Skip to content

Holden Cross Country Runners Improve Times At Gans Creek Meet

Lady Eagle Leader… Lady Eagle cross country runner Ava Young approaches the finish line for a second-place finish at the Lone Jack Invitational Meet on Wednesday, September 21. Photo by Steve Edwards

The Holden cross country runners competed at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia on Saturday, September 24 in a large field of runners.

Senior Zach Willis led the boys team with a top-10 medal finish among 251 finishers while freshman Abby Miller led the Lady Eagles with a 39th-place finish in the field of 163 girls finishers.

The Eagle boys team finished in 14th place among 33 teams.

“Gans Creek was a good measuring stick of where we’re at,” said Holden cross country head coach Dale Wescott. “We had a lot of season-best times.”
Willis clocked out with a personal record time of 17:21 to place eighth as he recovered from some sickness experienced earlier in the week.
“Zach led the boys with that low 17-minute time,” said coach Wescott. “He finished 10 places better than lat year at that race. He’s in a good spot heading down to conference, and district.”

Rett Hankins placed 61st with a time of 18:53.

The middle of the Eagle pack of boys runners included Caleb Koehn in 104th place in a time of 19:59, Ethan Rice in 115th place with a time of 20:10, and Jackson Treece in 148th place with a time of 20:39.

“On the boys side, to get where we need to be, we’ve got to get the next three after Rett in the low nineteens,” said coach Wescott.

Ruben Wiesmann placed 166th on Saturday with a time of 21:00. Lukas Hunt turned in a time of 24:19 to place 227th.

For the Lady Eagles, Miller clocked a time of 23:01in her 39th-place showing.

Ava Young placed 46th with a time of 23:17, and freshman Malea Brewington placed 58th with a time of 23:32, as all three Lady Eagle runners turned in PR times.

“On the girls side, we’re not where we want to be, or where we need to be,” said coach Wescott. “We’ve just got to continue to get better.”

Lone Jack Meet
At the Lone Jack Invitational Meet on Wednesday, September 21, the Holden boys cross country team placed second among five complete teams.

In medal finishes, Rett Hankins placed fifth on the day with a time of 21:39, Ruben Wiesmann placed 9th with a time of 22:27, and Ethan Rice placed 10th with a time of 22:34.

Jackson Treece placed 20th, and Lukas Hunt placed 27th, as senior Zach Willis and sophomore Caleb Koehn sat out of the race.

For the Lady Eagles, Ava Young placed second with a time of 25:47, Abby Miller placed fourth in a time of 26:28, and Malea Brewington placed ninth in a time of 30:48 as all three Holden girls runners collected medals at the meet.

The next meet for the Holden cross country runners is the Excelsior Springs Invitational Meet scheduled for Tuesday, October 4. Start time is 4 p.m.

Leave a Comment