KHS wins another team XC title

Kingfisher made the most of what turned out to be a disappointing field at the OK Runner Cross Country Classic.

The Lady Jackets won yet another meet Saturday as they recorded just 29 points in victory.

However, KHS was one of just four full teams in the 2A-4A race held in Norman.

“We had to commit to that event in August and we did,” said KHS cross country coach Kerri Lafferty. “And normally it has great teams entered.”

Ranked ninth in 4A, Plainview was second with 75 points and the only other top-10 team along with No. 1 Kingfisher.

Scout Snodgrass led the KHS contingent with a second-place finish.

The sophomore ran the mostly-flat two-mile course in 12:51.83.

Mount St. Mary’s Ava Carney blistered the field by winning in 12:25.66.

Lily Lunsford took third with a time of 13:02.23.

Kingfisher’s other scoring runners finished seventh-ninth as Peyton Walker, Liberty Starr and Chesni Newkirk crossed the line in that order.

Emmy Lunsford was 11th and Terry Ann McCully 14th.

Kingfisher was without freshman Kinley Taylor, who was resting a minor knee injury. Taylor was back at practice Monday morning.

“We would have liked a deeper field, but we still ran well,” Lafferty said. “Overall, our team time was better than at pre-state. I still thought we’d be faster with the flatter course, but it was really windy, which makes it hard to catch a break on those long straights.”

KHS fielded two in the varsity boys race.

Conner Askey was 13th with a time of 19:53.48 on the 5k course. Wyatt Long was three spots back of Askey.

Originally scheduled to take part in the OBU Cross Country Challenge in Shawnee on Thursday, Kingfisher will instead go to the Watonga Cross Country Invitational on Saturday.

“OBU was shaping up a lot like Norman in that not a lot of teams have signed up yet,” Lafferty said. “We know Watonga will have a strong field of teams and we need to see a lot of good competition these last couple of weeks.”