The Pratt High School cross country team performed very well in early season meets. Both the boys’ and girls’ squads have been hard working hard to ensure successful results. The boys won their first meet at Smoky Valley, led by senior Natanael Chavez who won the junior/senior race.
The PHS cross country season officially began on Thursday, August 31, where the Greenbacks traveled to Smoky Valley for their meet. This contest featured stiff competition from several schools, but the Greenbacks persevered through this adversity well.
On the girls’ side, there were two placers in the freshman/sophomore race. First, sophomore Kate Wiltshire placed 13th with a time of 26:00. Two spots ahead of her was sophomore Kamryn Deucy, who placed 11th with a time of 24:57. Pratt’s two girl senior runners
represented well in the junior/senior race as well. Grace May placed 11th with a time of 27:34, and Allie Hoeme was 10th with a time of 26:37.
The boys dominated both as a team and individually. In the freshman/sophomore race, sophomore AJ Kendall performed well, placing 11th with a time of 21:41. One spot above him was sophomore Tiger Thompson, who posted a time of 21:32. Kian Helfrich was also 9th with a solid time of 21:20. Lastly, the individual champion of the freshman/sophomore race was Carlito Lara, who won with a stellar time of 19:06.
This theme of success held true in the junior/senior race as well. Junior Jesse Kemper placed 17th with a time of 25:53, and junior Wesley Liggett had a very solid performance, placing 7th with a time of 21:06. Lastly, to round out the junior/senior runners for Pratt, senior Natanael Chavez placed 1st with a time of 18:10, crowning him the individual champion of that race.
These performances from the boys were good enough to give them the team championship as well, and greatly helped in building the team’s confidence going into the next meet.
The Greenbacks’ next contest was at Wellington on Saturday, September 9th.
First, the girls JV had a solid 2-mile race. Madi Sullivan placed 30th with a time of 21:45, and Mayra Arellano was 24th with a time of 19:27. In 17th place was Nevaeh Woods, who had a time of 18:32. Lastly, Kate Wiltshire did very well, placing 2nd with a time of 15:38.
On the boys JV side, several kids did well. Sydmel Sanchez was 38th with a time of 16:54. Adan Rice had a solid finish, ending up 19th with a time of 14:45. Lastly, Liam Slocum was the highlight of the Greenbacks boys’ JV, as he placed 4th with a time of 13:24. In team scores, Pratt JV placed 6th out of 10 teams.
The varsity also saw success in the Wellington meet. Allie Hoeme placed 25th in the girls’ 5000 meter, and Grace May was 22nd with a time of 25:51. Lastly, Kamryn Deucy placed 15th with a solid time of 25:05.
The boys’ 5000 meter also had some solid individual finishes. Kian Helfrich was 43rd with a time of 21:27. Tiger Thompson and Wesley Liggett placed 32nd and 31st respectively with times of 20:44 and 20:41. Carlito Lara ended up finishing 12th with a time of 18:59, and Natanael Chavez rounded out the Greenback boys with a 3rd place finish with a time of 17:55.
Coaches Kathy Hitz and Joy Schmidt said they have emphasized improvement going through meets, whether it is personal time, mental resilience, or team contribution. The Greenback harriers have shown this, and will look to continue to improve and succeed in their next contest, which is on Thursday, September 14 at Stafford County Country Club.
