Labette County, Pittsburg claim SEK titles

CHERRYVALE, Kan. -- Labette County's boys claimed their first Southeast Kansas League cross-country championship since 1998 while Pittsburg's boys took the title for the ninth time in 10 years Thursday.

Roman Yocham was the individual boys' champion for the second consecutive season as he ran the 5-kilometer course in 17 minutes, 27.50 seconds. Carl Stinson of Independence was second in 17:40.78.

Keenan Gregory finished in 11th place for Fort Scott in 19:12.11. Robert Sellers took 13th in 19:25.28 and Kyle Altic finished with a time of 22:37.35.

Labette County finished with 33 team points with four runners in the top 10. Iola was second with 61 points while Chanute was third with 64.

Pittsburg's girls won for the third consecutive season. The only year since 2001 that the Purple Dragons have not been champion was 2007, when Independence took the crown. In this year's race, Pittsburg had five top 10 runners and scored 31 points. Independence was second with 51 and Chanute was third with 56.

Jocelyn McMillen-Hale of Chanute was the individual champion, running 4 kilometers in 16:45.52. Julia Stafford of Independence was next in 17:18.29 and Sarah Jewett of Pittsburg took third in 17:28.67.

Morgan Tourtillott finished 27th for the Tigers in 20:46.56 and Megan Midkiff was 31st in 21:40.51.

In the boys' junior varsity race, Skyler Cruse finished 28th in 23:35.55 over 4K while Tyler Endicott was 33rd in 24:24.20. Fort Scott had no entrants in the girls' JV race.

The next event for the Tigers will be the Class 4A Regional Meet, which will be held at the Garnett Country Club on October 23. The girls' race is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start with the boys to follow at 3:30. Anderson County, Baxter Springs, Chanute, Girard, Independence, Iola, Labette County, Louisburg, Osawatomie, Ottawa, Paola, Parsons, Prairie View and Santa Fe Trail are also assigned to this Regional.