Prairie View junior Bree Allen lengthens her lead at the girls' 3A regional cross country race at Council Grove on Saturday, Oct. 21. Allen is on track to defend her state title at the Rim Rock course on Saturday, Oct. 28. (Screen capture/Prairie View Buffalos Facebook)
By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com
COUNCIL GROVE – Prairie View junior Bree Allen took first place at the 3A regional cross country meet at Council Grove on Saturday, Oct. 21, and will defend her title as state 3A champion at Rim Rock north of Lawrence this Saturday, Oct. 28. Rim Rock is the home course of the Kansas University cross-country team.
This the third year that Allen has advanced to the state meet. She was runner-up in 2021 and won the race last year. The Prairie View girls team won a berth at the state meet in 2021.
For the second year, though, Allen won’t be joined in the race by her teammates after the girls’ team placed fourth – 2 points away from qualifying for third place and a trip to state. Her teammates are expected to make the trip to support Allen’s bid for a repeat championship.
The regional at Council Grove was arguably one of the most competitive of the 3A regional 5,000-meter races. Allen completed the course with a time of 18:47.96, about half a minute ahead of the second-place finisher, Ashley Leman of Hesston, who finished with a time of 19:18.38.
The winner of the regional race at Wichita Trinity was Emily Hein, who turned in a time of 19:18.57. The winner at Great Bend was nearly a minute slower than Allen, and the Sabetha champion was more than two minutes off Allen’s pace.
The girls from Southeast of Salina took first place in team competition, followed by West Franklin of Pomona in second and Osage City in third.
Freshman Laramie Stevens and junior Wylie Teagarden came in with the second and third fastest times for the Lady Buffalos. Stevens, who has had a strong first year at the varsity level, placed 22nd out of 68 qualifiers with a time of 21:54.10. Teagarden, who struggled in races earlier this year, was a couple of seconds behind Stevens for for 23rd place.
Senior Kelsey Konitzer placed 32nd, junior Ryleigh Lueker was 41st, sophomore Cheyanne Moss placed 46th, and junior Kally Stroup was 48th.
Junior Mason Mitzner looks to close the gap on the runner from Hesston. (Screen capture/Prairie View Buffalos Facebook)
Five Prairie View boys qualified for the field of 101 runners in the regional race, with junior Mason Mitzner turning in a 20:08.55 time for 53rd place. Freshman Matthew Stolle was 73rd, followed by Benton Stainbrook in 74th, junior Colton Bartlett in 85th, and senior Harvey Hernandez-Guerrero in 92nd.
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