Moving up the ranks each week, the Manhattan High Varsity cross country teams walked away with top three finishes at the Haskell Invitational on Oct. 9 and at League on Saturday.

“It really helped that … everyone was encouraging and [I could] hear my teammates loud and clear,” freshman Malea Jobity said. “[They] definitely inspired me to keep on going.”

Before the Homecoming dance two weekends ago, the team started their morning with a race in Lawrence. Both the girls and boys teams had several of their top runners sit out this meet to allow other runners to compete in their place. 

The boys team took second with senior Parker Dawdy leading the team with an eighth place finish. On the other hand, the girls team achieved third place with two runners in the top 10: freshman Jalissa Jobity and sophomore Saylor Salmans in ninth and 10th, respectively. 

At League, both teams moved up one placement from the Haskell Invitational. The boys took home the championship title with seniors Ben Mosier and Max Bowyer in second and fourth respectively, freshman Landon Knopp in fifth, sophomore Ethan Bryant in eighth and junior Kolby Grogg in 13th. The boys now have a two-time League Championship streak, with wins from 2020 and 2021. 

“I like the course,” Bryant said. “That would’ve been my fourth time running it maybe, so it’s pretty familiar.”

The girls team was just two points from the first place champion Washburn Rural, ending the MHS girls team’s League champion win streak since 2010. Freshman Rebekah Pickering led the pack in fourth, with Malea in seventh, sophomore Haley Henningson in 10th, seniors Rachel Corn and Morgan Turner in 14th and 17th respectively, and Jalissa in 18th. 

“It was obviously disappointing for everyone on the team [that we got second],” Malea said, “but I know that we all tried our hardest and pushed ourselves to our max … It didn’t help that our best runner, [senior Jenna Kealy] was injured.”

On Saturday, the team will compete at Regionals at Milford.