By DANTON MCDIFFETT
Assistant Cross Country Coach
A small but enthusiastic team of Salina Central Mustangs competed at the Manhattan Invitational on Saturday.
Nine teams competed, with a unique wave start sending groups of teams off at one-minute intervals.
Junior William Griffith's rugged summer running workouts paid off, as he bested last year's time by nearly two minutes. Griffith brought home the 11th place medal in the boys' A race with his 5K time of 17.36.6. Isaac French, a junior, placed 29th at 18.41.3 and Zack Tibbits, a sophomore, ran 19.56.2 to finish 44th.
Another junior runner, Cora White, paced the Mustang girls' varsity squad. She ran 23.36.2 for 24th place. Junior Araceli Davila's time of 24.56.8 was good enough for 35th. Freshman Elle Denning, competing in the varsity race for her first high school event, was 42nd, with a time of 26.13.8.
Three Mustang boys competed in the junior varsity 5K, with freshman Cooper Affholder running 21.03.3 to place 28th. Alex Shea's 22.55.9 put him 47th, and Ryan Sheahon was 50th with 23.26.7.
For the girls' junior varsity race, five Mustangs competed in a 4K. Junior Elizabeth Young ran 21.03.5 to pace the squad in 27th. Another freshman runner, Brooke Shea, finished in 37th, running 22.20.5. Senior Emily Strommen's time was 23.35.6, which placed her in 45th. Sophomores Taylor Helton and Amelia Coykendall finished in 42nd and 45th places, respectively. Helton ran 24.11.7; Coykendall's time was 28.34.6.
Two first-time runners, senior Shawn Pyeatt and junior Nick Carano, ran the boys' C 4K. Pyeatt placed 54th in 20.56.8 and Carano ran 21.17.2 to finish 56th.
The team will travel to Hesston on Thursday morning for their second meet.