BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
LAKE BARTON — Hoisington's two-time state qualifier Kamden Tarlton (17:06.94) placed third in Thursday's Great Bend Invitational at Lake Barton.
The boys division competed with all of the varsity runners in one race, giving Tarlton plenty of big-class competition over the 5-kilometer (3.1 miles) course. He enjoyed competing against some of the best runners in 6A and below. Central Kansas League champion Tarlton has placed 20th, 22nd and 43rd at the 3A state cross country meet.
"With 150 runners, I had to get out fast and I handled that pretty well," Tarlton said. "Every turn I had someone pushing me and that helped me."
Tarlton started fast to stay away from heavy traffic and ran a steady pace for the first two miles."
"I slowed down some in the first two miles, but picked it up in the third mile," Tarlton said. "I was six seconds faster, which is what I expected."
Hoisington's Jasper Pawlowski (20:53.71) placed 18th; Kasey Andereck (20:56.25) finished 19th and Harrison Henning (22:40.22.) was 30th.
St. John's state qualifier Quade Smith (18:55.06) placed 12th followed by 16th-place Aaden Gonzalez (19:49.14) and 20th-place Emmett Delp (20:57.29).
4-6A BOYS — Great Bend's trio of veterans showed improved times from last year. Ismael Ramirez (17:29.48) improved 46 seconds to place 22nd. Tavon Stroup (18:42.11) improved 23 seconds and placed 56th. 60th-place Anthony Lawrence (18:47.19) improved 1:24. Freshman Brogan Lashley (18:41.88) showed promise with a 55th-place finish. Diego Pasos (18:52.02) finished 64th.
"We've got upside with the boys. Our freshmen have already shown improvement," Lashley said.
4-6A BOYS TEAM SCORES—1—Garden City 53; 2—Holcomb 77; 3—Junction City 81; 4—Wichita Carroll 109; 5—Buhler 188; 6—Dodge City 189; 7—McPherson 200; 8—Derby 232; 9—Great Bend 241; 10—Valley Center 244; 11—Maize 250; 12—Salina Central 282; 13—Hays High 327; 14—Salina South 392; 15—Liberal 443
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—Deniston, Holcomb, 16:11.17; 2—Muehler, Mc, 16;12.48; 3—Nemecheck, GC, 16:19.03; 4—Fry, GC, 16:37.76; 5—Castro, GC, 16:44.06; 6—Deniau-Young, SC, 16:44.57; 7—Leonard, Holcomb, 16:50.04; 8—Dee, JC, 16:51.22; 9—Englert, WC, 16:51.37; 10—Fontaine, JC, 16:57.56
GREAT BEND—22—Ismael Ramirez, 17:29.48; 55—Brogan Lashley, 18:41.88; 56—Tavon Stroup, 18:42.11; 60—Anthony Lawrence, 18:47.19; 64—Diego Pasos, 18:52.02; 76—Isaac Aldana, 19:17.5
3-1A BOYS TEAM SCORES—1—SE Saline 20; 2—Moundridge 72; 3—Hoisington 79; 4—St. John 96; 5—Nickerson 97
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—Walker, SE, 16:08.58; 2—Bircher, SE, 16:43.52; 3—Kamden Tarlton, Hoisington, 17:06.94; 4—Tonne, SE, 17:22.72; 5—Franklin, SE, 18:04.84; 6— Pauley, Nickerson, 18:13.41; 7—Kuder, Moundridge, 18:17.3; 8—Kejr, SE, 18:27.9; 9—Graber, Moundridge, 18:32.97; 10—Carlin, SE, 13:35.55
HOISINGTON—18—Jasper Pawlowski, 20:53.71; 19—Kasey Andereck, 20:56.25; 30—Harrison Henning, 22:40.22
ST. JOHN—12—Quade Smith, 18:55.06; 16—Aaden Gonzalez, 19:49.14; 20—Emmett Delp, 20:57.29; 24—Liam Knight, 21:37.62; 29—Kaden Foote, 22:25.47; 31—Garrett Dunn, 22:41.31; 35—Rafael Gonzalez, 24;40.41; 36—Jayce Feril, 24:40.41
CENTRAL PLAINS—14—Cale Thompson, 19:28.52
