GUTHRIE CENTER — For only the third time this season the Perry cross country team was able to compete in meet, with the middle school squads also able to take part in the action.
The Perry girls were sixth and the boys third overall in a field sprinkled with rated runners and teams.
Class 1A top-ranked Logan-Magnolia won the girls race with 64 points, with 2A No. 3 Panorama second at 71 and Collins-Maxwell third at 87. Perry was sixth with 177 points in the 12-team field, in which 118 runners competed.
Perry freshman Jaylene Karolus was seventh overall in 23 minutes, 24.39 seconds. Who beat her? Class 2A No. 6 Ella Waddle of Panorama was first in 20:23.01, Lo-Ma’s third and fourth-ranked sisters Courtney and Taylor Sporrer (21:05.49 and 22:26.03), AC/GC’s 1A No. 5 Kate Crawford (21:52.25) and a pair of rising stars from Baxter, who placed fifth and sixth, testifying to the strength of Karolus’ performance.
Kailey Crawford (26:30.2) and Molly Lutmer (26:31.74) were 27-28 for Perry, with Kennedy Tunink (28:59.19) 49th and Cris Gomez (34:12.47) 66th. Also running for the Jayette varsity were Marleni Grijalva (69th, 34:37.81) and Kanyshai Abdieva (72nd, 36:01.49).
AC/GC won the boys race with 70 points, with Red Oak second at 98 and Perry third at 119 in a 13-team race.
Eighth-ranked Noah Nelsen of AC/GC was the winner in 18:05.74, with 14th-rated Logan Berg of Baxter second at 18:12.97 while Louden Foster of West Central Valley crossed third in 18:43.7.
Eduardo Sanchez led the Bluejay finishers by crossing 12th in 20:16.58. Mario Cruz was 20th in 20:52.32 and Mohamed Abdelnabi 22nd in 20:57.81 while Ethan Miller and Hayden McFarland were 32-33 in 21:52.09 and 21:54.02. Tomas Lopez (42nd, 22:46.39) and Tony Burgos (48th, 23:35.31) were also part of the varsity seven for Perry.
AC/GC (41) won the two-mile girls junior high race, with Perry sixth of sixth at 77.
Panorama’s Mia Waddle was first in 16:11.21, with Perry paced by the 17:25.86 recorded by Lydia Olejniczak. Callie McFarland (22:40.88), Alexa Garcia (24:05.74), Candace Hurley (24:47.29) and Isabella Burgos (26:13.33) finished 26-31-32-33 to score for the Jayettes. The top seven was completed by Kassidy Atwell (34th, 26:31.41) and Alexa Nelson (36th, 29:33.98).
AC/GC also won the two-mile junior high boys competition with 32 points while Perry was fourth of the four teams scoring with 71 points. Collins-Maxwell’s Ethan Haus was the overall winner in 14:10.05.
Tristan Hibbert was seventh for the Bluejays in 16:22.89, with Ganon Meis 11th in 16:52.52 and Jonathan Munoz 13th in 17:28.01. Also scoring were Ricky Ponce (18th, 20:36.33) and Sebastian Robles (22nd, 23:22.31) while Alex Cooper (25th, 32:58.95) also competed.
Perry returns to action Thursday when they host the 17th annual Leon Fox Invitational at the Perry Golf and Country Club. Action will begin at 4:15 p.m. with the middle school races.
