Fast and steady won the meet

The lowest - and best point total a team can earn in cross country is 15.

That’s precisely how many points the Kingfisher High School girls tallied in their opening meet of the season.

Of 30 medalists in Saturday’s Weatherford Sand Plum Invitational, the Lady Jackets boasted 12 of them.

Kingfisher’s Scout Snodgrass and Lily Lunsford ran first and second while Kinley Taylor was fourth.

Liberty Starr, Peyton Walker and Chesni Newkirk were sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

Cordell’s Calliy Walker and Shamrock’s Skylynn Lawyer were third and fifth, respectively, but weren’t part of full teams.

That gave KHS first through fifth among the runners competing on full teams.

That gave the Lady Jackets 15 points, making it a race for second place.

That winner was Hennessey, which had 77 points to edge Thomas’ 78 points.

Woodward was a close fourth with 84.

“It was the first meet of the year, so obviously I was really pleased with that outcome,” said coach Kerri Lafferty.

The girls ran a 1 1/2 mile course, one that Snodgrass conquered in 9:13.96. It was the sophomore’s second straight year to win the event.

Lunsford, a freshman, was next in 9:26.95, more than five seconds ahead of Cordell’s Walker.

Taylor, yet another freshman, ran the course in 9:33.88.

Starr, Walker and Newkirk each ran in the 9:40’s.

Of the first 10 to cross the finish line, seven wore Kingfisher jerseys as sophomore Harper Evans ran ninth.

The blue jerseys kept crossing in waves as five more Lady Jackets earned medals.

Emmy Lunsford 14th, Terry Ann McCully 17th, Zaylynn Lopez 18th, Maya Haney 21st, Hannah Francis 23rd and Natalie Garrett 25th in the race that featured 73 individuals.

“Our girls team looks to be strong this year,” Lafferty said. “We’ve got more depth than we’ve had in recent years. We just need to keep the team healthy and focused to the end of the season.”

Lady Eagles take 2nd

“The girls performed really well,” said HHS cross country coach Cheyenne Baxter.

Leading the pack for Hennessey was sophomore Jocelyn Matousek.

She was 11th overall, but eighth among runners scoring for their teams.

Shefinishedin10:07.23, just under 12 seconds faster than teammate Emma Sipe, who was 20th (13th).

“Jocelyn was really competitive in this race and Emma improved her time by almost a minute compared to last year,” noted Baxter.

Also scoring for Hennessey were Taryn Jech (34th/16th), Marisol Valles (41st/18th) and Karci Vadder (51st/22nd).

The Lady Eagles were without one of their top runners, Tayler Franklin, who was playing in a softball tournament for the Lady Eagles.

“With her, I really feel we could have made that gap between second and third place bigger,” Baxter said.

•••

Neither Kingfisher nor Hennessey had the minimum amount of runners (five) to field a full team.

The Jackets had four and were led by Conner Askey’s 15th-place finish.

Askey ran the two-mile trek in 11:53.57.

Wyatt Long was 18th in just over 12:03 while Alezandro Cuellar was 46th and Brantley Johnson 77th.

There were 89 high school boys competitors.

Hennessey had two runners compete as Brok Cooper took 37th in 12:45.19 and Vandin Vadder was 75th.

Weatherford Sand Plum Invitational Results

High School Girls 1.5 miles

Kingfisher 15 Hennessey 77 Thomas 78 Woodward 84 Geary 126

Kingfisher - Scout Snodgrass 1st, 9:13.96; Lily Lunsford 2nd, 9:26.95; Kinley Taylor 4th, 9:33.88; Liberty Starr 6th, 9:40.26; Peyton Walker 7th, 9:46.07; Chesni Newkirk 8th, 9:46.85; Harper Evans 9th, 9:56.27; Emmy Lunsford 14th, 10:11.23; Terry Ann McCully 17th, 10:16.24; Zaylynn Lopez 18th, 10:17.77; Maya Haney 21st, 10:19.20; Hannah Francis 23rd, 10:27.85; Natalie Garrett 25th, 10:30.06; Sophia Dudzinski 37th, 11:15.57; Rylee Long-Bush 49th, 11:56.22

Hennessey - Jocelyn Matousek 11th, 10:07.23; Emma Sipe 20th, 10:18.83; Taryn Jech 34th, 11:13.75; MarisolValles41st, 11:20.67; Karci Vadder 51st, 12:00.01; Kate Curran 52nd, 12:01.21; Jazzy Bullis 57th, 12:28.63

High School Boys 2 miles

Weatherford 55 Elk City 80 Thomas 101 Clinton 104 Woodward 109 Burns Flat 109 Merritt 136

Kingfisher - Conner Askey 15th, 11:53.57; Wyatt Long 18th, 12:03.06; Alezandro Cuellar 46th, 13:09.57; Brantley Johnson 77th, 15:27.90

Hennessey - Brok Cooper 37th, 12:45.19; Vandin Vadder 75th, 14:55.86