Olsen placed sixth for Rural (16:41.2) while sophomore Higgins Hawks was eighth (16:43.9), junior Brody Tenbrink 12th (16:52.2), senior Hayden Keller 13th (16:59.7) and junior Bodie King 15th (17:13.2).
Seaman sophomore Brody Anderson was the individual runnerup in Saturday's city boys cross country meet, leading the Vikings to a second-place team finish. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
In addition to the runnerup finish from Anderson (15:50.1) Seaman also got a sixth-place individual finish from sophomore Jack Walker (16:42.7).
Topeka West finished third as a team with 91 points, led by junior Adrian Lehman in ninth place (16:44.2) and senior Elijah Phelps in 10th (16:45.2).
Hayden senior Aiden Amis posted a third-place individual finish in Saturday's city cross country meet at Kanza Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden senior Aiden Amis turned in a solid third-place individual finish in 16:03.7.
Washburn Rural, Hayden and Topeka High will be back at Kanza Park next Saturday for the Centennial League meet while Seaman, Shawnee Heights and Topeka West will compete in the United Kansas Conference championships on Thursday at the Shawnee North Community Center.
CITY BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
At Kanza Park
Team scores
Washburn Rural 35, Seaman 63, Topeka West 91, Shawnee Heights 95, Hayden 98, Topeka High 146.
Individual results
1. Jackson Esquibel, Shawnee Heights, 15:16.7; 2. Brody Anderson, Seaman, 15:50.1; 3. Aiden Amis, Hayden, 16:03.7; 4. Brooks Kehoe, Washburn Rural, 16:34.1; 5. Max Gutierrez, Washburn Rural, 16:40.2; 6. Connor Olsen, Washburn Rural, 16:41.2; 7. Jack Walker, Seaman, 16:42.7; 8. Higgins Hawks, Washburn Rural, 16:43.9; 9. Adrian Lehman, Topeka West, 16:44.2; 10. Elijah Phelps, Topeka West, 16:45.2; 11. Evan Carter, Shawnee Heights, 16:51.0; 12. Brody Tenbrink, Washburn Rural, 16:52.2; 13. Hayden Keller, Washburn Rural, 16:59.7; 14. Zach Moore, Hayden, 17:07.0; 15. Bodie King, Washburn Rural, 17:13.2; 16. Connor Baldwin, Hayden, 17:18.7; 17. Corbin Murrow, Seaman, 17:19.9; 18. Alex Newell, Seaman, 17:25.1; 19. Chris Quarles, Washburn Rural, 17:25.3; 20. Josiah Denman, Washburn Rural, 17:26.5.
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