The Braves Cross Country team competed at the Jason McKinney Memorial Invitational hosted by Wabaunsee High School on Saturday. The temperatures started to climb as the races began; it was a hot one when the varsity boys race started but the conditions didn’t hinder the competitive fire of the Braves.
Council Grove put four runners on the medal stand. Jadyn Picolet finished all alone in third with fourth place 50 seconds behind him. Hayden Horton had a day, finishing in 10th, but made the jump to the #2 runner on the Braves squad finishing just in front of Carter Bremer who was 14th and Brody Nelson in 18th place.
Coach Joshua Grant said, “Horton was tough today; he busted through the hot conditions to grab himself a top ten finish. So proud of that kid, he has been working so hard. He deserves some shine! I’m really proud of the whole group. It was hot, our times reflected that, but the guys competed. They fought for points and places when they knew their times weren’t going to be what they wanted. Four medalists and Brayden Jarvis was one spot out of all of our top 5 on the medal stand. Those guys competing for the spots everyone wants, that’s all I could want as a coach.”
The boys finished third as a team, 12 points behind a tough Jefferson County North team. “We were short of our goal of finishing as a top two team today, but we were right there with Jeff County North. We competed. That’s the biggest take away from today. These guys will train hard and compete every day, that’s where they hang their hats. They are looking forward to the work this week before we head to Rim Rock next weekend,” Coach Gant added.
The junior high also had a day as David Bowling and Christian Keplar finished in 7th and 8th in the boys 2 mile race and Memphis Burton, Gabe Nelson, Jaben Spear and Lydia Klepper all posted PRs.
HS Boys Jadyn Picolet 19:04.8 3rd/63 Brody Nelson 21:42.3 18th Carter Bremer 21:21:00 14th Hayden Horton 21:02:00 10th Brayden Jarvis 22:37.8 21st Aaron Crotts 24:16:00 38th Jaidyn Gomez 28:54:00 57th Nick Most 24:04:00 35th JH Boys Charlie Lillich 17:25.6 37th Christian Keplar 14:00.9 8th David Bowling 13:55.1 7th Memphis Burton 18:23.1 43rd Gabriel Nelson 17:26.4 38th Jaben Spear 23:11.4 59th JH Girls Lydia Klepper 18:27.7 31st/37