photo by: John Young

Free State High senior Emily Venters and Blue Springs South junior Victoria Findley (1280) set the pace of the girls' varsity gold race at the KU Invitational held Saturday morning at Rim Rock Farm.

Free State High cross country coaches knew senior runner Emily Venters was ready to prove she was much faster than last year.

On Saturday, Venters left zero doubt for the rest of her competition.

Venters won the Rim Rock Farm Classic’s “Gold” division in a personal-best 18:07, shattering her previous record by more than 20 seconds. It was the second time she won the mega-meet’s top race in her four-year career, which helped the girls cross country team place fifth in the team standings.

“I’m really happy,” Venters said. “Just going in I was like, ‘OK, maybe break 18:30,’ because last year, I think my fastest was 18:40. So I got a huge PR. Now I know that I can do it. I just needed one of those races and that was it.”

Venters, a two-time Class 6A state champion, led for the entire race and gradually went faster to increase separation from the rest of the pack. She said the biggest difference in her running this season is her health. Gone are the shin splints that bothered her over the past few years, which meant she never had to stop her training.

Free State senior Kiran Cordes, who took 18th after she was boxed inside of a group of runners at the start, has trained with Venters for the past three years. She said she wasn’t surprised to see the personal-record run after watching Venters in practice.

“What you see at the end of the race is all of the additional training she’s been able to do,” FSHS coach Steve Heffernan said of Venters. “It just gives her a little more strength to get through the end of the race. She’s still very courageous when she races, but it isn’t just all guts.”

Senior Abigail Zenger followed Venters and Cordes in 33rd place in 20:20 and sophomore Julia Larkin took 75th.

Free State’s boys cross country team placed 30th among 43 teams. Junior Avant Edwards led in 80th place, finishing in 17:10. Jared Hicks placed 140th and Landon Sloan was 141st.

Edwards has transformed into the team’s top runner this season and Heffernan said the vocal leader is the “right person” to help motivate a young team.

“It gives me a little push,” Edwards said of the leadership role. “I know I’ve got to be up there and do as best as I could for my team.”

Lawrence High sophomore Anna DeWitt surprised herself with an 18th-place finish in the girls “Crimson” race in 20:39, dropping more than a minute off her best time at Rim Rock last year.

photo by: John Young

Lawrence High sophomore Anna DeWitt (2186) competes in the girls' varsity crimson race at the KU Invitational held Saturday morning at Rim Rock Farm.

DeWitt said she was aiming for around 22 minutes, but paced herself behind a runner from Emporia High and held her ground among the front pack of runners.

“I was so happy,” DeWitt said. “I didn’t think I would medal. But just the feeling of medaling is the most amazing thing at Rim Rock. I’m just so proud of myself and my team.”

DeWitt started long-distance running last year and said she wasn’t nervous at all for the mega-meet race, confident in her training.

“I don’t think (DeWitt) realized her potential last year,” LHS coach Laura Koster said. “She’s a little more experienced this year. We’re talking with her about how to run her race and it’s all starting to click.”

LHS junior Carson Jumping Eagle led the boys cross country team, placing 41st in the “Crimson” race in 17:40. Senior Garrett Prescott followed in 74th in 18:06.

Lawrence’s boys cross country team placed 25th and the girls were 30th.

“It helps us to go out there and compete at a higher level than normal,” Jumping Eagle said. “That’s very good for us so we know what to expect for regionals.”

Rim Rock Farm Classic

Saturday at Rim Rock Farm

Girls “Gold” 5k

Team scores: St. James Academy 182, Blue Springs South 205, Pine Creek 209, St. Thomas Aquinas 234, Free State 238, Maize South 255, Blue Valley North 263, College Park 264, St. Joseph Central 309, Manhattan 311, Blue Springs 324, Park Hill South 336, Wichita East 340, Liberty North 350, Staley 357, Fayetteville 362, Liberty 376, Francis Howell 399, Shawnee Mission East 434, Platte County 491, St. Teresa’s 522, Lee’s Summit North 522, Lansing 535, Wichita North 590, Maize 625, Washburn Rural 626, Blue Valley 649, Blue Valley Southwest 689, Marquette 703, Baldwin 752, Norman North 775.

FSHS results: 1. Emily Venters, 18:07.6; 18. Kiran Cordes, 19:42.4; 33. Abigail Zenger 20:20.1; 75. Julia Larkin, 21:05.1; 111. Erin Fagan, 21:32.2; 112. Erin Liston, 21:32.2; 115. Emma Hertig, 21:35.9.

Boys “Gold” 5K

Team scores: College Park 96, St. Thomas Aquinas 124, Blue Springs 203, Creighton Prep 226, Rockhurst 285, Liberty 286, Webb City 322, Manhattan 324, Mill Valley 327, Park Hill South 398, Dodge City 421, Shawnee Mission East 429, Fayetteville 430, Lee’s Summit North 445, Iowa City West 462, Maize South 503, Garden City 511, Legend 517, Marquette 518, Blue Valley Southwest 526, Omaha Westside 558, Kearney 577, St. James Academy 582, Staley 602, Blue Springs South 640, De Smet Jesuit 666, Maize 685, Washburn Rural 714, Wichita East 722, Free State 725, St. Joseph Central 743, Bishop Carroll 744, Parkway South 755, Blue Valley North 789, Blue Valley 814, Liberty North 826, Pine Creek 887, Norman North 905, Wichita North 960, Bishop McGuinness 1040, Baldwin 1105, Francis Howell 1120, Haysville-Campus 1126.

FSHS results: 80. Avant Edwards, 17:10.6; 140. Jared Hicks, 17:47.8; 141. Landon Sloan, 17:48.5; 171. William Benkelman, 18:01.6; 193. Aiden Goertz, 18:11.2; 229. Calvin Yost-Wolff, 18:32.9.

Girls “Crimson” 5k

Team scores: Metro Christian 181, Nixa 183, Andover Central 230, Shawnee Mission West 243, Mill Valley 248, Rogers 286, Ankeny 288, Bishop Carroll 294, Blue Valley West 310, Valley Center 319, Garden City 362, Siloam Springs 362, Kearney 364, Leavenworth 374, Shawnee Heights 401, Wichita Northwest 475, Wichita Trinity 492, Eureka 496, Legend 498, Ladue Horton Watkins 512, Hays 530, Eudora 536, Joplin 541, Webb City 594, Parkway South 659, Junction City 669, Blue Valley Northwest 692, Gardner-Edgerton 695, Topeka Seaman 696, Lawrence 732, Derby 740, Andover 741, Haysville-Campus 785, Goddard Eisenhower 785, Atchison 865, Salina South 881, Parkview 982.

LHS results: 18. Anna Dewitt, 20:39.6; 137. Leslie Ostronic, 22:41.1; 196. Lacey Greenfield, 23:27.4; 214. Kiikto Thomas, 23:47.9; 235. Mikayla Herschell, 24:14.8; 240. Layne Prescott, 24:34.8; 251. Katie Ahern, 24:55.9.

Boys “Gold” 5K

Team scores: Rogers 108, Olathe South 195, Carthage 197, Topeka Seaman 222, Great Bend 244, Andover 267, Ankeny 302, Platte County 332, Leavenworth 333, Nixa 345, Joplin 347, Eureka 354, Blue Valley West 374, Ladue Horton Watkins 390, Parkview 394, Andover Central 411, Wichita Trinity 425, Newton 431, Liberty 500, Gardner-Edgerton 608, Lexington 620, Hays 623, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 625, Lawrence 652, Blue Valley Northwest 660, Goddard Eisenhower 666, Junction City 713, Shawnee Mission West 724, Wichita Northwest 725, Derby 750, Emporia 770, Putnam City West 798, Oak Park 823, Salina South 829, Wichita South 887, Siloam Springs 906, Eudora 974, Topeka West 1044, Atchison 1145, Topeka 1173.

LHS results: 41. Carson Jumping Eagle, 17:40.8; 74. Garrett Prescott, 18:06.6; 155. Sebastian Lepage, 18:55.9; 189. Jackson Hoy, 19:14.3; 230. Cole Shupert, 19:37.5; 242. Cameron Stussie, 19:47.2; 286. Darius Hart, 21:12.0.