Recap and Gallery: Cross Country Regionals

Freshman Hope Dunn celebrates with her coach after they qualified for state. Photo by John Foster

The boys’ and girls’ cross country teams ran in the Shawnee Mission East Regional over the weekend. They raced at Lone Elm Park in Olathe against eight other schools.

The girls’ team placed second at the regional race. They qualified for State as a team for the first time in six years. The team was led by senior Annie Kuklenski, who ran a 15:31 4K race and placed fifth overall.

The boys’ team missed qualifying for State by eight points, placing fifth place at the Regional meet. Freshman John Arnspiger led the team, running a 16:25 5K race, and set a personal record, placing sixth overall. Arnspiger now has the fastest 5K time of any freshman in the state. He was followed by junior Marshall Green, who ran a 16:47, and senior Jack McDonald, who ran a 16:48.

“We really did the best that we could do for that day,” junior and varsity runner George Miller said when asked about how the boys did at Regionals. “[The girls] did phenomenal! They went out there and they ran their best race of the season and their gonna [be] good at State.”

Girls’ Results:
Annie Kuklenski 15:31
Meg McAlister 16:03
Bria Foley 16:06
Hannah Arnspiger 16:07
Teresa McAlister 16:11
Tess Isler 16:38
Hope Dunn 16:44

Boys’ Results:
John Arnspiger 16:25
Marshall Green 16:47
Jack McDonald 16:48
Lance Meng 17:03
Will Moore 17:31
Jack Young 17:39
George Miller 18:04

The girls’ team is now preparing for State, held at Rim Rock Farms on Saturday Nov. 2. The rest of the boys’ team has been running practices with Arnspiger as he prepares for State. At State, the girls’ will be competing against rival Shawnee Mission West, who placed ahead of East at Regionals. Arnspiger will be competing against the rival, Shawnee Mission Northwest team who qualified as an entire team at Regionals.

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