The Fillmore Central Invitational featured three cross country teams from the Seward County area. The Milford girls finished fourth and Centennial fifth; Malcolm did not field a full team. The Milford boys were sixth, with Malcolm 10th and Centennial 11th.
"We had a great day at Fillmore Central," Milford Coach Jake Kment said. "The girls' race featured some of the best teams and individuals in Classes C and D, and our girls came away fourth, just a few points out of second."
Macie Carter paced the Eagles with a third-place finish in 19:43.45. Abby Crabtree turned in her best performance of the season, finishing 13th in 21:18.29. Elsa Schweitzer also had her best race of the year and was 23rd in 22:09.7. Olivia Augustyn was the team's fourth runner and placed 25th.
Kment said both Harlow Grothen and Cayla Adams ran personal best times.
"Some of the girls were not feeling 100% before the race, so it was awesome to see them dig deep and still come away with great performances," Kment said.
Stella Steele of Centennial put her name in the record books with a time of 19:53.38, becoming the first girl at CHS to break 20 minutes, Coach Rob Johansen said. Her time, which was good for fourth place, will put her among the state leaders in Class D, as well.
"Stella showed a strong kick at the end to move from fifth to fourth," Johansen said. "The only girls to beat her were medal winners at the state meet last year."
Senior Nya Fischer earned 10th place with a time of 21:06.42 and continues to improve.
"She just keeps getting better each meet as she gains more 5k race experience," Johansen said.
The Malcolm girls' team had three representatives in the race. Isabella Burbach led the group with a 58th-place finish and time of 26:06.19.
In the boys' race, Carter Fritz of Centennial turned in one of his fastest times of the season, 17:07.65, and finished seventh.
"Three of the boys that beat him finished first, second and third in state last year. It was really good for him to see that type of competition and be able to run with them most of the race," Johansen said.
Easton Sample led Milford with an overall PR of 17:38.78 and finished 14th. Yoan Montero broke 18 minutes for the first time, finishing in 17:58.29 and 20th place. Adler Armbrust was 38th and Sylus Rakow 45th. Ryan Gurnsey ran a personal best time in his first varsity race, 19:47.91, to finish 51st. Jonny Kohout wasn't far behind in 54th.
Malcolm Coach Brie Walklin said the course at Geneva was the first one the Clippers had run before. While the runners didn't have as many PRs as she'd hoped, Carter Thieman finished in 19:26.52, a best by over a minute, she said. Harrison Paider also ran a PR, improving by over 1:30 from his previous best time.
"I think what challenged the runners were the hills on the course," Walklin said. "Unfortunately we haven't had the opportunity to compete on a hilly course yet this season, so this was the first."
Peyton Jones was Malcolm's lead runner, placing 40th in 19:10.82. Will Kaczor was 42nd in 19:17.21, followed by Thieman in 44th and Mason Turek in 61st.
"Peyton is continuing to find confidence in his racing abilities," Walklin said. "I think he was, at first, a little leery of being our front runner, but now he seems to be gaining a little more confidence and is now willing to see what he can do on his own as a runner."
While not everyone turned in a PR, Walklin was pleased to see the runners improve their places in the race after the halfway mark.
All three teams ran at the Bob Hoyer Invite Sept. 22. Complete results will be published next week.
