By DANTON MCDIFFETT
Assistant Cross Country Coach
The cold never bothered them anyway. On a frigid morning in Great Bend, William Griffith and Isaac French placed third and ninth, respectively, at the 5A Regional Cross Country meet on Saturday. Both runners qualify for the state meet on Oct. 31 in Augusta.
The two Central High juniors ran with the leaders for the entire race. Griffith covered the 5K distance in 16:57, nudging out the fourth-place finisher by less than a second. French finished in 17:15. As a team, CHS finished in fifth place.
Sophomore Zack Tibbits competed well for the Mustangs, placing 32nd in 18:46. The team was rounded out by freshman Cooper Affholder, who finished in 46th place, running 19:55; Ryan Sheahon, 52nd in 21:04; and junior Alex Shea, 53rd at 21:47. Sheahon was the only senior running for either Central squad and closed out his high school career on Saturday.
Although no Central girls will move on to State, the team performed well. Junior Cora White was the fastest Mustang, placing 27th with her time of 21:47. Classmate Araceli Davila ran 22:20 to finish 34th. Elle Denning, a freshman, crossed the finish line in 23:39 to place 43rd. Junior Elizabeth Young placed 45th in 24:05. Brooke Shea, a freshman, returned from a bout with Covid-19 to place 49th in 26:44, and sophomore Taylor Helton battled through a hip injury to finish in 29:37 and 50th place.
With a strong cohort of juniors and underclassmen this year, the Mustangs can look forward to even more success in coming seasons.