By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was an unfamiliar course, but a very familiar finish for Topeka West senior star Lenny Njoroge in Thursday's United Kansas Conference cross country meet at Shawnee Heights.
Njoroge posted his sixth win in seven races on the year, including five straight, in the UKC meet, clocking a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 04.4 seconds to win by just under 21 seconds.
Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge cruises down the home stretch en route to the UKC title Thursday at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I ran this course freshman year but it's so different,'' Njoroge said. "It's like it's been flipped upside down, but I was very comfortable.
:"My goal was to just push the pace and not let anyone go with me because I know they're very good. I just wanted to push the pace so I could break away.''
Njoroge, who is undefeated against Kansas competition and has not finished lower than second, jumped out in front early on and, as has been the case in all of his victories, lengthened his lead over the final half of the race.''
"It all depends on the race, every race is different,'' Njoroge said of his strategy. "In one race you might find a guy who's taking it out fast and then you're comfortable the next mile. The next race you might just cruise the whole race.''
Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel (back) tracked down and passed De Soto's Joshua Fullmer at the end of the race to finish second in the UKC cross country meet Thursday at Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel came on strong at the end of the race and overtook De Soto senior Joshua Fullmer for second place, helping the T-Birds finish second as a team behind De Soto (37-65). Esquibel clocked a time of 16:25.1 while Fullmer was third in 16:28.4.
Heights also got a sixth-place finish from senior Kory Sutton (17:06.4) while senior Andrew Emerson finished 11th (17:29.7) and sophomore Evan Carter 16th (17:48.2). Junior Landon Staniec finished 30th (18:59.1) to round out the T-Birds' top five.
Seaman finished third as a team with 79 points, getting a seventh-place finish from senior Zach Jowers (17:11.4) while seniors Branen Moore (17:43.1) and Landon Stuke (17:45.5) were 13th and 14th to lead the Vikings.
Team champion De Soto had four runners in the top 10 and all of its top five in the top 12 to take the decisive 28-point win.
UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
Team scores
De Soto 37, Shawnee Heights 65, Seaman 79, Lansing 86, Topeka West 135, Basehor-Linwood 151, Leavenworth 153, Piper 216.
Individual results
1. Lenny Njoroge, Topeka West, 16:04.4; 2. Jackson Esquibel, Shawnee Heights, 16:25.1; 3. Joshua Fullmer, De Soto, 16:28.4; 4. Luke Swarts, De Soto, 16:46.4; 5. Jackson Steger, Lansing, 16:51.4; 6. Kory Sutton, Shawnee Heights, 17:06.4; 7. Zach Jowers, Seaman, 17:11.4; 8. Vance Krudwig, De Soto, 17:14.2; 9. Shawn Sullivan, Leavenworth, 17:18.1; 10. Connor Jacober, De Soto, 17:24.8; 11. Andrew Emerson, Shawnee Heights, 17:29.7; 12. Harrison Purkey, De Soto, 17:30.7; 13. Branen Moore, Seaman, 17:43.1; 14. Landon Stuke, Seaman, 17:45.5; 15. Tamiret Rookard, Lansing, 17:46.8; 16. Evan Carter, Shawnee Heights, 17:48.2; 17. Lyndon Budimlija, De Soto, 18:12.6; 18. Jimmy Bramah, Basehor-Linwood, 18:17.8; 19. Nick Kurz, Lansing, 18:19.8; 20. Cody Ford, Basehor-Linwood, 18:24.7.
Other Shawnee Heights -- 30. Landon Staniec, 18:59.1; 31. Isaac Song, 19:05.5; 32. Cash Reitcheck, 19:06.5; 42. Max Esquibel, 19:24.4; 59. Mason Deitcher, 20:23.9; 64. Carson Anderson, 20:31.2.
Other Seaman -- 22. Adrian Swaim, 18:33.5; 23. Jack Walker, 18:34.6; 28. Joseph Yorkey, 18:50.9.
Other Topeka West -- 25. Mark Wilkie, 18:39.9; 34. Maxwell Cook, 19:08.6; 35. Gregory Njoroge, 19:09.4; 41. Morris Blick, 19:20.6; 43. Jayden Sigle, 19:34.0; 65. Elijah Phelps, 20:47.1; 66. Brady Clark, 21:13.4; 67. Sim Phelps-Roper, 21:14.7.
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