Derby’s Lewis sets record at El Dorado meet
EL DORADO It would be understandable if Derby senior Brandon Lewis thought his bad luck with injuries and illnesses was inescapable.
Whenever he felt ready to break through, an injury such as last spring’s Achilles tendon rupture or his constant bout with his allergy to gluten have come up and derailed his last three seasons.
That’s what made Saturday morning all the sweeter for Lewis, who turned the Wildcat Invitational into a personal victory lap of sorts.
Lewis set the El Dorado Lake course record and with his time of 15 minutes, 37 seconds, also a personal best. In his senior season, nothing has gone wrong for Lewis.
“It means so much to me because I’ve worked really hard and always something has gotten in my way,” said Lewis, who was three seconds off Derby’s school record. “All that work I put in is finally paying off. I was a little disappointed not to get the school record, but I got the course record so that was pretty cool.”
North won the boys team title with 61 points. Tristyn Villa (fourth, 16:05), J’Quon Williams (fifth, 16:08) and Nico Hernandez (16:24) finished in the top 15, but the Redskins were thrilled with their fourth, Jeremy Brittain (16:46), and fifth, Nick Bright (16:50), breaking 17 minutes for the first time.
“That’s the missing link that we need right there,” North coach Michael Pope said.
Runners like Brittain and Bright could decide North’s fate at the City League meet.
“Coach reassures us that we have been doing good and we’re on our way to doing great things, but we’re not there yet,” Bright said. “I haven’t been running how I feel like I should, but today was a really great confidence-booster.”
The girls’ field also produced 4K fast times. Northwest’s Amy Wells (15:33) shatter the school record but finish outside the top-15.
Bishop Carroll’s Kaelyn Balch took advantage of the conditions and set the course record with her winning time of 14:11. But Balch thought she could set a personal best, which is 14:01.
“I always want to be as close to 14 minutes as possible and that 14:01 has been haunting me now for a while,” Balch said. “I ran that as a freshman and haven’t matched it since, so that’s what makes it frustrating.”
Carroll lost out on the team title to St. Thomas Aquinas by 11 points.
At El Dorado Lake
Boys 5k
Team scores—1. W. North 61, 2. St. Thomas Aquinas 79, 3. Kapaun Mount Carmel 112, 4. Winfield 135, 5. Derby 150, 6. W. South 196, 7. Great Bend 207, 8. Campus 212, 9. Garden City 246, 10. Bishop Carroll 293, 11. W. Southeast 330, 12. W. East 332, 13. Junction City 334, 14. Goddard 374, 15. Hutchinson 377, 16. W. Northwest 377, 17. Newton 408, 18. El Dorado 423, 19. McPherson 465.
Individual medalists—1. Lewis, Derby, 15:37; 2. Hanna, Winfield, 15:48; 3. Osen, Winfield, 15:52; 4. Villa, North, 16:05; 5. Williams, North, 16:08; 6. Timmerman, Junction City, 16:12; 7. Matsui, South, 16:13; 8. Hesse, Kapaun, 16:18; 9. Aiken, Aquinas, 16:18; 10. Masood, Southeast, 16:20; 11. Hernandez, North, 16:24; 12. Wilderson, Aquinas, 16:27; 13. Jo. Newman, Goddard, 16:28; 14. Chavez, Great Bend, 16:29; 15. Kromminga, Winfield, 16:32.
Girls 4k
Team scores—1. St. Thomas Aquinas 32, 2. Bishop Carroll 43, 3. Garden City 93, 4. Winfield 134, 5. W. East 136, 6. Derby 201, 7. Great Bend 210, 8. Kapaun Mount Carmel 238, 9. W. North 263, 10. W. Northwest 274, 11. Newton 284, 12. Hutchinson 321, 13. Junction City 338, 14. Campus 356, 15. McPherson 385.
Individual medalists—1. Balch, Carroll, 14:11; 2. Dillard, Carroll, 14:32; 3. Cofer, Aquinas, 14:35; 4. Miller, Garden City, 14:41; 5. Mahon, Aquinas, 14:42; 6. Angles, Aquinas, 14:47; 7. Doll, Garden City, 15:01; 8. Hopfinger, Aquinas, 15:05; 9. Woods, Carroll, 15:09; 10. Downey, Aquinas, 15:10; 11. Greene, East, 15:15; 12. DeVorce, East, 15:20; 13. Romme, Aquinas, 15:20; 14. A. Reggeti, Carroll, 15:20; 15. Matsui, South, 15:23.